The General Manager of Fresh FM, Abeokuta, Samson Akindele and experienced Media Consultant, Lady Gwen Oshoniyi has admonished journalists to walk away from Partisan Media Houses if they want to retain public trust in the face of this fast growing Information Literacy in the society.
In commemoration of the Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2022, Primus Media City hosted Media Practitioners in Nigerian via a Twitter Space on Friday, 28th of October, 2022 around 8pm.
Invited discussants who spoke on the topic ‘How Media Practitioners can retain Public Trust despite growing Information Literacy!’ were Lady Gwen Oshoniyi (Media Consultant), and, Mr. Samson Akinlele (GM, Fresh FM, Abeokuta).
The discussants noted the need for news men to brace up to avoid betraying the trust of the people in the profession. Fast checking, training and re-training by both media houses and Media Practitioners are what should be treated with all urgency.
“The foundation of every society or democracy is trust. We are not just gate keepers, we are also conscience of the society, government, policymakers…we should not sell our souls to the devil because we are hungry, we are desperate for fame, we are desperate to break the news, we are desperate because our family are wondering where is the pay-cheque going to come from and then we sell out souls because of brown envelope. We are selling our trust and destroying what great journalists of the past have built.” Lady Gwen noted.
“The media has been over commercialized today…we are suffering from the negative effect of the social media. What’s missing is the intentionalism from journalists. Media owners no longer fund training. Journalists too not ready to spend on training…” Akindele added.
The Twitter Space powered by Primus Media City shall henceforth serve as a platform for #TheIndustry. The Industry show will continue to torchlight matters arising in the media space as we aimed at our core value of ‘Expanding the Frontiers of the Media’