Towards Improved Mass Media Development

The National Council on Information and Communication, recently, rekindled an age long advocacy for improved remuneration and infrastructure for mass media professionals.

The body critically assessed the contributions of mass media workers as against their various take home pay and suggested among other things, that all state Ministries of Information should provide logistic support and basic infrastructure necessary for the media to complement efforts at grassroot mobilisation and enlightenment.

This would not be the first time that a public institution of this kind would be lamenting the abysmal state of the media in the country.

In fact, both the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations,  NIPR, and indeed various state media organisations have repeatedly described as inadequate and uncondusive, both the remuneration of media men and indeed the atmosphere under which they function.

As essential workers known to be responsible for the nation’s information requirements and whose duty schedule most times cover 24 hours daily, this fresh call offers us yet another look at the state of the mass media vis-à-vis what obtains elsewhere.

It is regrettable that successive governments in Nigeria have continued to treat the information sector with unimaginable neglect and disdain inspite of the innumerable  contributions and sacrifice the mass media in Nigeria has made to both the survival of rule of law and democracy.

The situation is made worse by basic journalism tradition which insists that the reporter must at all times think himself out of a story which invariably means keeping immediate interests last in consideration of national issues.

That also accounted for the absence of a co-ordinated protest for improved pay and public support as variously done by medical doctors, university lecturers and even classroom teachers.

This is why the position of the National Council on Information and Communications as contained in its 13-point communiqué after its meeting at Makurdi is timely and of national importance.

We say so because it needs not be emphasised that information and communication management within the global context has for years now been on very high technological speed, and unless Nigeria, and indeed the various state governments therein paid great attention to the state and development of the media and even more importantly the welfare of the professionals, the supposed giant of Africa stands the risk of being left behind.

A vibrant mass media, no doubt, is key to national orientation, social engineering, mass mobilisation towards developmental goals, ethical re-orientation, information, education and indeed repositioning of the country and her people among the glorious ranks of civilized peoples all over the world.

That is why developed countries invest massively on the mass media and ours should not be any different.

To achieve these objectives the federal and state governments should, as a policy, set aside a percentage of their annual earnings towards mass media development initiatives and better remuneration of the professionals.