Although he started his journalism career covering aviation, Pius Ayinor, Publisher of Extra Sports, Nigeria became a sports writer in 1994.
He was a pioneer staff of Complete Sports, moved to The Comet and later ThisDay newspaper. Until September 2016, he was the Group Sports Editor of The Punch . He now runs www.extrasportsnigeria.com an online publication on sports and entertainment which commenced publication in December 2016.
In this interview with Adeyinka Akintunde, Ayinor shares his experience as an online publisher.
What has been your experience as an online publisher compared to the days you were on in the print media?
The beauty of the online publication is the reaction speed. It takes just minutes to get the news out and into homes unlike hard copies (print) that nearly waits for 24 hours.
The online publication also saves you the rigours of production and allows you to update and edit as many times as possible. But in this part of the world where Internet and power supply is still in epileptic dimension, the print is still the most reliable.
So far, what challenges have you faced as an online publisher?
The major challenges come in three folds basically. The first is internet services. You may have all the resources needed and still cannot publish on a day the internet is chaotic. Power supply challenge is always there but the most difficult part of it is marketing your product. Online publications spring up on a daily basis and so it becomes a huge challenge carving a distinct identity and selling it to advertisers. The print sector has fewer publications but is still battling seriously for online presence.
What is the difference between the print media and online, in terms of breaking news, and readership. Which one do people go for the most?
Both sides have their sides to the stories. Online serves the reader faster with breaking news, but little research has shown that some people go online for the immediate news but also hope to get extra details the following day in the print medium. The world is very fast now and so nobody wants to wait for eight to 24 hours for what they can get within five minutes. This is why the print industry is also investing heavily with online.
Overtime I see the western world give out the hard copies free like community papers while relying more on their online packages to survive.
Are there threats that online publishers constitute to the print media?
Yes, online publishers create extra task for the print because you certainly cannot sell the same news in the morning without any creativity for news that has been available for more than eight hours.
So far, have you achieved your aim with online publications?
I am certainly very far from it. I desire to enjoy thousands of hits in a day and make millions of cash on monthly basis.
What is the future of online publications?
The future looks quite unlimited and this is going by the expanding boom.
What are your future plans? And what advice do you have for online publishers?
Always verify before publishing. Don’t rush to publish and sell incorrect information.