Kolapo Olapoju: Journalism facing threats | Stakeholders must innovate to survive

Kolapo Olapoju, editor of TheCable, says stakeholders in the media industry must be innovative to ensure that journalism thrives.

Olapoju spoke on Monday at the second Nigerian Media Leaders’ Summit in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.

The summit was organised by The Journalism Clinic (TJC).

Olapoju said his position was premised on the fact that media houses are grappling with uncertainty about the future of journalism especially in the face of frenetic evolution.

The newspaper editor added that the challenges are compounded by smear campaigns, press restrictions, and dwindling advert revenues.

“Journalism as you know it is changing. We are witnessing a changing audience appetite as the news is now delivered on social media — whether confirmed or not — at a frenetic pace,” Olapoju said.

“Citizen journalism and the democratisation of information-sharing, courtesy of the smartphone, have thrown up more headaches for us. We either offer extra value and unique insight through our reportage, content and offerings — or we contend with declining readership.

“We are in the post-truth world, where the work of a journalist — no matter how seemingly unimpeachable — can be punctured with lies, smear campaigns and propaganda, and the author is pilloried and bullied into silence.

“Misinformation, disinformation, and fake news are everywhere we turn, in every WhatsApp group we open and every Facebook page we stumble upon.

“We are also now faced with waning credibility, declining audience trust, a constantly decreasing attention span for the written word, and chief of all; the proliferation of artificial intelligence which appears to be a game-changer and an unavoidable phenomenon.

“In the midst of all these challenges, how do we move forward? How do we proceed, given the choices facing us; either to just keep surviving and merely exist or disrupt and thrive?”

Olapoju charged stakeholders to make critical decisions on how to approach journalism and make it work.

The editor added that it is important to deploy innovation and chart a path for how to take journalism in Nigeria to a place of financial security, assured future and renewed credibility.

Other speakers at the summit included Olusegun Osoba, veteran journalist and former Ogun governor; Kabir Yusuf, chairman, Newspapers Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and chairman, Media Trust Limited; and Taiwo Obe, founder of TJC.

The summit’s partners and sponsors are the Lagos government, Nigeria LNG Limited, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), TheCable Newspapers, Punch Nigeria Limited, and UAC Foods.