By Bose Adelaja
CITIZENS COMPASS – At the take-off of any and every business enterprise, there is bound to be a myriad of seemingly-intractable problems, which require strong-willed, determined and relentless characters to navigate.
This phenomenon also applies to many media entrepreneurs who may, in one way or another, find themselves at crossroads in the course of pursuing their careers passionately.
And as the saying goes, when the journey becomes rough, the tough and determined keep going.
A note-worthy case is that of a media practitioner, Tolu Ogunbanjo (not real name), who in the media industry was a focused goal-getter and hardly could any story break without his input. This he did for several years, winning handful laurels and awards but he did this for the passion he had for the job.
He crisscrossed the globe such that he became a cynosure of all eyes and a role model for many while in practice. However, he unfortunately took ill and the ailment truncated his vision.
Though his employers did their supposed best but when nature defied all possible medical intervention, they threw in the towel and his life journey ended abruptly like a person who bought oranges, sucked and discarded them.
In less than three years, the hard-working journalist gave up the ghost, leaving his immediate family in agony and turmoil.
This scenario is likely to be the experience of many media practitioners whose intention is geared towards practical performance without veering through the strategic windows of the economic projection toward sustainability in media practice.
This and many more are the likely challenges media practitioners may encounter in the cause of their adventure.
Thus, in a commendable effort to point the way forward for budding media enterpreneurs, the African Foundation for Young Media Professionals (AFMP), out of its wealth of experiences, decided to impact the knowledge of 25 media entrepreneurs through a two-day media entrepreneurship and business viability workshop.
It is the beginning of a three-months media entrepreneurship fellowship.
The event took place on Wednesday and Thursday, June 5 and 6, 2024, at the Centre for Management and Development, Magodo, Lagos State, at 9a.m daily where the host, Yinka Olaito refreshed the memories of the participants.
The training was an eye opener that despite the hardship bedeviling media entrepreneurs, there are various opportunities out there that could be tapped.
Speakers included Toun Okewale Sonaiya, CEO of WomenRadio 91.7FM, Kayode Ladeinde, Executive Editor, TVC News, Lekan Otufodurin, Director of MediaCareer Development Network, Kolapo Olapoju from The Cable, Omotola Adebanjo, a radio broadcaster and Ikechukwu Stephen from Businessday.
Presenting a paper titled, ‘Media Business and Technology: Implications for Entrepreneurs, Sonaiya said a lot of opportunities await the participants and how they could tailor their research towards these.
She admonished them to take advantage of technology and be innovative in the course of their duties.
According to her, ”Things are emerging, things are changing. Technology is changing the way we create, distribute information and consume content. As entrepreneurs, you must understand these changes because if you don’t join them, you will sink or be left behind.
”If you are running a business without making money out of it, you need to think twice. Some of our forefathers had a passion for news but lacked the knowledge to make it a business to sustain the organisation. You need to make your brand comfortable before you can be an entrepreneur.”
To succeed in the media world, she gave a recommendation, urging participants to ”be innovative, visible, consistent, credible, ready for changes and put your plans together.”
In his presentation titled, ‘Media products and consumer engagement, succeeding in a competitive market,” Ladeinde tasked the Fellows to harness the power of technology, ”Embrace the new era in media and technology. Let us work together to create a vibrant and sustainable future for our business and industry. Use the power of technology to make yourself successful and be ready to survive in everyday work,” he said.
He also cautioned the Fellows that in their bid to be successful, the ethics of the profession should not be ignored, stressing, ”However, money should not erode the basics of journalism.”
Ladeinde drew a clear difference between paying and non-paying consumers, saying both should be well managed in the journey to success.
He said that non-paying consumers are the readers while the paying consumers are those who are financially committed to the brand.
”Both paying and non-paying consumers are important in media entrepreneurship,”he added.
While presenting a paper titled, ”Ethical storytelling, Otufodurin drew a clear distinction between content creators and journalists, noting that though they both share information, while journalists can claim to be content creators, a content creator cannot claim to be to be journalists.
He admonished the Fellows to do more research and be accurate as much as possible. ”Journalism entails a higher degree of public trust. To earn and maintain this, it is morally imperative for every journalist and every news medium to observe the highest professional ethical standards.
“Be on the spot of happenings when possible and don’t depend on eyewitnesses, ensure your sources are reliable and trustworthy as they claim and observe the universally accepted principle of confidentiality and should not disclose the source of information obtained in confidence,” he said.
“To earn the trust and patronage of their audience, Otufodunrin said, ”Don’t breach an agreement with a source of information obtained as ‘off-the-record’ or ‘background information’. ”Don’t use unethical means like stealing documents or obtaining information based on false pretences. Undercover should be the last option for investigation and your findings should still be the last option for investigation and your findings should still be validated by asking for reactions.
Similarly, Yinka Olaito, Executive Director, Africa Foundation for Young Media Professionals,
while presenting a paper titled, ”The business of news and product thinking,” highlighted the need for media entrepreneurs to embrace sincerity, clarity, openness, truth, transparency, fairness, faithfulness, and honesty, among others.
He urged them to highlight their business model and pursue it with the ultimate aim of making gains while using social media to enhance this.
”Without having a business model, you are lost in the crowd,” he said.
In a presentation titled, ”Media Business Models & Funders Management,” Olapoju said those aspiring to grow in the media business must manage relationships with others.
As for growing their brands, he said funding is highly necessary and this can be sourced through various channels like traditional funding, for partnership, consultancy crowdfunding, products, and content creation to mention but a few.
While sharing ideas on news programming, a broadcast journalist, Adebanjo took the participants through key areas for elements of news which are proximity, conflict, bizarre and credibility while emphasising that various media formats can be used to disseminate information.
The presentation was concluded by sharing the participants into different groups to demonstrate what they had learned.
In conclusion, Stephen in his presentation titled, ”Media Landscape: Thriving in a Changing World,” mentioned the various media tools that could be explored by the participants.
In their feedback, Yusuf Idowu Abass of Ideal Media Nigeria said the training has widened his horizon.
Publisher Exponent Magazine News-Online, Olusegun Adeyemi Hosea said the two days of work media training held in Lagos was an eye opener for me in the area of tapping the opportunities hidden in the media industry.
“I learned about how to develop partnerships with other brands in order to soar higher in the industry.”
