UMAR Pate, a Mass Communication professor and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State, on Wednesday called on Nigerian media houses to adopt innovative business models.

He disclosed this at a media sustainability conference held to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

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“This event is an indication that institutions can be built on the back of hard work and resilience and I hope other institutions can learn from The ICIR experience.

“Evolution of the internet and the changes in technology has changed the content demand from our audience so why will I sit down at 9:00 pm waiting for network news when modern newsrooms are breaking the news every hour,” he said.

He stressed that the evolving trends of the Internet and technology have created opportunities and problems for the news business.

“Small start-ups in the media business are making an impact because of their strategic reach and connection with their audience despite their small investment which legacy media firms are unable to replicate,” he said.

Pate attributed the perception of news in the digital age to the attitude of millennials who are looking for alternatives to legacy media houses for credibility and relevance.

“We are talking about credibility, competence, relevance and the perception of the audience towards the content you are producing.”

He said the government should also develop policies that support the media.

“The government must look beyond hate speech and fake news and support the media with relevant policies.

“Amazon and Google are taking all the big adverts. We can have a share of that if we have a favourable policy from the government”, the vice-chancellor said.