SAM Amuka-Pemu, one of Nigerian journalism’s enduring and genuine icons is not just a distinguished Journalist, accomplished publisher and employer of note but a consummate columnist who for decades used humour and poignancy of lucid expressions to set agenda, shaped and influenced opinions while writing as Sad Sam in the then Daily Times. In those years under reference, Daily Times was synonymous with the word newspaper and information dissemination. His foray into publishing of the Vanguard has also met with such a remarkable success that at 89, his views and fears about the industry should be duly considered as part of not just the pathos but trends and fading thrills that have the capacity to change the direction of media industry either for good or ill.
Speaking at the just-concluded All Nigerian Editors Conference in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State Capital, Amuka -Pemu was indeed a very Sad Sam as he declared with a sense of frustration that the era of fascination in hardcopy newspaper publication in Nigeria is gone giving way to a new era of business frustration. He stated rather instructively that the business of newspaper publication for profit is no longer sustainable. Amuka noted last Thursday that no media outlet in the country can publish hard copy and make profit because of the high cost of newsprint worsened by the excruciating cost of transportation and circulation.
Sad Sam’s words “Publishing the hard copy of newspaper, as a business is dead. Newsprint that used to cost N600k two years ago, now costs over N2m. The Vanguard for instance, only makes enough money for transport, that is circulation of the print copies. A business is set up to make money, but newspaper business, as at today is no longer making money,” His submission therefore is that the newspaper industry in Nigeria is struggling rather pathetically.
The strains and struggles are traceable to the faulty functioning of an economy that has been so badly managed the people find it difficult to get even not to talk of having disposable income from where they can buy a copy of their favourite newspaper. A strong economy fuels consumer spending, drives innovation, and creates opportunities for media organizations to expand and Newsprint currently sells at over N2mill for a ream. Newsprints are largely imported. This has in turn affected the production cost of the newspaper.
The country’s investment at Okuibokun paper mill has gone the way of companies like Aladja Steel industry, well envisioned public investments that went awry. Newspapers, of a necessity need to be circulated far and wide. Infact, the wider your visibility on the newsstand the stronger. In line with the economic theory that production process is not complete until what is produced is distributed to the market for direct interface with the final consumers, the cost of distributing newspapers in Nigeria of today can hardly be recovered through sales no matter the adjustments done to cover price. That is a cruel, if not gruesome reality.
At 89 Amuka can be said to have witnessed the phenomenal rise of the press as the fourth estate of the realm with a constitutional role in governance to hold government accountable in line with Section 24 of the constitution. His frustration today is understandable.
The most potent censorship today has become economic in scope and damning in application. When printing and circulation costs are soaring uncontrollably, it becomes difficult for newspaper organizations to stay afloat. Let’s also not run away from the truth of our time and age, which is that it is relatively possible for an individual to get updated with the goings on in one’s environment without necessarily physically interfacing with a hardcopy or what’s now referred to as the print edition of our conventional newspapers. Technology has made it such that the early morning crowd of free readers’ association around the newspaper stands has significantly thinned down.
The news now breaks literally on the palm of the average citizen tied to a digital platform. The fate of the newspaper vendor is gradually toeing the path of the once revered postman remembered more today for how their past roles impacted on destinies of many until digital technology changed the tide and trajectory.
In our fledgling democracy, there’s still an ample role for the conventional press to play and stabilize institutions even in the face of the preponderance of the social media but the unfolding realities of the economy are making it near impossible for the newspaper business to operate on the margin of profit. Amuka ‘s words “We can set up several online media outlets, but still this does not vitiate the existence of the hard copy newspaper, there’s therefore an urgent and just need for the government of the day to find a way of subsidizing the operations of the newspaper industry. It was not for nothing that the nationalists deployed the print media maximally in the struggle for independence. The circumstances have not changed much from them till now. There are still inequities and social imbalances to critically address but it requires a free and vibrant press to do that effectively. There is so much institutional imbalance when the policies of the first estate are rendering the fourth estate of the realm incapable of carrying out assigned constitutional responsibilities.
Newspaper In History
The Romans are credited for the invention of the first handwritten newspaper Acta Diurna, (Daily Doings) in 59 BCE. Published by government officials, the distribution was throughout the Roman Empire but the production process was understandably laborous.
Printed Newspapers
The first newspapers printed on paper started to spread across Europe in the 15th century, following Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press and his use of movable type made possible the easy printing of large quantities of books and documents. Today, the biggest threat to media survival is the availability of resource materials while the daunting challenge to media organisations remains how to stay relevant in the face of the deepening economic crisis.
The policies of the Federal government should see how to accommodate the survival of the media as the whole of our democracy stands jeopardized when the press is meant to crawl in a bid to fulfill its role of being a dependable backbone of any democracy through being independent, professional and responsible at all times. We must not allow the newspaper to die in our time.
