By Dayo Emmanuel
For long, media practice in Nigeria has been more of a sacrifice than a job that has much benefit.
Like the teaching profession whose reward is often said to be in heaven, the reward of journalists sometimes can be said to be in the celestial since journalists sometime do not get full reward for their sacrifices and media practitioners are sometimes endangered.
According to Professor . Ralph Akinfeleye of the University of Lagos in a book; Journalism In Nigeria, Issues And Perspectives, published in 1995, government owned media houses pay less than privately owned ones. In his words “it is however interesting to note that the non government media houses in Nigeria continue to pay higher salaries and greater fringe benefits to their journalists than government employed journalists.”
It only means the issue of remuneration has been an important and recurring topic for long. Today, the story may be different as journalists now in the face of economic realities do not want to get to heaven before receiving heir rewards. While some have thought out of the box to improve their earnings either by self development, networking, adding qualifications, learning new skills etc. to attract more value to themselves, others have fund a winning formula in the inglorious “brown envelopes” syndrome and money for story tactics which package often do not take them home. Things also may have changed from the days Akinfeleye referred to when government-owned media houses paid lower than privately owned ones. Privately owned media houses exist today where workers are owed several months salaries.
There have been issues of fake journalists who often wrestle organizers of programmes and events at various venues for “transport claims” even when they are not accredited to attend such programmes.
These “fake” journalists have continued to rubbish the pen profession, relegating the noble practice to the backgrounds as a beggarly endeavour. However, if these press rats are not fumigated out of the practice by the ruling body of the profession, chances are they may continue to propagate themselves and with time, may even outnumber the real journalists.
No doubt, there is depression in the economy which is not peculiar to the media profession. It is also true the fact that there are fake professionals in every profession.
There have been fake soldiers, fake doctors, fake lawyers, even fake youth corpers who have been arrested in the past, therefore it is not only in the media profession that there have been such ugly record and the pen profession must not be singled out for ridicule.
Meanwhile, media owners should look into remuneration of journalists and should even consider putting in place proper insurance policies to safeguard the lives of journalists who sometime operate on dangerous terrain.
But instead of journalists looking for an easy way out of the depression, they should rather seek to develop themselves, become more hard working on their beats, they should not see brown envelopes as an easy way out as it may be irrelevant considering the need on ground.
Again, journalists, especially young journalists should think out of the box and seek to develop themselves within the available free time they have off assignments to seek self development. They should invest in professional tools and seminars necessary for addition of values. While some continue to condemn the profession, talk ill of their employers, others have moved on after investing in their careers. Examples abound of those who have performed excellently on their various beats and have even been internationally recognised. These professionals have gone ahead to win awards where others have continued to chase brown envelopes, blaming their employers and complaining of their meagre salaries. Some journalists have even published their own books and gained recognition through the new media, some have moved on from the newsrooms to having distinguished themselves and received recommendations to greater heights. Journalists should even see their published stories as golden opportunities to greater heights than whatever transient brown envelopes they may get.
Emmanuel of Daily Newswatch Newspaper can be reached by email: Dayomanuel2@gmail.com