1991 Media Review
December 1991
It is no more news that journalists complain of poor rewards for the amount of work and risk that their jobs entail. However, the very essence of journalism makes it out as a job that requires commitment. The journalist is at work 24 hours daily. Even when he is not on the beat or at the office he is required to be on top of the news. That means being constantly watchful, always seeking new developments, issues or ideas that have a bearing to his job as society’s watchdog. It is simply a life of absolute dedication, of sacrifice…..Read More
November 1991
daily. Even when he is not on the beat or at the office he is required to be on top of the news. That means being constantly watchful, always seeking new developments, issues or ideas that have a bearing to his job as society’s watchdog. It is simply a life of absolute dedication, of sacrifice……Read More
October 1991
On Nigerian college campuses ‘thena-days’, say in the 70s, you were not “happening” if your room was not adorned with exotic wall papers on which were pasted colour portraits in varying sizes, up to man-size, of such foreign pop stars as “Papa J.B” – James Brown (“The Goodfather of Soul”), Johnny Guitar Watson, Jimi Hendrix (smoke rings, guitar and all), Millie Jackson, Jackson 5ive (Michael Jackson et al), The Osmond Brothers, Brothers Johnson, Rod Stewart (trademark: bulging crotch) Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Be.ly (“Tonight Is The Night”) Wright….Read More
September 1991
It is like a game of chess. You could play it by yourself but it would be boring. Beyond this, you may cheat, even without knowing it. It is the same for scrabble and some other games. You can’t play both ends of the field. This is more so in advertising, which however is not a game. True, advertising is about competition; but it is also about campaign. Advertising is war, and this not just a metaphor. While advertising stomachs a little bit of smart cheating here and there, it has no room for bedroom.If only for this reason, an advertising agency cannot pretend to sell effectively two brands of analgesics or detergent or toilet soap. Just as one man cannot play a game of chess…..Read More
August 1991
In the days when he read the Network news-up till the late 70s – James Audu, pioneer NTA director of news, would sit relaxed in front of the camera, a smile on his face, his moustache strickingly trimmed, his cap tilted delicately to one side and his left shoulder angled in a particular way that gave him what one might call the Audu posture. One Audu watcher said he loved the way he almost imperceptibly wriggled his shoulder – perhaps unconsciously – while he delivered the news…..Read More
July 1991
“…We are not going to allow the press to disturb us on what we are doing. We shall not allow false publication against the police any longer. You (the press) went and reported that police shot two students at Yaba College of Technology, when in actual fact the students died as a result of the riots even before the police got there. That the police prevented them from going out of the gate, that it led to the death of one of the students…..Read More
June 1991
The Newspaper proprietors’ Association of Nigeria at its just concluded Annual General Meeting, discussed pnagervices to the reading public. “The AGM noted that a standard newspaper now costs a minimum of N3.50. In most cases, the cost is much higher depending on sources of production materials and level of efficiency attained……Read More
May 1991
It was a scandal, all right. But, with the news media, especially the popular ones – those appealing to emotions – it’s not enough to call it that. some juicy sobriquets have to be found. Even serious publications chose not to be left behind. Thus, we have had “mother of all stories” (African Concord, Newbreed), “the greatest drug scandal in Nigeria” (African Concord), “the one million naira drug scandal” (PARADE) and “the big story” (Sunday Mail)…..Read More
April 1991
Death of two Nigerian journalists in the Liberian war re-awakens old questions about hazards of the profession
“FIDEL, GO AND GET YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT, go to Yusuf Mamman (then chief press secretary to Chief of General staff, Augustus Aikhomu), you are going ro Liberial”. That was, well, an order, one afternoon last August, from THISWEEK Publisher Nduka Obaigbena to Fidel Otuya, then a senior writer on the newsmagazine. No sooner had Obaigbena stated his charge than Otuya shot back, stemly:”No, publisher, l’m not going!”…..Read More
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