Nigeria Sunrise: Taraba’s child of necessity?

Already, the new paper is facing some challenges but will it survive? State owned newspapers have not fared so well in Nigeria but Taraba Publishing Company Limited has not been deterred, it considered publishing Nigeria Sunrise a necessity as the story of Taraba will be better told by Tarabians themselves. Early this month, the Executive […]

Already, the new paper is facing some challenges but will it survive?

State owned newspapers have not fared so well in Nigeria but Taraba Publishing Company Limited has not been deterred, it considered publishing Nigeria Sunrise a necessity as the story of Taraba will be better told by Tarabians themselves.

Early this month, the Executive Governor of Taraba State, Danbaba Danfulani Suntai presented the paper to the public, after about 10 months on newsstands.

While Suntai was full of praise for his newspaper for deviating from the unethical practice of journalism in Nigeria, he said he hated other journalists because they peddle rumours and report lies and are even used by unscrupulous politicians to settle political scores.

He added that Nigeria Sunrise was one of the best newspapers in Nigeria because it has been factual and fair in reporting people and events, not only in Taraba but also in Nigeria generally.

He said if he was asked to name the paper, he would have christened it Taraba Sunrise and not Nigeria Sunrise as he was looking at publishing a newspaper that can just report the “truth about Taraba” and be able to reach where radio and television could not reach.

He said he placed high premium on information dissemination and was determined that his people get nothing but factual information disseminated to them.

According to him, the paper within the last 10 months has exceeded his expectations by its coverage and circulation and he was no longer bothered by its name, Nigeria Sunrise.

But a vendor who would not want to be named said the paper is not doing so well. He said in spite of it being a state owned newspaper, its readership is not wide. According to him, readers have more confidence in national dailies than a state owned newspaper that is established as a machinery for government’s propaganda.

“The Nigeria Sunrise’s competition with national dailies is so stiff that if it is going to survive, it will take quite some time. Few people ask for it as they do some national dailies and if the trend continues, then the future of the paper will be bleak. But ‘Rome was not built in a day’ so there is hope that it will gather momentum and actually sell well,” the vendor said.

For Iorzua Shaagba, a seasoned journalist and a media manager, Nigeria Sunrise is “a child of necessity” that will fill the vacuum of who will tell the story of Taraba. He however said: “If you regard it as a business that will survive, then you are flattering it.”

He explained that the economics of printing have changed the world over and anybody publishing a newspaper now will have to “fashion a new approach based on the current realities of global media funding.” He said the old economic principle of “the more you print, the less you pay” is no longer feasible and can spell doom for any newspaper still applying the principle.

He added that newspapers are established for altruism and profitability purposes and if Nigeria Sunrise were to survive, it had to focus on altruism and not profitability. He however, acknowledged the fact that the paper will need to pay for itself as it will not continue depending on government for funding and he advised that the paper be transferred to private ownership.

He expressed fear that if another government takes over from Suntai in 2015 and does not see funding the paper as its priority, it will abandon it and it will become another waste of public funds.

“Any public funded organization does not make profit,” Shaagba said.

But Suntai had earlier, during the public presentation of the paper, promised to transfer it to private ownership when his tenure elapses as governor of Taraba State to ensure that it survives.

So far, investigations have revealed that the paper has printed a little over 670, 000 copies but has sold just over 67, 000 copies.

When contacted to comment on the circulation and sales of the paper, Managing Consultant, Barrister Danjuma Adamu said it is a trade secret that no newspaper publisher would reveal.

In spite of the tough beginning, there are indications that Tarabians are in love with their local paper and whether it will survive the vagaries of publishing is entirely dependent on the political will of the government and the philosophy it pursues.

“Through the Nigeria Sunrise, we sought to provide a meeting point for government and the people; bridge communication gap; publicise the cultures, economies, tourism potentials, politics and peoples of this state; uphold, highlight, clarify, promote and interpret their worldviews, pursuits and prospects,” Adamu said.

Sunday Trust sought the opinion of some newspaper readers in Jalingo and they had these to say: “Nigeria Sunrise is objective and fair in its reporting such that you cannot compare it with other state owned newspapers. It is new on the newsstand but it is faring well at least in terms of reporting issues that concern the people of Taraba and Nigeria as a whole. It is doing its best to give voice to all the people in all segments of the society. So what it is doing is trying to ensure that there is equity,” Abubakar M. Kauwa said.

For Joseph Angyu, the paper has transcended its boundary of a local paper to being a national paper within a very short time and he is impressed with the manner the paper has been reporting national issues. “The paper has been taking national news seriously and it has been reporting opposition activities, though more prominence is being given to the government of the day,” he said.