Former Chairman of Punch newspapers, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, has offered a word of advice to online publishers, warning that this emerging form of practicing journalism carried with heavy responsibilities.
Ogunshola said that in the same way the traditional media practioners have always faced the consequences of their actions whether good or bad, the online media practitioners must also be ready to face such challenges.
The former Punch chairman, who spoke today at the launch of Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, put together by professional journalists who have taken to online publishing, insisted that there should be minimum standards under which online publishers should descend, if they want to be taken serious.
He said that online news platforms must also be able to attract the same level of confidence people have in some of the newspapers that have credibility and balance.
Speaking against the backdrop of the attention he paid to the online arm of the Punch titles when he was chairman of the newspaper, he said: “I am one of those supportive of online media. At Punch as chairman, I recognised online. I wanted it alongside the hard copy. It is not for making money.
“So if you think online publishing can make you rich, that is a mistake. Businesses where people are rich is where you have barrier to entrance. With phones, you can do online publishing, hence there is no barrier of entrance.
“Almost anybody can do it as you do not require too much money to start it.
Since almost everybody can start it, you are not likely to make too much money from it.
“So my encouragement is that in doing online publishing, you must have other goals, the main one being the interest to serve other purposes.”
Ogunshola said it was the failure to realise this that has led to some who claimed to be online publishers to go into blackmailing, adding: “some go into online publishing trying to make money by blackmailing individuals, thus giving online publishing a bad name.”
Ogunshola said it was in the light of this that he became excited when told about the existence of GOCOP.
He said that he wished it had taken off long before the cyber crime law came into effect, arguing that he is not against the law punishing anyone that has erred knowingly.
He is of the belief that just like some traditional newspapers that die after a while, some of the online newspapers will also soon die, adding: “but if you have a cause for which you are publishing, you should be able to stay afloat. But if you are looking for wealth, you won’t be able to make it.”
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, in a goodwill message, said that online newspapers have been of immense benefit to lawmakers.
Dogara, who was represented by Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas, said it has helped to bridge the gap between lawmakers and their constituencies.
He said that there was the need to identify real journalists who are into the online business even as he encouraged newsmen to “use news that will promote democracy.”
Dogara also said the consciousness that there are online publications had gone a long way in checking corruption, adding: “People now know they are being watched. And since part of the 8th legislative agenda is to fight corruption and with the realisation that you cannot do it without the media, it is imperative for the House to work with online publishers.”
Dogara called on journalists to help educate Nigerians about the functions and roles of the legislative arm of government.
The Director General of the Debt Management Office, Dr. Abraham Nwakwo, congratulated GOCOP for the launching, saying that the online news platform is a critical component of the development of the country.
He said that over 55 per cent of what happen to a nation’s economy is about perception and that since that perception is largely created by the media, there is the need for online publishers to assist in doing global marketing for the country and the economy.
Among other guests at the occasion were the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina; the Chairman of Zinox Group, Leo Stan Eke; Bisi Kazeem, the representative of the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Boboye Oyeyemi; the Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility of Airtel, Emeka Oparah; and Head of Communications, United Bank for Africa, Charles Aigbe. [myad]
