Minister seeks media support in anti-terror campaign

The Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Saturday pleaded with the media to support the Federal Government in its effort to contain insurgency and banditry in Nigeria. According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the minister, represented by the Director of Information in the ministry, Mr. Sunday Baba, made the call at the 2019 Biennial Convention of the Nigerian Guild of Editors at Ikeja, Lagos.

Mohammed also urged the media to support the military and the present administration’s effort to bequeath a virile and egalitarian society through concerted and sustained attacks on the ills of society. “As media practitioners, you have a responsibility to steer the government toward purposeful programmes and policies that would engender national, growth and cohesiveness. In this light, government expects the media to always advance the national cause by upholding the sanctity of peace, nationalism and the benefits of the pluralism of our society,” he said.

The Head of Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Prof. Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, in a keynote address, called on media practitioners to evolve strategies to tackle media capitalists. Ogwezzy-Ndisika explained that new media capitalists were dominating the cyberspace and to remain relevant and afloat, media practitioners must do more. She listed the problems in the media industry to include poor remuneration of journalists, shallow contents and shelving of responsibilities.

Ogwezzy-Ndisika noted that the media in some developed countries were doing well because they were moving with current trends and realities. The don pointed out that the new media, including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google, Nairaline and other platforms were taking over the role of the old media as they competed for the attention of readers and that the new media were snatching the advertising space.

Speaking on the topic: “Media Convergence as Strategy for Survival’’, Ogwezzy-Ndisika, stressed the need for media owners to take into account, the needs of  consumers in providing content, to remain relevant. “We can remodel our strategies,’’ she said.