Expert: Why traditional media won’t go into extinction

Dr. (Mrs) Chinelo Ude -Akpeh, a senior lecturer at Department of General Studies, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) College, Jos, Plateau state  has given reasons why traditional media cannot die.

Ude -Akpeh stated this at a Bloggers summit with theme ” managing information Crisis in the Era of citizens Journalism”, organised by the Nigeria union of Journalists (NUJ), Anambra state council.

The summit held in Awka, Anambra capital, on Friday.

According to her, traditional journalism will never go into extinction because many citizen journalists lack credibility.

The don said the traditional media is handled by professional journalists, while the citizen journalism is an all comers’ affair.

“When news is in circulation, what most people look into is the source of the information which social media do not have. People no longer take social media seriously because many on social media do not verify information before publishing ,” she said.

She said citizen journalists are not trained to disseminate information and as such cannot properly process credible information for public.

Ude-Akpeh said citizen journalists have biases in their reportage because they lack necessary skills to process information.

“Citizens journalists are not trained to practice journalism. They are not trained to process and report news” she said

Also speaking, the Director, Department of State service DSS, Anambra state David Enoch Pawa, urged the bloggers to be conscious of what they are pushing out to the public.

Pawa represented by Deputy Director, DSS, Anambra, John Ibienu, said the agency is concerned about the misinformation by the social media and bloggers in the society.

According to him, criminals are using the social media to unleash and promote their selfish agenda.

He cited dome examples where citizens journalists choose to profile tribe and religion with intention to create crisis in the society.

He, however said that what ever any person writes ,he must be held accountable for it.

Also speaking, the state Commissioner for Police , CP Echeng Echeng, urged the bloggers to always get clearance from agency involve before publication, especially on crime-related issues.

The CP represented by the command’s spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said many activists hide under social media to push false information to public.

“Activists hide under social media to create problem in the society. When we are pushing out information on any crime, we must involve the agency in charge to have clearer information about the situation. There is a very big difference between social media and social activism,” he said.

He said even though blogging has come to stay, bloggers must endeavour to verify every story before pushing to public.

“We must try to manage information by verifying it before reporting. We must use social media to communicate information that will build the system rather than destroying the system. We must always try to verify and process every information at disposal before publishing,” he said.