Media owners and unpaid salaries

The media enjoys a good perception in the society and should not have allowed itself to be embroiled in salaries saga, which this development would surely affect its image of ‘being voice of the hapless’, since it habours the hapless itself.Moreover, ThisDay newspapers has also failed to remit personal income tax, pension cooperative deductions and […]

The media enjoys a good perception in the society and should not have allowed itself to be embroiled in salaries saga, which this development would surely affect its image of ‘being voice of the hapless’, since it habours the hapless itself.
Moreover, ThisDay newspapers has also failed to remit personal income tax, pension cooperative deductions and check-off dues from paid salaries in the last four years.
The union, led by the NUJ Lagos State Chiarman, Deji Elumoye, carried placards and barricaded the entrances of the media organization, owned by the President of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nduka Obaigbena.
Mr Elumoye, who is a staff of ThisDay, said he decided to lead the protest against his organization to show that charity begins at home.
He said the protesting journalists were condemning the continuous refusal of the management of ThisDay and 12 other media houses to settle the several months to their staff.
He called on the National Pension Commission to prosecute media owners, who do not remit workers’ pension contribution to serve as deterrent to others.
From the foregoing, the media is not exempted from the crisis of unpaid salaries like in other sectors of the society.  A lot of businesses also owe workers due to the hard economic condition of the country.
However, there is a legal relationship between a worker and employer and the employer should pay for the work rendered to him by the employee.
But in the case where employers cannot pay salaries, the government should find a way of folding up such companies, instead of stringing workers along for months and years without any consequences.
In fact some workers move away without ever getting their owed salaries paid. So it should go beyond protest to taking great measures to safeguard the employee. Like in the UK, any company that doesn’t fulfill its obligation is closed down.
What makes the non-payment of salaries by media  owners peculiar is that  the media by the nature of its work has no moral ground to criticize if it is found wanting too.
Before it can criticize the government or others, it should make sure it is above board, therefore it should do all it can to meet up to its obligation so as not to be seen as hypocritical. After all those unpaid media workers have families and needs just like the workers in states whose cause the media championed and demonized the governors.
And just like the states that owe salaries, some media houses’ owing may not be due to lack of money, but because they don’t plan well and don’t put their priority first, which should be the payment of salary.
It is on record that some of the media houses that owe their staff salaries have a lot of advertisements, so they can pay their staff if they really want to. But apparently since there is no regulation to shut down companies that cannot pay their workers after a certain time, they just carry on  as if it is the most usual thing to do, particularly as some workers would never be paid if they leave.
There is danger in not paying journalists their salaries, as some media organizations believe that they can survive with the so-called brown envelope. It is this kind of perception that demeans the profession, whereby anybody can throw coins so to say at a journalist, as his worth!
In addition, it is totally unacceptable to expect other people to pay for your employees in whatever guise, just because you are in the media.
Many journalists that find themselves in such a situation may throw their professional ethics away and go into the practice of journalism of blackmail and extortion in order to survive.
Yet, the media owners would expect the best from such people, which is not possible.
However, there are some media owners that pay their staff well and on time, so as not to allow a leeway for compromise and blackmail.
So as a matter of urgency those media houses that owe their workers should pay them without delay.
If media owners treat their workers anyhow and get away with it, it means anybody can wake up and decides to set up a media house without a clear idea of how to go about it, especially on how to pay salaries.
In the final analysis the media is too critical a sector for its staff not to be paid. It just cannot afford to be so negligent.