Chief Jide Adebayo, the Acting Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, on Monday urged the agency’s reporters to raise the bar of credible news reporting.
Adebayo, who spoke during the weekly in-house training session for reporters in Lagos, also urged them to increase the agency’s monthly news production capacity.
He said: “We need to know that the new media (internet) is gradually posing a challenge to news agencies.
“We, therefore, need to jack up our production capacity for us to continue to be relevant in today’s media industry.
“We should improve on our copies, make them simple, with clarity, and suitable for our clients’ use.”
Adebayo stressed that the agency’s drive to maintain its vantage position in the industry would depend on the resourcefulness of its reporters.
Advising journalists to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, the NAN boss stressed the need for news copies to be carefully researched, objective, factual and well-written.
He also cautioned media professionals not to promote news that could smear the agency’s excellent pedigree.
Adebayo added: “As journalists, we have to be very careful in disseminating information to the public.
“We need to sift through our news to avoid libel.
“We must know that we are supposed to be representing the entire country – the government and the governed.
He promised that training of staff members would be given priority attention in 2014 as part of capacity building efforts.
On welfare, Adebayo said all outstanding allowances would be paid to the reporters as soon as the finances of the agency improved.
He, however, implored workers to take their health serious in their bid to discharge their official responsibilities.
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