Journalists have been advised to embrace digital media as it remains the future of the journalism profession.
The Chief Executive Officer of Wild Fusion Foundation, Abasiama Idaresit, who gave the advise at a training for journalists in Lagos said that the new digital media was not a threat to the traditional media but a tool for enhancing the profession if properly used.
According to him, digital media has come to stay and the earlier journalists embraced the idea and seized the opportunity to delve into the digital market, the better.
“Digital media has come to stay whether anyone likes it or not, and it would be more profitable for the media profession if journalists embraced it rather than fight it,” he noted.
While analysing the opportunities in the digital media space, Idaresit said, “Over 49 per cent of Nigerians are internet users, 10 per cent are active on the social media and approximately 30 per cent search for news on Mobile devices.
“If journalists do not take advantage of the internet presence especially for news sourcing, the public will keep getting news from the different online sources (both credible and fake sources). The principle of journalism should be extended to digital channels; enabling and fostering the integrity of the profession even on digital channel’.”
He urged journalists to start looking into how to meet the needs of the audience as that was the only way to sustain their interests.
“The journalist needs to care about where audiences are and how they are going to reach those audiences,” he added.
The foundation encouraged journalists to keep disseminating the knowledge they have acquired from the training to colleagues so as to empower others and make the society a better place.
Wild Fusion is Africa’s leading digital marketing agency dedicated to transforming local businesses by continuously seeking new possibilities and opportunities in the digital market.
