By Segun Ayinde, Abeokuta
President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has charged Media practitioners to display professionalism and high ethical standards while performing their duties as the watchdog of the society.
Dangote disclosed this in Abeokuta during a three-day training sponsored by the Pan-African conglomerate for journalists from across the South-West geo-political zone of the country.
He emphasized the role of the journalists to be very critical in the society as both the governed and the governments rely solely on the Media for information to better the society.
Dangote who spoke through his Senior General Manager, Branding and Communication, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Sunday Esan, said that media practitioners could not afford to be less professional and ethical to meet the yearnings of the society
He said that his company embarks on sponsoring the workshop training in order to fine tuning the journalists for modern day expectation in view of the evolution of the social media.
Meanwhile, Media and communication experts have advocated a case for journalists to cultivate entrepreneurial spirit and skills in the use of new technology in order to remain relevant in the media and communication.
A Media expert, Dr. Victor Ogwezzy and Dr. Jide Johnson told the men of the pen profession during the training to always look at the business side of the practice while discharging their duties.
While they took turns to speak during the training themed: “The Convergence Journalism” organized by Folio Media & Creative Academy, the Media practitioners stressed that though the ethics of the profession of journalism remain sacrosanct, the practitioners must not lose sight of the marketing side of their job.
Ogwezzy, a Communication and Brand management expert said marketing in the media is everybody’s business without which no media organization would survive.
He urged the media practitioners to be mindful of their own personal survival and that of the organizations in which they are working and take marketing seriously.
According to him, some newspapers which bothered less about the marketing side of the business, today are now off the newsstand, thus throwing their workers into the unemployment market.
Ogwezzy, who is the Chief Responsibility Officer of B2B Matrix Ltd., said journalists also have the responsibility to ensure contents in their newspapers; radio and television are good enough to attract quality readership and audience which will translate to income through advertisement.
He explained that gone were the days where the business of marketing was left purely for the business development executives in the media organizations and that journalists equally has roles to play in marketing. He added that some media organizations’ inability to pay their workers could be partly attributed to non-recognition of seriousness and importance of Marketing in the media.
Also speaking, Johnson, a seasoned media practitioner who is the Director, Special Programmes at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism(NIJ) underscored the importance of the media in the society, saying no one can do without Newspaper, radio, television, phone, data, airtime, which were part the of media.
“Imagine waking up in a day and there was no more radio, television, newspaper or internet. It would look as if the world no longer exists.”
He however charged journalists to be conscious of the huge responsibility put on their shoulders by the Nigerian Constitution, which is holding government accountable for its actions and serving as the voice of the people.