Embrace Fairness, Aniagwu Urges Newspaper Publishers in Delta State By Daniel Dafe

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa,  Mr. Charles Aniagwu has urged Publishers of community newspapers in Delta State to embrace fairness, adding that they must keep tab on local laws and regulations in their reportage so as to be objective in their contents.

Speaking during a one-day capacity building workshop organized at Asaba on Friday, September 22, 2017 for publishers of community newspapers in the State, he stressed that the present administration should be held accountable for the promises made, not comparing the Okowa-led administration with previous administrations in the state.

Declaring the conference open, Mr. Jackson Ekwugum, Manager of Communication to the State Governor commended indigenous publishers for reporting activities of the Okowa administration, as he hoped for an improved working relationship between the state government and the media entrepreneurs.

According to him, if publishers of community newspapers in Delta State are well established it will create more jobs.

A Commonwealth Professional Fellow and Fellow, Nigerian Guild of Editors,Taiwo Obe who spoke on ‘News: What it is, What it is not’ and ‘Digital Efficiency for Profitable Publishing’, admonished the participants not to compete with more established national media in terms of news contents, but to create contents that directly affect their immediate environment positively, so as to remain relevant in business.
The veteran journalist whose vision is to raise the next generation of first-rate Nigerian journalists, tasked the media proprietors to explore the boundless advantages of online journalism and other social media platforms.

Topics during the workshop included: ‘The Role of Community Newspapers in the Society’, ‘Surviving the Battle of the Newsstand’ and ‘Turning your Product into a Brand.’

Other line-up of Speakers were Chico Nwakama, Shimite Bello and Egbenyi Egbe.

Speaking to Oasis Magazine during an exclusive chat, Mr. Jonathan Onwuka, Special Assisant to the Governor, opined that the workshop was geared towards empowering publishers in the state, saying that the topics and resource persons were selected to provide more knowledge to the participants as they carry out their business.

Over 50 publishers attended the said programme.