March 2017 Online #MediaCareerQ&A
Steve Aborisade, Development and Human rights journalist, and Coordinator Projekthope says : Traditional media should dictate the pace rather than being followers
The distinction between journalism and new media may be unhealthy and perhaps misplaced, for the future of journalism lies in new media formats. Perhaps we may ask how traditional media might remain relevant in this age of new media? And the answer to that is for the traditional media organisations to fully embrace new media formats and dictate the pace rather than being followers.
This issue came up during the last NUJ national conference at Abeokuta, where I gave a lecture on this same issue. The media industry must brace up to the new challenges of new media and I am happy some investments and decisions are already yielding fruits in this regard with few mainstream media organisations operating solely through the online medium and making strong marks.
What is needed however is serious training of practitioners to imbibe needed skills, and importantly that the sector be subjected to proper regulation that ensures the ethical dictates of journalism is a normative principle guiding practice.
Abdullateef Aliyu: Traditional media would continue to dominate journalism
I still strongly believe that the traditional media would continue to dominate the journalism world because, except a very few of the online platforms, most of the news websites we have thrive on ‘copy and paste’ . That’s why it is also critical that the traditional media fully embrace the new media with a view to checkmating its onslaught.
As professionals and pioneers of modern journalism, we should strive for the best ethical standards, put more energy in investigative journalism, originality and the highest ethical canons.
Readers tend to gravitate more into online contents published by mainstream media than those published by the online platforms. So the solution is moving ahead of them.
Thankfully major newspapers are beginning to appreciate the enormity of the threat posed by the new media and are working towards having a heavy presence online.
Aliyu is a Reporter with Daily Trust Newspaper
Warees Solanke : New media will expand frontiers of media
New media is not displacing traditional media. It is merely expanding the frontiers of media. What new media has merely done is injection of instant feedback and interactivity so that the public is no longer just receiver but also a source and provider. Students of communication can now review communication models of Marshall McLuhan and Lazarsfied.
New media has only made audience research smoother and easier. New media has merely broken down the complexity in traditional media production and accelerated its impact. Just like all other aspects of life that technology has redefined, the essence has not been diminished.
The availability of turbo jets has not reduced road travels. Aircons have not stopped us from enjoying natural air outdoors. We still have to step out of our cars and walk some distance.
Solanke is Chief Strategy Officer/Head, Voice of Nigeria (VON) Training Centre
Hannah Ojo
It’s instructive to note that journalists can’t wish new media away. We should embrace it and train ourselves to be major players
The future of journalism is not threatened by d new media. We only need to find new ways of telling our stories digitally
Ojo is a Reporter with The Nation
