Olorunyomi bemoans state of Nigerian news media, impact of digital revolution
By Zion Rufus
Publisher, Premium Times, Dapo Olorunyomi has shared that the Nigerian news media industry is currently going through its worst experience since its founding in 1859, a crisis which he credited to the advent of a digital revolution which has created diverse platforms for unregulated citizen journalism.
The Publisher, who made this known while delivering his keynote remarks at the 17 th Annual Nigerian Guild of Editors Conference, in Abuja on Thursday, 21 st October 2021 noted that in yesteryears, the Nigerian news media earned chest full of badges on account of its vigorous case for independence and democracy, stance against decades of ruinous military dictatorship, consensus for national unity after the civil war, and historical anti-corruption posture amongst others.
Expatiating on what could be the problem, Olorunyomi noted that amongst others, one of the critical factors to consider when seeking a profound insight and enduring resolution to the current crisis of the Nigerian news media is the upending revolution of a digital economy.
According to him, the transition to a digital economy has introduced the most systemic change to the practice of journalism.
He said: “This was an absolute revolutionary development, a development that turned news consumers of yester years into producers. Where the level of decentralisation of access created a major democratization of content and of platforms that offered the new practitioners no obligation of ethical demands but allowed everyone to be now called a “journalist.”
The Publisher also added that the current information crisis have also heightened the professional anxiety in the industry.
“Since everyone who has the time, the means, and the indulgence to set up a blog, a newsletter, or a website is now a journalist, the already rough image of the journalist simply gets further thrashing. Besides distorting the identity of the journalist, misinformation has created a promotional industry of falsehood and distortion around the nature of political engagement, public health predicament and the climate crisis. This total overturning of the economics of news media introduced seismic outcomes in the way we eventually produced journalism, the way we distribute our products and above all, the way we would finance the enterprise of journalism.”
Olorunyomi has therefore urged the NGE to play a major and transformative role in renewing the industry, and repositioning it for value.
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