Community newspapers tasked on ethics as Prestige marks 25th anniversary
Publishers of community newspapers have been advised to uphold the ethics of the journalism profession and report development issues in local communities.
Proprietor of an Abeokuta-based Prestige Newspaper, Mr. Dada Olanipekun, gave the advice yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Olanipekun, who spoke in an interview with The Guardian on the recently celebrated 25th anniversary of the newspaper, said government must recognise the importance of community newspapers as veritable tools for development.
He listed inadequate advertisements, poor readership and patronage as well as government’s failure to identify with community newspapers as major challenges.
“One major challenge we are facing is the issue of readership, because most of our readers are advanced. They have read national newspapers, they have read international newspapers and when you are running a community newspaper, (except you are unique and spread round the state to cover many issues) you cannot make it,” said Olanipekun.
He further said: “It has not been easy for 99 percent of community newspapers in Ogun State because we are not properly utilised by the local governments. Even those that patronise us don’t pay for advertisement they booked and we loose quite a lot of money.”
Olanipekun, who advised community newspaper publishers to shun unprofessional conducts, warned that they should not be seen as tools for attacking individuals perceived as enemies.
“We have seen cases where community newspaper publishers blackmail people, but we always call and warn ourselves. Many of the publishers do engage in scandal and blackmail. And there is the law court: If you blackmail someone, the person will take you to court, there is right of reply.”
He admitted that about 45 percent of his colleague publishers are blackmailers.
“My newspaper is one of the best among the 39 community newspapers published in Ogun,” Olanipekun said.
Olanipekun, a journalist, thanked those who had, in different ways, assisted him to achieve his goals.
He specifically expressed appreciation to the Publisher of The Guardian, Mrs. Maiden Alex-Ibru, and the Management of the newspaper, which he described as the flagship of the Nigerian Print media for “moral support.”
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