By Soni ASUELIMEN
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo expressed concern on quality of media practice at the Guild of Editors meet in Delta State few days ago. The convulsive, unprecedented shrinking of the economy under the current Buhari-Osinbajo administration is perplexing and is a contributory factor to media quality the VP laments.
It’s not only the electronic social media that are culprit to publication of unverified information, the mainstream hard copy newspapers are no less guilty.
The dominant private media industry has no immunity or government protection from economic recession still raging, despite subsidizing government to educate, enlighten, inform and entertain the public to promote general public health in promoting for free awareness of government activities.
Import duties on printing materials such as newsprint, chemicals, plates, etc, also used in producing educational materials, are high, indicating government has little value for educational materials, which ought to be duty free.
Prohibitive Cost of running media concerns has led to cutting corners by owners. Staff are owed several months salaries, often slashed, workers are sacked arbitrarily to maintain lean, affordable workforce, disengagement entitlements are not paid. The outcome is the quality complained. You don’t get the best from a staff doing the job of six persons, is underpaid and salary delayed. Investigation journalism is absent because media owners, mostly private the publics rely on, can’t fund it. There is, therefore, resort, sometimes, to publishing hearsay, no confirmation. Media owners now throw out experienced journalists they cannot afford to pay, to hire cheap greenhorns with attendant substandard quality.
The dismal government management of the economy has massively devastated consumer purchasing power leading to severe shrinking of circulation figures as public contend with basic survival needs of food, shelter fees, etc.
Not only newspapers are devastated by Buhari mismanagement of economy via the devaluation of the Naira and jumbo hike in fuel prices, both poison prescription of the International Monetary Fund, IMF. The twin evil economy death recipe has turned Nigeria into the global poverty headquarters and beggar for rogue China loans.
Other industries and manufacturing outfit have collapsed in droves. Unbearable fuel cost, from failed public power supply, has provoked viral hyperinflation that wages become worthless, leading to high factory inventory, shut down, all debilitating the economy from recovery. If the VP complains of poor media quality, he should know the same suffocating operating environment makes fake medicines, and other products to thrive.
It’s shameful that South Africa with a population of 45 millions produces over 45,000 mega watts of electricity and exports surplus to neighbours, while Buhari’s Nigeria cannot sustain 3,000 megawatts it inherited for 180 million population.
ASUELIMEN writes via soniasuelimen@yahoo.com