At ICIR conference, stakeholders harp on building sustainable, purpose- driven media business

STAKEHOLDERS have said to become commercially viable, media owners must invest in news gathering and effectively fund journalists to do good stories.

They also said journalists must not shy away from holding government accountable, as that is one of the ways media could become relevant as the Fourth Estate of the Realm.

This was contained in a communique issued at the end of a media sustainability conference in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting ( ICIR) held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.

Signed by Executive Director, ICIR, Dayo Aiyetan, the communique notes: “Editors and media owners should become crusaders for media freedom, and this starts by reassuring journalists that the integrity of the media will never be allowed to be tampered with.”

The panellist noted that building a sustainable media business is associated with being purpose- driven. Therefore, media organisations, like other business concerns, must clearly define their purposes, from which they must come up with definite strategies for growth, development and sustainability models.

“Naturally, media organisations should be change agents in the society. Therefore, media platforms must establish themselves as being relevant to the development of the society, else they will not attract patronage.

“Media organisations must deliberately ensure that their staff are competent and be able to deliver on the jobs in the best standard. Media organisations must emphasise excellence, openness, integrity, transparency, accountability, and must invest in exclusive and investigative contents to survive in the hostile business environment.”