BON assembly: Momoh tasks media professionals on content
Though corruption was the theme for the 68th General Assembly of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) in Abuja, issues concerning professionalism were prominent.
The theme of the event was, “The Nigerian media and the war against corruption.”
Setting the ball rolling, chairman of the BON, John Momoh, advised media professionals to evolve richer and more acceptable broadcast contents.
According to him, there is cheering news, particularly in the area of production, presentation and journalism training programmes, as well as studio and field lighting workshops for employees of BON member stations.
He said coming from a 30-year existence, suddenly, new markets are created, with new set of values that now threaten existing markets.
“This is a wake-up call for us all folks, and if you can’t smell the coffee, I can.
“We need to change our business model. It’s no more ‘business as usual’ but business unusual,” he said.
Momoh, however, expressed concern that broadcasting had destructively changed radically - a complete disturbance, disordering, disarrangement, and disarranging of the way business is done.
He also complained about the disparity in licence fees between public and private licencees who compete in the same commercial landscape for advertising.
But the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, focused on the anticorruption efforts of the Federal Government, pointing out that the media should be steadfast rather than mock the efforts.
The minister was particularly worried that while the media should not hesitate to criticise the government’s strategy for the war against corruption, when necessary, it should do so without mocking the government.
The Director-General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, said as 2019 election season draws closer, the organisation had commenced a series of political workshops in order to assist in instituting best professional practices that can assist in deepening the country’s democratic culture.