Date Published: 07/16/09

Online Journalists, New Media good for democracy -Olatunji Dare

Renowned international Journalism scholar, Professor Olatunji Dare, has described the place of new media, on-line Journalist as important to the development of true democracy in Nigeria.

Dare, a former chairman of the Editorial Board of the Guardian Newspaper spoke with pointblanknews.com after delivering a paper at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.

“You own a newspaper and you are bidding for contracts. Your paper is to that extent circumscribed. They can’t write on anything that touches on your business interest, even though they are of public interest.”

On the other hand, the Professor observed, “It’s a new media, because the start-off capital is small; you don’t need a huge printing press, all kinds of that. You are not beholding to any money interest, because of that which gives you potentially the opportunity to be more certain, at least potentially, to be less disinterested in outcomes.

“And of course, it gives speed and faster response time.”

However, Professor Dare who is also a member of the Editorial Board of The Nation Newspaper, said that the question lingers on the fact that new media “products are not suspected to be rigorous latitudes that you find in traditional media.

“The material doesn’t pass through a chain of editors that would take a second or for somebody else to correct an error that has been made.”

“But I think its speed of dissemination is one of the advantages. The fact that the start-off capital is small and the fact that it can reach a large audience in a short time, without suffering from the contracts of the old media are the major strength.”

He encouraged on-line Journalist to persevere in the face of the negative sense of appreciation for their contributions by the Nigerian government.

He noted that the new media has powerful reach amongst the young, but thought that “this is a reach they ought to exploit with a great sense of responsibility, accuracy, fairness and if they find that in the speed of dissemination an error has been committed, they should find a way of correcting it at the earliest opportunity.”

He commended on-line reporters for pushing the kinds of materials that make people in power uncomfortable.

“You are monitoring power. You are publishing the kind of materials that traditional media would think twice before publishing. That is why they have targeted the new media and in Journalism, the worst that can happen to you is to be ignored. People are paying attention to you because you are a target. You are hitting the right targets.”