Journalism’s Future At Risk

 By Ray Ekpu

Last week my colleagues in the media industry bestowed on me the treasured trophy of honour twice, first on Thursday in Lagos and next on Friday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The Lagos event was organised by the National body of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), led by its president, Mr. Chris Isiguzo.

About 20 of us were given what was elaborately called media icon awards. And the awardees included such a renowned journalist as Senator Bala Mohammed, Governor of Bauchi, a former minister and a former Senator, Mr. Henry Odukomaiya who in addition to being a well-known practitioner was also a creative manager of the newspaper business and Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, an eminent teacher of journalists, among others.

Full honours must go to the President of NUJ, Chris Isiguzo, for his thoughtfulness in remembering the aged men and women in this profession who have fought many battles in the past to give oxygen to a profession that is the nemesis of scoundrels.

Since the NUJ was formed on March 15, 1955, this is the first time that those who have contributed to the growth of the profession have been publicly recognized by the NUJ. And this is coming at a time that the media are in a state of flux, a time that the media are experiencing a sea change, a time that the media are in a state of metamorphosis, professionally and technologically.

This ceremony represented the opportunity for binding the wounds, for healing the hurt, for renewing our faith in professionalism, and for reviving the gift of Esprit de corps. In 2002, I was one of the candidates for the election of the President of the Newspaper proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN). The other two candidates were Chief Ajibola Ogunshola and Chief Sony Odogwu who were media entrepreneurs, not journalists.

I was thrilled to see the leaders of the NUJ and the Nigerian Guild of Editors with whom I had worked on a number of media issues in the past. Even though they had no voting power I was happy to see them because I thought their presence was in solidarity with me.

Then to my surprise and shock, I found out that they were openly campaigning against me and for one of the candidates who came from their ethnic stock. What they wanted to achieve was a situation in which all the three top positions in the industry would be manned by persons from their ethnic enclave.

But I won the election and that destroyed their dirty deal. The other surprising thing was that they did not even understand how NPAN elections work before diving into it. The other surprising thing was that they were even speaking to my ardent supporters, telling them not to vote for me, not knowing they were my supporters. That was a flagrant display of abject naivety. I thought that it was more logical for them to support a journalist who would fight for their profession. But it was then that I remembered that blood is much thicker than water.

Another story. A few years ago, the leadership of the Nigerian Guild of Editors chose me to head a committee to conduct its election. I accepted and spent enormous time with the members of the committee to deliver free, fair and credible elections. But there was a problem, the problem of discrimination against veterans in the profession who were no longer at the commanding heights.

They were to be downgraded from full membership to Associate membership, a category that never existed. This silly provision caused a lot of problems for the Guild. The Guild nearly got split into smithereens. Then the new leadership of the Guild set up a constitution Review Committee and asked me to head it. I accepted.

During the assignment, we crafted a constitution that accommodated the fears of the younger editors, fear of marginalization as well as the fears of the older editors, fears of discrimination. We recommended the abolition of the so-called Associate Member category because it didn’t make sense for anyone to become a member and even a Fellow of the Guild and later to be downgraded to an Associate Member.

The abolition of that provision has brought peace and dignity to the Guild. The young and the old can mingle in a spirit of conviviality, mutual respect and harmony the way you find in such professions as the legal profession.

Having gone through this sort of discrimination against veterans in the industry, the oldies must be grateful to Mr. Isiguzo for giving them a podium of honour. This year’s award is the second in the series. There are still many veterans that need to be recognised, who are either practitioners or teachers or both.

My short list would include: Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed, Soji Akinrinade, Tola Adeniyi, Doyin Abiola, Felix Adenaike, Moses Ekpo, Nsikak Essien, Onwuchekwa Jeimie, Stanley Ngoa, Idowu Sobowale, Udeme Nnana, Adidi Uyo, Olatunji Dare, Lade Bonuola, Eddie Iroh, Nosa Igiebor, Bayo Onanuga, Dele Alake, Okon Akigba, Emeka Izeze and Tunji Bello.

At the Uyo Award ceremony, I was given a lifetime Achievement Award by the Akwa Ibom Chapter of the NUJ, led Mr. Amos Etuk. I was impressed with what Senator Ita Enang told the Akwa Ibom journalists in the hall. He told them that they needed to go out of the state, seek employment elsewhere where there is stiff competition.

I support Enang’s proposal because those who work in the state are not facing any stiff competition the way those who practise in Lagos do, because the media market in Uyo is small. Anyone who works in Uyo can easily become a big fish in a small pond.

That was what I was as Editor of the Nigerian Chronicle but when the opportunity came for me to work in Lagos as Editor of the Sunday Times, I grabbed it with both hands. At the Sunday Times I was a small fish in a big pond, because at that time Daily Times had 13 publications, probably the biggest news outfit in Africa. But working in the Sunday Times offered me the opportunity to compete directly with the Lagos media. And when I decided to leave the Sunday Times, I had no problem finding a job at the Concord as the Chairman of its Editorial Board.

Young journalists have a bigger burden to carry today than we had in the 70s because the media scene has been polluted by some social media rats who are merchants of misinformation and disinformation. They call themselves citizen journalists but journalism is not a one-person show. It is a multi-person orchestra. Technology has brought some benefits because a journalist can do a lot today with his phone: make and receive phone calls, text messages, record interviews and take photographs.

But a lot can also go wrong: There can be picture manipulation, there is an abundance of fake news which people often scream “Breaking News” and when you search deeply you may find that no news is breaking. Recently, they pronounced our former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, dead when he is still alive and kicking.

So, fact-checking must be a very important function of the journalist today because journalism is about facts, and facts are the highway to the truth. Any journalist who wants to be a significant and respected professional today, must be ready to do the heavy lifting, the fact-checking, the cross checking.

Journalism is in peril today because of the ascendancy of fake news, which people call alternative facts. There is nothing like alternative facts. Facts are sacred, sacredly factual and factually sacred.

Those who practise journalism today must understand that the strength of their profession resides in the credibility and believability of what they publish or broadcast. If people do not believe that what they are being served as news is truthful, then their stories have lost their allure, their essence, their longevity.

That is the challenge we all face as practitioners today. It is not a challenge that is limited to Nigeria. It is a global challenge that is affecting all jurisdictions, all countries both developed and developing, rich and poor. That makes our profession an endangered specie.

*Ekpu is a veteran journalist and commentator on public issues