Why my book warned publishers about online media threat – Ajibola

You just launched your book, Journalism and Business: My Newspaper Odyssey. What is your impression about the launch? It was a very successful public presentation. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of people that came in good numbers from all walks of life. We had media professionals, politicians, businessmen, technocrats, among others, in attendance. […]

You just launched your book, Journalism and Business: My Newspaper Odyssey. What is your impression about the launch?

It was a very successful public presentation. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of people that came in good numbers from all walks of life. We had media professionals, politicians, businessmen, technocrats, among others, in attendance. I feel really fulfilled that the presentation was successful.

 Is there a difference in your view of the Nigerian media before and after your book launch?

I don’t want to relate the launching to the nation’s media industry per se. The nation’s media industry is evolving. It is a case of a cyclical growth just like the National economy. There was a period of boom and now we are in recession.

I believe the media, like other industries, will have to get a share of it.

 You likened the media with the Nigerian economy, do you think the media in one way or the other contributed to the present economic situation?

No, looking at it from the economic point of view, the media you have today was not as prosperous as it was in the last decade, specifically between 2000 and 2010, when huge money was spent on advertising during that period of 10 years.

The budget for advertising was unprecedented despite the economic depression of 2008 and since then it has been going down. It is even worse now. I am not sure you are going to be making lots of money now in advertisement.

Do you see the print media picking up like an economy can re-bounce to prosperity?

The greatest threat to the print as I said during the book presentation is online media. My new company, the MediaEdge Communications Limited, recently conducted a survey to determine the relationship between the online and print copy in the last five years in Nigeria. What we found out in the survey is that 62 percent of consumers of news want to have it on their phones or tablets, generally online. It then becomes a serious concern when you look at the trend of the migration. It is massive and approaching the situation in Asia and the West.

I am not saying the print media would go into extinction. It is not possible, as there is the consumer reading habit that favours the print copy to certain extents.

Nobody can say that the print media will go into extinction, it would not happen. But it would diminish considerably.

 Would it be right to say that newspaper industry is in a kind of recession of its own?

No, once you have an economic recession, all other things would be affected. There is what we call exogenous factors in Economics that the industries don’t have control over. Look at the exchange rate, for example. The printing industry is an industry where almost all that is used is imported in terms of raw materials, unlike in the case of cement where you can get some raw materials like limestone. But in the newspaper industry, everything you need, the paper, plate, ink are all imported. That is a great threat and danger to the industry. I think the publishers should push development in the local contents and productions.

 During the book launch, you emphatically warned publishers against the threats of online publishing, how do you relate your warning in the context of the publications having their individual online units?

Every newspaper has an online platform. But the important thing is for publishers to come together to see how they can filter unprofessional practices online. People go online to send links that don’t give attributions to newspaper stories they published.

There must be collaborations among the traditional media and the credible online newspapers that spend huge amount on their sites but don’t get the expected advert revenue. I know, for example, some platforms where I read all Nigerian newspapers back-to-back, including the advertisements pages. Before I go out in the morning I have read all the Nigerian newspapers back-to-back. I read Daily Trust, I read Punch and others. Those people that engage in such are not being controlled. I understand some publishers even encourage such practices.

How do you think this can be tackled if some publishers back this practice?

The Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) supposed to act on this. I was surprised recently while discussing this issue with a fellow publisher who seems not to see anything wrong with this practice. Some think this is fine as even the adverts would be read by many more online. I paid about N4000 monthly to read about five Nigerian newspapers. I don’t need hard copies anymore as I have it on i-Pad and for that cheap price. This means that you cannot make money from what you print if somebody like me who is a traditional newspaper person is migrating to the online.

The printing industry seems to be in crisis, what can you say about this and the way out?

The printing industry is not the only one in crisis. Every industry is in crisis in Nigeria. I don’t think there is a particular way the printing industry is in crisis. The economy is troubled and that affects every segment.

The printing industry particularly has a huge problem as everything used is imported like I said. Apart from skilled labour, virtually everything is imported and production cost remains high for newspapers. Publishers should encourage the production of some of these inputs in Nigeria.

Nobody is investing in newsprint, for example those involved in inks are not doing well. nobody is looking at what are their problems. You may not need films, but you need plates–technology has not eliminated plate usage and nobody is involved in it here, China is producing all these.

When are we going to get out of this? I am not saying publishing is the only one in this predicament. We have wood in Nigeria, why can’t we look into utilizing our wood to produce newsprint and papers? Also publishers can pressurize government to reduce taxes on newsprints. Newspapers are educational materials. We cannot impose heavy taxes on educational materials when we want the people to be learned.