In response to my facebook post titled See Newspapers, See Wahala, which highlighted the alarming decline in purchase of newspapers, based on a church programme I attended, some respondents noted that journalists and media managers may be guilty of contributing to ‘killing’ their products.
So, instead of lamenting our plight and blaming the new media, it was suggested that there was need for more introspection about what we need to do to stop the ‘bleeding’ of our industry and profession.
First, here is the full content of the facebook post that triggered off the heated discussion about what we are not doing and what we need to do urgently if readers have to continue to buy our publications.
I was guest speaker at a Church Youth Service today and the Pastor asked how many of the about 100 members have bought a newspaper recently.
About five raised their hands and as I was about thanking God for the five, they said the paper they bought was Complete Sports!
Notwithstanding that what the Pastor meant and what I had in mind was national daily newspapers, join me in thanking God for those who are still faithful newspaper buyers.
They and the few advertisers are the reasons why some of our favourite newspapers are still publishing.
The Lord will bless and reward them abundantly.
They shall not buy the newspapers in vain. They shall find information that will prosper their endeavors in the papers.
Not only will they be adequately informed, they shall be thoroughly educated about what they don’t know and be entertained.
For the sake of hundreds of newspaper journalists, including me, so shall it be in Jesus mighty name.
Going through the comments, below are some of the issues that call for urgent attention and action to avoid gradual or sudden death.
*Online outlets and the public getting more informed and better perspectives to news /issues the newspapers treat daily than the newspapers themselves, are part of the causative factors -Earnest Nwokolo, Correspondent, The Nation
*Why waste their money to buy newspapers when there is social media? After all Nigerian papers copy their news from social media. It’s better to read directly from source.- Ify Asia Chiemeziem, Broadcaster
*Journalists should stop running down their profession and business. Though it has been said that newspapers are dying, I rather believe they are reinventing themselves-Emeka Madunagu, Former Editor, Sunday New Telegraph
*They’ve become mostly viewspapers, and that’s part of why they’re avoided, for their who-pays-the-piper outputs- Abiola Oloke
*The change is not happening; it has happened already. The way the world shares information has profoundly changed. You will be surprised to note that even most journalists depend on online platforms and hardly read their own newspapers- Akinjide Babalola, Assistant Editor, The Nation
*This also calls for greater responsibility on the part of those who handle the content of our newspapers. It is a great sacrifice that readers and advertisers make when the reach out for their product. This must never be taken for granted.-Tunde Ipinmisho, Former Editor, Sunday Times
*With the exception of very few of our dailies, virtually all have become government megaphones. Readership can grow if we encourage the emergence of courageous journalists like Yusuf Alli, Martins Oloja and very few others who have excellent nose for investigative news stories. We must reward excellence and media owners should invest a lot on inhouse training. I remember when i joined The Guardian there was mandatory training and test before appointments are confirmed. But now i doubt if any newspaper has in house news reporting training departments.
Why are newspapers not investing in sending their reporters on short programmes at the NIJ? Where is the Times journalism institute? Why is the International School of Journalism owned by NUJ not expanding? All these factors must be addressed and insurance policies for media workers institutionalised so journalists can compete in news writing to bring back critical readership.- Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, National Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria
*The management is the major problem. Without a business focus, they miss it completely. Even if you have the best journalists and there’s no idea how business grows, you’ll still end up losers ask Newswatch- Larry Happiday , Manager, Nigeria Infrastructure News
*We can do better than what we are doing in print and additionally grow our digital subscription – Lekan Otufodunrin
*In the final analysis, research findings have evidently and copiously shown that mainstream media platforms are dying and there is a need for them to come up with innovative ways of survival in the current digital world. The earlier we admit this truism, the better……Azzez Olakunle Yinus, Senior Correspondent, New Telegraph
*The best way forward is for the traditional media to own the two worlds side by side. They need to drive their digital platforms with utmost professionalism, leveraging their assets and wallets. They need to retrain their editorial staff to become digital journalists so that they can take pictures, video record and write stories from a single event. They need to invest in multi media digital production infrastructure and employ professionals to man it. Management, eMaginations Limited
