‘SOCIAL MEDIA, THREAT TO NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES’

Traditional media organizations especially newspapers, magazines and televisions have been advised by media practitioners at the weekend to transform in line with new technology or be forced out of the market by the new media otherwise known as social media.
Local and international media practitioners at the close of the seminar, ”Social Media and 21st Century Journalism” organised by Seismonaut Africa in Abuja, put the traditional media organisations on red alert of the obvious threat from the social media.
Participants were drawn from the African Independent Television(AIT), Raypower FM, Love FM, Wazobia FM; The Punch, Peoples Daily, Leadership, National Mirror, Daily Trust, ThisDay newspapers as well as Aljazeera Television, Voice of America and US Newsweek magazine.

In a statement, they advised the traditional media organisations to adopt new measures or make use of the convergent opportunities available to them to stand above the social media.
They also advised the business department of the organisations to develop or align with the internet in advertising the organisations or attract advertisers since the social media are ahead of them in that aspect, adding that they could only stay in business with good contents.
According to them, stories read online are not totally free, but either paid for directly or indirectly, adding that with the professional training, the traditional media would always have an edge over citizen Journalism.
Speaking at the event, the publisher of Ovation Magazine and former presidential aspirant, Dele Momodu said, social media has come to stay in Nigeria and would be used to cause change in governance.
He therefore urged the government to be more responsive or else the social media would be compelled to report it negatively.
Momodu said that Nigerians often grumble without leaving their comfort zones to make the needed change and emphasised the use of local languages in social media to mobilise people towards governance.
According to him, over 80 million Nigerians are floating without political ideas, adding that it was futile to tell a hungry man not to collect money during election.
He however advised voters to collect the money but vote with their conscience.

Source: Peoples Daily