| Journalism has been
exciting since democracy was enthroned
By TESSY OKOYE
Wednesday,
January 16, 2008
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Demola Balogun
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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Demola Balogun, Managing Director of Moss Baumer Nigeria
Limited, would readily tell the present crop of Nigerian journalists
that Journalism does not condone lazy people. He said that
journalists should always go the extra mile in their job.
The astute journalist also shed light on pressing issues that
affect the industry, including the need for media owners to
revive production of newsprint locally.
Starting off
I started out in Journalism as a sports reporter with Sports
Week magazine, before moving to Punch newspaper. I left Punch
for the Republic newspaper. I had quit journalism scene for
a while to work as the pioneer head of Corporate Affairs Department,
La Campagne Tropicana, a resort outfit. I went back to Journalism
and worked with now rested Tempo magazine, The News magazine
and PM News. I finally left to start my own business called
Moss Baumer Nigeria Limited.
Conspiratorial Journalism
Journalism has not done badly. The only shortfall is that
journalists, especially the young ones, have become too lazy
to investigate beyond the usual. One cardinal principle in
Journalism practice is to get all the various shades of opinion
and angles to a story. This entails clarifying all information
from different parties. Where that is not done, nothing really
has been done and could mean taking sides. The real purpose
of Journalism is not to be conspiratorial by talking to one
person and publishing, but to present balanced objective view,
even if those concerned don’t like your face or the
paper you represent.
What we have now is maligned stories. What has become a phenomenon
in newspapers and magazines is the refrain, ‘all attempts
to reach the other party proved abortive or futile’.
That type of lame excuse was not accepted in our days. It
is not a good practice and should not be encouraged.
Key area of reportage
Journalism has been quite exciting since democracy was enshrined
in 1999. But unfortunately, I won’t give the same pass
mark I would give to Journalism under the military to what
we practise now. Then, reporters fought the battles in the
trenches and newsrooms. We also took the battle everywhere,
including to the doorstep of civil society groups and other
NGOs that believed in the freedom of the press, information,
speech and association. Then, we proudly said that the pen
was mightier than the sword. Even Ibrahim Babangida and the
late Sani Abacha, in his grave, would attest to it. The press
did them in.
Now that we have the democracy many of our colleagues lost
their lives for, I am not happy that key areas of reportage
are being neglected. We now report from government houses
and base our stories on press releases. How can we come from
the background of the military to become pawns in the hands
of those in power? Many atrocities and acts of illegality
perpetrated by public officers are being neglected. Most journalists
are not interested in investigating the truth. Many don’t
even know what governance and accountability are all about.
That is why we are lagging behind in all spheres of development.
It is also because of this that the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) would seem almost impossible to achieve.
Impediments to FOIB
When the likes of Smart Adeyemi, who is now in the Senate,
Lanre Arogundade, Ladi Lawal and the rest of them, initiated
the FOIB, it was with enthusiasm. They moved round newsrooms
to ensure everybody knew the importance of the bill. The Nigerian
press need the bill to see beyond their noses.
The bill would enable us have access to classified information
directly from various departments, where corrupt practices
are being perpetrated. Unfortunately, people at the helms
of affairs, including some legislators, don’t share
that vision. There is already a clique that believes the bill
would push their back to the wall if it is allowed to sail
through smoothly.
The situation here is such that without ICPC, EFCC and FOIB,
corruption would continue unabated. How do you intend to make
government accountable when you actually know what they are
doing, but can’t do anything about it? Look at what
happened to former speaker of the House of Representatives
Patricia Etteh. She suffered a setback when we thought she
would write her name in gold in the anals of Nigeria. Unfortunately,
she lost out because she was too pre-occupied with furniture
allowance.
Again, the issue of the bill being abused by journalists is
not far from the truth. There is nothing that cannot be abused.
Criminals have abused the police by wearing their uniform
to rob. Even the law is being abused with impunity by people
who feel that they can afford to buy their way. But quite
frankly, the court is there to interpret various provisions
guaranteeing the bill. There would always be checks and balances.
Where a journalist goes out of his way to slander or deliberately
libel people, he would be made to face the wrath of the law.
Democracy is all about separation of power and checks on excesses.
Reviving the media industry
No appreciable impact has been made in the area of media development
and conditions of service in the last 20 years. This is a
far cry from what obtains in other African countries and developed
societies of the world. Unethical conducts thrive unabated
in the industry because publishers, operating under the aegis
of Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, are not doing
enough to cushion the effect of hard times on the practice
of Journalism.
First, we got it all wrong being complacent about getting
involved in the production of raw materials to produce newsprint.
Oko-Ibokun and Iwopin newsprint factories in Cross River and
Ogun states respectively, are two major newsprint plants in
the country that have become non-functional. It is not out
of place for publishers and media managers to assemble other
crop of professionals and invite technical partners to brainstorm
on how to revive the plants. The cost of importing newsprint
is too much.
A tonne of newsprint sold for N30,000 four years ago. It is
now up to N90,000. This has put the media and publishing industry
in distress. Cost of production keeps going up, cover price
keeps going up, sales keeps dropping and salaries of reporters
remain stagnant. If nothing is done about it quickly, the
media industry would remain in a dilapidated and comatose
state.
If raw materials come cheap, journalists would be paid good
salaries. Apart from high cost of production impeding journalists’
wages, oftentimes they are treated like ordinary workers.
For goodness sake, these are people who put their lives on
the line by exposing wrong-doings in the society.
We can no longer operate in a system where priority is production
cost, whereas the manpower that makes the profit suffers.
It is even worst now that awards have been instituted to recognize
outstanding journalists. What are these awards worth? If cars
can be given to readers, why can’t journalists who have
distinguished themselves in the profession be given cars,
too? Why should a reporter of the year be given just a plaque
and laptop? Why won’t journalists who have distinguished
themselves in their practice be given motivational products
to be able to shine as role models in the profession?
Why should DAME and NMMA, which are two major awards for journalists,
give DSTV and other affordable prizes to reporters? But again,
it is happening because journalists are seen as living slightly
above the poverty line. So they give us the reward they think
we deserve. One hard fact is that if journalists who go out
to gather information and investigate misdemeanor on the part
of public officers are not well taken care of, the tendency
for them to compromise would be high.
Sensationalism
Many media houses are compromising ethical practice in their
conduct by over-sensationalizing issues. Publications sensationalize
because they either want to sell their papers or are committed
to a particular cause. The one I am concerned about is sensationalism
that borders on half-truth and half-baked stories. Readers
have woken up and are aware of intricacies played by the media.
The active readers we have now can separate the chaff from
the grain. They even turn around to label papers they perceive
are biased and encourage others not to rely on their report.
We are talking about readership that has already gone quite
well ahead of an average journalist. Sensationalism does not
promote professionalism.
It can only add few pennies to sales. But how far can that
go? Opinion surveys are not even conducted again to know what
an average reader wants. That is why many people don’t
bother to read newspapers again. It becomes more worrisome
when newspaper houses print and nobody buys to read. You need
to see unsold copies in some of these newspaper houses. You
would shed tears. The sensitive information we labour to produce
are sold to groundnut and roasted plantain sellers. When there
is large volume of unsold copies, high cost of production
and wages suffer. Rather than sell these copies to traders,
they should be given as free complimentary copies to public
and university libraries.
It could also be sent to secondary schools to revive the dying
culture of reading. We won’t have quality leadership
if the media does not take a lead to revive reading culture.
We must be ready to make sacrifices that would re-organize
the profession properly. Journalism practices would suffer
a serious setback if the process of re-awakening the consciousness
of Nigerians is not achieved.
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