Ace journalist wants media change business model to gain more credibility

Media
By Olayinka Olawale
Lagos, May 9, 2018 (NAN) Veteran journalist, Mr Dapo Olorunyomi, on Wednesday called in the Nigerian media industry to change its business model to have more credibility.

“The first thing is to understand what the problems are; they include trust, professionalism and revenue.
“Many reporters and other media people are not paid salaries; there is no insurance, no pension; it is a revenue problem.

“We have to re-manage the media; we have to change the business model upon which the media are financed because it is totally broken and has been discredited,” Olorunyomi, Publisher of an online newspaper, Premium Times, said.

He spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Olorunyomi said that deterioration in journalism would affect democracy.

“When media deteriorates, democracy will,’’ he told NAN.

He urged journalists to uphold the ethics of the profession at all times.
“There is the need for a renewal of professionalism; greater investment in ethics and a new commitment to our readers, listeners and those that we serve.

“When we do that, we will see that the end goal of journalism is making democracy to work, making governance possible.

“If we want to practice journalism, there are three fundamentals: reporting must be factual and accurate, information must be verifiable and professionals independent,’’ he said.

The publisher urged the media to support the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) in the training of journalists.

Olorunyomi, a fellow of the NIJ, said that the institute had been playing a huge role in promoting professionalism in the industry.

He described the NIJ as the biggest mid-career trainer of journalists in the country.

“The industry should support the NIJ more because training and re-training of journalists is the heart of good journalism,’’ he said. (NAN)
OOG/FF/IGO
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Edited by Fela Fashoro/Ijeoma Popoola