THE International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) is commemorating its 10th anniversary today, Wednesday, June 22, with a media sustainability conference at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
The conference, with the theme, ‘Sustainability Imperative for African Media’, is focusing on how media houses and practitioners around the world, especially in Africa and Nigeria, can thrive in the face of dwindling financial resources.
The event will be live-streamed on the various social media platforms of The ICIR. Interested participants could also register and join the conference through this link http://bit.ly/ICIRat10 on Zoom.
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The keynote address will be delivered by the Chairperson of Arena Holdings, Tshepo Mahloele, a newspaper publisher in South Africa.
Other speakers and panellists are the Chairman of THISDAY Newspapers/Arise News Channel, Nduka Obaigbena; the Chairperson/CEO of Hot FM Chris Anyanwu; Chief Executive Officer, Daily Trust Newspapers Mallam Kabiru Yusuf; Chief Executive Officer, RadioNow, Ms Kadaria Ahmed and Professor Abigail Ogwezzy–Ndisika of the University of Lagos.
A statement signed by the Managing Editor of The ICIR Ajibola Amzat said the conference will address the challenges of financial viability and sustainability that confronts media organisations around the world.
“In the last two years, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the misfortunes of global media enterprise in ways never imagined before.
“But while the Western Media to a large extent seems to have found winning formulae to do business profitably, the media in the Global South, particularly countries in Africa, is still struggling to stay afloat.
“It is in view of these multiple challenges that The ICIR is inviting media practitioners and other stakeholders to a conference on media sustainability in Nigeria,” Amzat said.
The Executive Director and Founder of The ICIR Dayo Ayetan also noted that it was time to have a conversation on the future of the media in Africa, particularly its viability and profitability.
Aiyetan observed that many news organisation are not breaking even due to dwindling sales and ad revenue.
“Many media companies cannot pay salaries and are laying off staff. The media in Nigeria is hemorrhaging. The industry leaders must discuss how to find profitable ways of running media businesses,” Ayetan said.
The ICIR is an independent, non-profit news agency that promotes transparency and accountability through robust and objective investigative reporting.
Its mission is to use excellent investigative journalism to promote good governance by building a culture of critical reporting in the media.
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