The chairman, ThisDay and Arise Media Group, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, has stressed the need for the media to properly monetise intellectual property in its industry, saying to win the battle of survival for newspapers and magazines, intellectual property must be considered as an asset class.
Obaigbena made this comment yesterday at the 2024 Lateef Jakande Annual Memorial Lecture with the theme, ‘Rapidly Changing Media Landscape: Media Survival Strategies’, organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in Lagos, where he was the lead speaker.
He said, “We must ensure that we pass a law that those who use our work online, either Google, Facebook or Instagram, must pay for it. If we get payment for the work we do every day as journalists, we will be in a far better place. So that’s the first survival instinct that we must do.”
While noting that the advent of technology such as Artificial Intelligence, has put journalism under threat, he, however, urged journalists to see AI as beneficial to promoting good journalism practice.
Obaigbena also stressed the need to reposition the fortunes of the youth, saying that connecting with the youth is to report issues that affect them as well as shape their ideology through quality reportage.
He stated that the survival of newspapers in a competitive environment where online media have dominated rests on the constant engagement with the youth in terms of news generation, processing, and management.
He noted that youths constitute a large population of the nation’s population, emphasising the need for journalists to be creative in the manner of disseminating news.
On his part, the publisher of Vanguard Media Group, Sam Amuka, recalled the old days when journalists made use of typewriters and other analogue processes for newspaper production, noting that the advent of technology has changed the fortunes of the media.
He, however, expressed worry over the decline in sales in newspapers, stressing the need for the media actors to address the challenge.
He said, “Most of the reasons we publish newspapers are mainly for readers and advertisers. Time waits for no one. We must do our serious thinking on how to go if we want to survive. Newsprint is costing more and we need to continue to publish hard copies for everybody’s good.”
Earlier, the president of the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Eze Anaba, lauded the late Jakande for his service to the journalism profession and society.
He noted that the lecture was institutionalised by the NGE to celebrate the legacies and accomplishments of the former governor of the state for living a principled and professionally impactful life.
In his address, senior special assistant to media to the president, Tunde Rahman, also eulogised Lateef Jakande for spreading the gospel of quality journalism in the country.
Speaking on the proposed nationwide protest in August, he appealed to the media to join the government in ensuring stability in the country by reporting stories that would promote peace and safety.