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From Joe Effiong, Uyo
Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ini Ememobong has challenged the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) to wake up to the realities that all is not well in the Nigerian media industry.
Ememobong specifically harped on the poor welfare scheme in the Nigeria journalism industry and wondered why the three groups have not considered it imperative to collectively fashion out welfare packages that would not only ensure that media workers earn living wages, but also rekindle the waning prestige on the profession.
He tasked these stakeholders to partner the next National Assembly in regulating media ownership in Nigeria as the current mushrooming and fragmental ownership with little or no capital base have adversely affected the standard of the profession and confidence of its practitioners.
Proper regulation, he said, would help ensurefavourable welfare condition for journalists and other media workers, whom he regretted have been subjected to untold hardship due to poor welfare system.
Speaking with Daily Sun, Ememobong said: “The next National Assembly should look into regulating the media sector, but in consultation with stakeholders. How much do these people earn? It’s a profession. These people buy from the same market. We must find a way to ensure that newspaper houses are viable. If you are not viable, you have no business being in business, else you are going to licence people to go and beg; you are going to licence people to begin to murder the integrity of others. If a media house cannot run, there is absolutely no need for that media house to employ people and put them on the street, because you are helping to spoil the profession.”
The Information Commissioner praised journalists for keeping the society safe by holding governments accountable, but tasked the NUJ to rid itself of quacks.
