Harsh Realities in Nigerian Media Industry

Last week’s ‘save our soul’ call by media executives and the Nigerian Guild of Editors for urgent interventions in the Nigerian media, which is at the mercy of the current harsh economic realities may be a timely salvo needed to halt the unfavourable trends in the media industry, writes Festus Akanbi

The fate of the Nigerian media industry in today’s harsh economic climate is unknown as operators struggle to survive in an environment where inflation, fluctuating exchange rates, collapsed infrastructure, and soaring costs of production are eating away at their lifeblood.

Media owners who used to be regarded as the conscience of society and voices of democracy now grapple with the burden of reduced advertising revenues, declining sales, and the rising cost of diesel, newsprint, and broadcast equipment – often imported and thus impacted by a weakened naira.

It was this pathetic story that dominated discussions at the recent three-day All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where media owners and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) sought urgent government intervention to mitigate the negative impact of fuel subsidy removal and the exchange rate volatility on the economy.

Noting the economic constraints and rising operational costs, they also urged the federal government to consider subsidies or tax relief to help media houses cope with the current challenges.

Weakened Naira, Power Crisis, Low Patronage

Reflecting on the current situation in the Nigerian media, analysts said the current situation doesn’t favour broadcast media operators since they have to grapple with the prohibitive cost of imported broadcast equipment as the naira value goes into a tailspin. This is in addition to the rising percentage of their revenue that goes into the purchase of diesel for their operations during a period of unstable power supply by the various electricity distributing companies.

Sadly, the print media is not faring better. Until recent times, the newspaper was arguably among the dominant mass-mediated information channels among the elite in Nigeria but today, the printed newspaper is a shadow of its glorious past. Nigeria’s printed newspapers are currently groaning under the yoke of poor patronage through a combination of factors, including the fact that readers have seen the better alternative in reading newspapers on the web.

To curb the readership decline, some newspapers undertook a reduction in coverage and pagination, cancelled circulation in some cities where sales were poor, stopped or reduced home delivery of newspapers, eliminated unprofitable publishing days, and closed some city bureaus.

Editors Seek Targeted Relief Measures

It was in light of the current pathetic state of the economy and the heat on business owners that the editors and media executives called for targeted relief measures to ease the burden on citizens and businesses.

A communique signed by the NGE President, Eze Anaba, and the General Secretary, Dr Iyobosa Uwugiaren, said that while the Guild recognises the potential long-term benefits of the federal government’s reforms, the immediate economic strain on all sectors, especially the media, is becoming unbearable and unhelpful to economic growth and media sustainability and viability.

The Guild also urged the federal government to create a media-friendly environment by reviewing policies that affect operational costs and considering tariff reductions on essential media equipment.

However, the Guild didn’t single out the government for the solution to the myriads of problems besetting the media industry as media owners were tasked to be innovative in revenue generation beyond traditional advertising.

Media owners are encouraged to invest in quality journalism, embrace digital platforms, and offer premium content to ensure financial sustainability.

Reaffirming the importance of ethical journalism, media proprietors were urged to maintain high standards of professionalism, saying adhering to these standards is essential for building public trust and countering pressures that threaten press freedom.

According to the NGE, “There was a strong recommendation at the conference that the media proprietors should invest in digital transformation, enhance content delivery, and train staff in digital skills like data journalism and multimedia production to adapt to Nigeria’s increasingly digital audience.

“There was also a call for the Guild to encourage greater collaboration among the media organisations, NGOs, and civil society to advocate for press freedom, and emphasised that unity is essential in confronting restrictive laws and policies.’’

The Chairman of THISDAY/ARISE Media Group, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, in his speech at the occasion, lamented the challenges facing the economy, especially the media industry in Nigeria. He believed that when critical economic issues like that of the oil industry are resolved, there would be respite in the economy. He therefore called for an end to fuel importation, noting that the best way to ensure there is no monopoly, as some fear could be the case with the Dangote Refinery, is for the government to make local refineries functional.

“The economy is hard, but we journalists are harder. Yesterday, America shocked the world by re-electing Trump, who has vowed to reset America by introducing tariffs; then we also have to reset by using tariffs to save the economy,” he said.

“We must end fuel import by ensuring that we refine locally, and if we want to stop monopoly, then the government refineries must work,” Obaigbena said.

Capturing the sorry state of the nation’s newspapers organisation in his speech, the Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Sam Amuka, lamented that the era of hardcopy newspaper publication in Nigeria is gone, as according to him, the business is no longer sustainable. He contended that no media outlet in the country can publish hard copy and make a profit because of the high cost of newsprint.

“Publishing the hard copy of a newspaper, as a business, is dead. Newsprint that used to cost N600k two years ago now costs over N2million. The Vanguard for instance, only makes enough money for transport of the print copy. A business is set up to make money, but the newspaper business is no longer making money,” he said.

Amuka emphasised that the media has a constitutional role in governance to hold government accountable in line with Section 24 of the constitution, but decried that the Fourth Estate cannot continue to do so if it is struggling to survive.

“We can set up several online media outlets, but still this does not vitiate the existence of the hard copy newspaper, which is usually for advertising, without a viable and performing economy. So, we appeal to the Minister of Information, Mr. Mohammed Idris to take up the fight to save the industry. We need government intervention,” he said.

The newspaper business in Nigeria has faced numerous economic challenges over the years, and the impact of these challenges has been particularly acute in recent times. Today, media owners are facing the impact of the current economic recession in terms of reduced advertising budgets as companies cut costs. This scenario is coming at a period of rising costs of production as costs of diesel and broadcast equipment, newsprint, printing, and distribution have risen sharply, impacting profitability.

The newspaper industry is also facing digital disruption as the shift to digital news consumption is changing how audiences engage with news, leading to a decline in print sales. Platforms like social media and news websites provide free access to news content and many consumers now opt for news blogs and social media platforms like ARISE News for timely news over traditional newspapers.

Analysts also point at the current declining readership as one of the challenges as younger audiences are increasingly disengaging from print media. At the same time, advert revenue is declining. This is because, with the shift to online media, traditional print advertising revenues have dropped significantly. For instance, in 2023, reports said that print advertising accounted for less than 10 per cent of total advertising revenue in the country, forcing newspapers to seek alternative income streams. Many have started offering digital advertising, which is often less lucrative.

The aforementioned problems are exacerbated by poor infrastructure, which affects distribution and operational efficiency, leading to increased expenses and delivery delays.

Other issues like regulatory and political challenges, government regulations and political environment, and the falling consumer purchasing power are some of the challenges confronting the entire media industry in Nigeria.

Given the media’s uniqueness in nation-building, analysts said it would be suicidal for Nigeria to allow the current slide in the media to continue.