By Olukayode Thomas
‘GO to the ant, thou sluggard,’ says the Good Book in Proverb 6:6, ‘consider her ways, and be wise.’
That the media industry is endangered is obvious; dwindling revenue from sales and advertisement are proof. The newspaper industry in Nigeria has failed to respond to the challenge posed by the online media. The argument used to justify low patronage is that Nigerians are not reading, but why should anyone pay N100 and above for news they can read for free online as it breaks.
If the outlook for the general media is bad, the sporting press is in worse shape. Majority of today’s sports journalists are deep in slumber. Sports reporting has the capacity to shoot an obscure reporter into national and international prominence within months; but, rather than grasp this opportunity, most of today’s reporters are not writing.
Rather they just download stories from websites to fill their pages with little or no editing or rewriting, unmindful of copyright laws. Some even append their byline to these pirated copies. It is not uncommon to see newspapers fill about six out of seven pages with internet stories.
The lazy argument is there is little or no sporting activities going on Nigeria, and since we are passionate about European football, Nigerians will only like to read about what they watch.
Sound argument this might be about five or six years ago, but not anymore. With cheap laptops and modem, Sports fans now visit the websites where our colleagues pick stories. The straw that broke the camel’s back are the ubiquitous Chinese-made smart phones. With cheap subscription rates by virtually all the networks, it is sports on the go for sports fans who subscribe to breaking news and alerts.
So, why should they read the sports pages of our daily newspapers? A more forward thinking reporter would have thought of a more creative way of reporting European football rather than copying and pasting from club websites.
The broadcast sport journalists are not different; it is still the same idea of bringing guests to come and analyze European football they know little about. With match viewing centers filled every weekend, broadcasters still believe results and clips of matches viewers have watched live over the weekend is still the best way to engage them on Monday.
Elsewhere, knowledgeable sports stars are invited to analyze; here, our broadcasters’ guests are colleagues who have limited knowledge of the subject they are invited to educate viewers on.
The usual canard is that Sports is dead in Nigeria; but this is not true. There is so much going on locally and at the international level. Our athletes are so active that a television station can do a weekly documentary on their feats and the print media can write tons of articles on them.
The problem is, for most of us, a story is only worth covering when it is paid for. Even at that, we still expect the organizer to write the story and send to us.
Are reporters the only culprits? I think any editor who is comfortable with reporters under him downloading stories and going home does not want the progress of the reporter. As a cub reporter in 1997, I remember my editor then, Debo Adesina, telling one reporter, (on Saturday Desk), ‘ stories you suggest are always on trivial subjects, are these stories what you want to show your children as the great stories you did in the media?’. I wonder what Adesina will say about today’s sports journalists.
But the media owners are also part of the problem. Most media houses in Nigeria are in the Lagos- Ibadan axis, yet majority find it difficult to fund a reporter’s trip to Abeokuta to cover a match. When they do, the money is meager. When the reporter gets there, he is at the mercy of sports officials and athletes he is sent to cover. Any wonder we are not reading good reports?
But the attitude of editors and media owners notwithstanding, journalism is self-marketing, and the onus is on the reporter to carve a niche for himself. Reporters should wake up from their slumber. There are great stories – locally and internationally – waiting to be written.
There are more creative ways of reporting European football. Downloading from websites cannot change your outlook, but a well-researched and well written story can. Sports reporters, go to the ants, learn their ways and be wise.
*Olukayode Thomas is the Managing Editor of City Voice.
