Some participants at the ongoing 13th All Nigeria Editors Vonference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State have advised media organisations in the country to be cautious in their bid to balance professionalism and business.
The participants made the call while discussing the paper: “The Editor as a Businessman,” presented by Chooks Oko, the Editor-in-Chief, Citizens Trumpet Newspapers.
Margaret Edem, one of the discussants and former editor of Weekend Pioneer Newspaper, said Editors must be careful mixing business with their jobs.
Edem said: “Editors have to take critical decision on contents delivery that would accord credibility and responsibility to the medium.
“Talking critically, won’t there be contradiction for the editor to be a professional and at the same time the one making money for the medium?
“The editor has to ensure sound content delivery, mixing this responsibility up can be tempting, media organs must be careful.”
According to Edem, the medium will fare better if the Editor concentrates on the job and another person does the job of making the money.
Another discussant, Ifeatu Agbu, a former Editor of Sunray Newspaper, said the Editor ought to first be a professional before attempting to be a businessman.
“My position is that we should first and foremost be professional in the discharge of our duty because that is the training of an editor,” Agbu said.
He said that with the new orientation and awareness for business, journalists needed to be trained to mix business with the job.
“Now that we also have to make money while doing our job, we need to create the mechanism to inculcate business orientation in our members,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that this year’s conference is themed: “Nigerian Media: Balancing Professionalism and Business.”
About 400 editors from across the country are attending the conference.
NAN.
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