Executive Director of Media Career Development Network in August featured in a Facebook Live chat with Ruth Olurounbi, editor and communications manager on the Content Creator in Nigeria’s Post-COVID future of media.
His responses during the chat are published below.
Who is a content creator?
Put simply, a content creator is someone who creates content for multimedia platforms, including print, broadcast, online, social media and any other.
By content, we mean text, video, audio, pictures, infographics which can also come in various types like news, features, documentary, analysis, explainers, short and long audiovisuals among others.
The creators are journalists, writers, producers, bloggers, Influencers, citizens, photojournalists, curators.
How to determine engaging content?
It’s important that content is engaging. There is no point churning out content people are not reading or listening to. Depending on the platform you are publishing or broadcasting from, you need to monitor the traffic and engagements with the content. You must pay attention to the analytics.
I used to write for a platform and every contributor had access to the backend to know how well their stories are doing. The views, shares, likes and comments. These indicators will help to know the kind of content to provide for the audience.
What have been the impact COVID-19 on the media industry at the moment?
The impact is very disruptive and has further complicated the problem the media has been having with digitalization and poor economy before COVID-19.
Media patronage in terms of copy sales of newspapers and advertising has reduced to an all-time low. Revenue has drastically reduced and organizations can’t afford the cost of production and their obligations.
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Many media organizations have laid off staff, sent some on forced leave and even those still retained are not paid regularly. On the positive side, it has forced media houses to adopt new work model without having their staff physically attending all events or inviting guests to studios.
Journalists are exploring new ways of doing journalism.
How will COVID-19 impact the future of the media industry?
The future of the traditional media is bleak as it is and they have no choice but to innovate and find other ways of remaining relevant and earning enough revenue. Journalists have to regularly update their skills to remain relevant.
How does a content creator stand out from the crowd?
He or she must be conscious of producing content that has premium value. People need news, but beyond that, they need background information, informed analysis, the information they can use.
*You must be able to produce content to suit different platforms.
*You must also have niche areas which you are regarded as an authority in.
This means you must read widely, conduct research and adopt best practices globally.
*You must get constant feedbacks from readers and meet their expectations.
*Don’t assume you know what readers want.
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What new opportunities in the industry are worth considering?
There are lots of training opportunities and access to resources which media professionals must do their best to access. This is the time to really be a global and not a local journalist.
There are funds that can be applied for but this will depend on how unique your work is. There is the opportunity for especially traditional journalists to transit online, but they must learn the skills required and not be adopting the analogue approach for digital platforms as many are doing.
They should explore various platforms beyond just publishing routine reports. This is the time to become thought leaders in beats they have covered for years.
