Omotayo Obe and Taiye Tunkarimu
In recent times, the closures of some newspaper houses have been the news especially across the United States and Europe. A lot of young people are now moving online to get information and current news rather from newspapers. Ambassador Stephen Oguntoyinbo, CEO of The Talk Village International had the craving for the need to put together a forum where it would bring to the notice of young people the role of the media in national development and rebranding the images of Nigerians in Diaspora by young people themselves.
This yearning gave rise to the 1st ever National Youth Media Summit, which took place recently at the British Council Multi-Media Suite, Ikoyi, Lagos for two days. The gathering was mostly attended by young people and facilitated by the young people themselves. Many issues were raised and discussed as to the role of the media in the nation’s development and the inactive role played by young people especially while using the Internet giving its potential as a news outlet. A lot of emphases were placed on social networks such as Facebook, You Tube, Twitter et al and the Internet generally, which can be used as effective tools in disseminating information especially about Nigeria to the whole world.
While making his presentation, the Editor of TIMELESS Newspaper, Ayodeji Jeremiah spoke on the era of the new media and the need for a convergence between the old and the new media in other to make the best use of both worlds even as the World is changing to a global village. He emphasised the need for a synergy between the old and the new media while stating that democracy is still the strongest and best form of governance in modern society. The media, he said remains one of the strongest institutions that allow democracy thrive in any society.
Mr. Ayodeji said as a journalist, it is important not to be restricted to one media format but be an all rounder in the different formats. Given the power of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace as not just social networks but also powerful tools for news dissemination and information; the challenge for print newspapers is to address how to use the new media even as many young people don’t have the time to flip through the pages of different newspapers for news when in a matter of minutes, they can have detailed information on news happening just by going online.
On how the traditional media can meet the challenges of the new media, he said print newspapers need to focus more on analysis than reporting. They must also focus more on young people who love to read about themselves. The need for better design, more graphics, more headlines, more pictures and less text should be embraced. Newspapers, he said must have a clear ideology and carve a niche for themselves.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Ayodeji advised youths to develop themselves and try and get at least the minimum educational degree. He also urged them to be knowledgeable about everything and most especially their subject areas. In his words “know your stuff, know your environment”.
According to Dr. Tunde Adegbola, The CEO of African Technology Initiative, a company set up to make computers useful in African languages, the media he said is information and communication and the way we do it is the most important factor of our humanity because the objective of humans is to communicate. The media is full of opportunities and information revolution is a youth thing. This is the age of advantages and privileges that never came in the 60s or 80s. Nigeria, he said is the only country without a Community Development Broadcast Initiative (Community Radio and the likes) in the ECOWAS region. He therefore admonished the youths to stand up and be counted because the capacity to inform and transfer information lies in the hands of young people and if we don’t act now we will be oppressed and told who we are and whatever we are told becomes a reality because we haven’t taken advantage of who we are and what we have. Dr. Tunde ended his presentation by defining Globalisation as when Nokia sells more cameras than the likes of Kodak, Sony, Canon et al put together.
Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin, the Sunday Editor of The Nation Newspaper and founder of Journalist for Christ spoke on Communication, Policy and Journalism Practice: the Role of the Youth. He started off his presentation by defining success as “seeing into the future before it becomes very obvious”. For many young people it is about being successful in whatever career they have chosen for themselves but to succeed in the field of journalism he stressed that it is important to be knowledgeable about happenings in the society especially the running of government and their policies because one cannot argue about what he/she does not know. Proper qualifications is also very important as a media practitioner and in seeking employment, it is crucial that one seeks for it in the mainstream media and come up with new concepts to improve on the quality of contributions on the Internet and ideas that will champion the coverage of new issues and topics that matters like climate change and globalisation.
Nike Fagade, CEO, Positive Development Foundation emphasised the need for young people to read widely, promote and say good things of themselves and their country everywhere they go within and outside the country. She encouraged youths not just to go online and check mails or chat on Facebook writing status such as “I just prepared beans and dodo” or “am chilling in a buka (a local canteen)” but to flood the Internet daily anytime they get the opportunity to go online with positive information and news of young people changing and contributing positively to the growth and development of the society. She also pleaded with Nollywood film producers to stop espousing negativism in Nigerian movies. “Not that we don’t know that these things are happening but we have to erase the negative and bad image of Nigeria and start showing the world the good side of Nigeria.”
Dolapo Taiwo of Unotech who spoke on Web 2.0 said the future of Communication and Journalism lies on the Internet. He pushed for everyone to make good use of their blogs to disseminate information. He stressed that young people should use the Internet for more productive and positive money making ventures by building a brand for themselves and making lots of noise about such. The need for government to come up with new media policies was also emphasised.
During the group discussions, the participants came up with suggestions that for youth media to be extraordinary and different there is a need for young people to be consistent with their initiatives and develop their content to a world class standard. Innovation and creativity must be employed and loyalty to clients and customer cannot be disputed because this is a time for young people to explore and take charge of the world thereby creating an identity for themselves.
Stephen Oguntoyinbo, convener of the event and CEO of TalkVillage International said youths must integrate into the social media a means to creating or rather facilitating the desired change needed in Africa. He encouraged youths to tap into the social media because of the various advantages and its potential as a catalyst for change when used for advocacy. He went ahead to give a frame work of the advantages of the new media stating that it saves time and energy, it is globally accessible, economically sustainable and it serves as a strong tool for networking. He also advised Youths to be information seekers and sharers and to explore the new media effectively to boost their work.
Another panellist, Mr. Panny Daranijo told the audience that in using the new media, youths should ask and answer the following questions - Who Am I? ,What Are My Interests?, What exactly do I plan to achieve by this platform I am using?, What am I teaching?, What am I broadcasting to the World? He advised youths to use the Internet for positive changes. He also advised that the Internet should not just be used for teaching alone but also as an agent of change. He decried the trend among youths who use the Social media, especially Facebook to say irrelevant things and the sorts.
Mayowa Adeniran, CEO, E3 Media gave the audience different websites they can visit to blog, vlog and where they can get job opportunities and create a string web presence to boost their career profile. He listed sites such as www.africanews.com, www.bloglighting.com, www.payu2blog.com, www.betterbusinessblogg.com etc as sites where young people should visit to make their voices heard and create an impact. He advised youths to stand up and be heard and use the resources available to them to create the needed impact in the society.
Azeezat Sanni, Co-Presenter, Touch of Spice on Star FM encouraged youths to discover themselves, their interests and be very mindful of the power of words especially in the use of the new media in order not to fuel aggressions, hate or even libel.
The Conference also featured group work as follows:
Group A: Web 2.0 - Gateway For Boosting your Business Globally
Group B: Act Local; Think Global, Opportunities for Youths in Media
Group C: Engaging Youths in Community Radio
Each group was required to brainstorm and come out with practical, economical and pragmatic ways on how it can make impacts on its given topics.
GROUP A in its presentation gave insights on how youths or any business owner at all can take advantage of the Internet to market themselves. They suggested the use of the social media- Facebook, Twitter etc, Blogs, Vlogs (You Tube) etc in creating a web presence on their products and services. They also suggested how everyone present can teach others on how to use the computer without necessarily spending so much money.
Group B raised the possibility of using the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with a view of raising awareness on the MDGs as an opportunity for youths in the media. The group’s focus was on developmental journalism. The group says through the use of social media, Web Radio, Blogs and the Print Media, the awareness of people in the society can be raised towards achieving at least 60-70% of the MDG goals by or before 2015. The group’s Facilitator and Editor of Timeless Newspaper, Mr. Ayodeji Jeremiah pledged the support of his newspaper to the cause.
Group C facilitated by Azzezat Sanni spoke on the need to promote community radio so that the voices of everyone can be heard. She also revealed that they plan to start advocating for community radio through her Touch of Spice radio programme; the group also intends to speak on issues that affect various people at the grass root level.
Other speakers at the two day event were Ms. Toyin Adesola (President, Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initiative, SAMI), Ifeoma Adibe (Founder, African Youth Empowerment and Change Initiative), Damola Taiwo (Unotech Media), Asim-Ita Emilia (Redstart/Future Awards), Ashaye Babatunde (E3 Media), and Anyaegbu Francis (Outbox Consulting).
In all, the two day summit made a call to all youths irrespective of gender, religion, tribe and class to take charge, be the change and make positive impact wherever they are especially in the policy making of their countries.
MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM THE SUMMIT
“Globalization is when Nokia sells more Cameras than Kodak and Canon.”
Dr. Tunde Adegbola (CEO Alt-i)
“Not everyone that writes is a Journalist; Journalism has its code of ethics.”
Mr.Lekan Otufodurin (Editor, The Nation on Sunday )
“The New Media, which I prefer to call Online Media, poses a challenge to the traditional media.”
Mr. Ayodeji Jeremiah (Editor, Timeless Newspaper)
“I suffered in this Lagos O!”
Asim-Ita Emmilia
“We should stop using the social media to tell people “I’m eating Burger”. It should be used to promote positive change.”
Mr.Lekan Otufodurin (Editor, The Nation on Sunday)
“If an angry person speaks, the anger is lessened and you know where he is going …In Nigeria, we have angry people whose mouths are tied.”
Dr. Tunde Adegbola, on the need for Community Radio.
“What the traditional media needs is news analysis not news reporting to survive.”
Mr. Ayodeji Jeremiah (Editor, Timeless)
“The question is how to get youths interested in making an impact, like when I told some youths about the Youth Summit, their reply was “Kini Big Deal?”
Peculiar, (Participant at the Summit)
“Don’t post what you don’t want your Grand-Mother or prospective employer to see on Facebook. In using the new media, the key word is ‘explore.’”
Stephen Oguntoyinbo.
“To succeed in using the new media, consistence is the key.”
Mayowa Adeniran, E3 Media
“Government should be pressurized to liberate the airwaves.”
Dr. Tunde Adegbola
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