Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin is addicted to journalism – and he has got no apologies for that.
Starting out over 25 years ago, he rose to the positions of news and political editors at The Punch and later, editor of The Nation on Sunday, before setting up Media Career Development Network, where he currently functions as an executive director.
Also the founder of Journalists for Christ, he holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos. A proud fellow of Thomson Foundation, Poynter Institute and Bloomberg Africa Leadership Institute, YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AZUH ARINZE, spent the evening of Friday, October 1, 2021, discussing journalism and secrets of the noble profession with him.
Trust the author of Purpose-Driven Journalism, Excelling in Journalism, Reporter Extraordinaire, The Journalist You Ought To Be, Journalism of my Life and Dateline Cardiff, nothing was withheld and nothing was left in any form of ambiguity.
Enjoy…
What must any journalist who wants to reinvent himself in today’s ever-changing journalism world do?
What he or she needs to do is to, first and foremost, acknowledge that we are experiencing a disruption of our industry, because many people are still in denial; they think that this is not real. So, if you don’t admit that there’s a disruption, you are not likely to seek help or try to upgrade your skill. So, the first thing is to acknowledge and admit that there’s a disruption and begin to ask questions about what has changed, what skills do you need and how you can get it and where you can get it. If you answer all those questions, then you will be able to know exactly what to do. You will know that the skill you used to have is no longer sustainable. I learnt journalism at the University of Lagos, where we used typewriter, and even working in Punch, I tell people, to send a story from Lagos, to Abeokuta, you need to dictate every word. But we are now in a different time. So, it’s important to keep reinventing yourself and upscaling. That’s what’s important. But you must be interested first. If you are not interested, you will not achieve much.
Talking about skills. What are some of the skills that any journalist who wants to play in the future or who wants to play in the big league must possess?
I always like to preface my recommendation by saying that the skill we have now is very, very relevant; the skill, the traditional skill, is still very, very important because without that one you can’t even transit. So, what we tell people is that the skill that you need is to find the new ways people are doing journalism. Now people are talking about solution journalism, they are talking about the new media, they are talking about how to investigate with new technology. So, you must be new media savvy. You must understand technology, you must know how to use social media very well for investigation. Social media is not just for social, it’s for accessing information and following up information that you need; following people that you are covering, being able to connect to the world and have diverse sources. So, you need new media skills, you need computer skills; not just being able to type and save a document, but to understand Microsoft in all its ramifications. You need to know how to use technology for the purpose of which it is meant. So, if you go to websites, which websites are you going, how do you follow somebody online, how do you access their information, and all that. How do you use YouTube, how do you use Google to search. For example, when people use photograph for you, how do you ensure that it is the right one. For every social media platform, there’s an information about how journalists can use them successfully. So, again, it’s a lot of learning the new media and being computer-literate and being internet-literate. Very, very important.
What are the legitimate avenues for any serious journalist to make additional income?
I like the word legitimate, because when people talk about income, they are thinking about something illegitimate and as journalists we need to preach ethics. So, for me, I will say the legitimate one is that you work with an organization and you can decide where you want to work. People say journalists are not well paid, media houses don’t pay very well. Not every media house is paying poorly. There are those that are paying very well. I know a media house where I used to work, where for example, the joining rate for new journalists may be 50, 60, and that has gone up now. But now, there are media organizations that are paying 150 and more and we must also broaden our reach beyond the one that we know. So, there are other media houses, there are new startups that are providing interesting offers. If you want to earn money even beyond the one that they are paying, you must have these skills. For example, I have left The Nation since 2018 and I’m still alive and I’m earning money. I’m using my skill, I’m writing for people, I’m innovating the things that I’m doing, I’m doing research, I’m doing freelance writing, I’m doing projects; I am turning ideas out that can earn me money, I do research for people, I do write-ups for people, I write what I can do and people will call me because they’ve seen me do it. I do rapporteur work for people, I do editing work for people, I do proofreading work for people. So, all these skills have a way of being remunerated. But people need to know that you have that capacity for you to be called upon. I publish books, I mentor journalists for some other media NGOs and all these are things that earn you money.
To enjoy international fellowships and grants, what must a serious journalist do?
The first thing again is to say that you must be doing what you are doing now very well, because it is what you are doing now that would recommend you for these fellowships. For example, whatever beat you are covering, you must cover it well and have what we call digital imprint. People should be able to find you (online). For example, if you are going to apply for a fellowship that is about business, they want to see what stories you have written before about business, they want to be sure that you have capacity. Then, if you have that capacity, you are able to apply and when you apply, remember that you are competing with so many people. This year, for example, there’s a World Press Institute fellowship. I have personally signed recommendations for more than seven journalists in Nigeria. They will ask you to find somebody to recommend you and that person can only recommend you based on what he knows that you can do and even the whatever he says that you can do, they can find out, they can check online. So, to access these fellowships, No. 1, you must know that they exist. You must know when they call for applications, you must know those who have attended those programmes before so that you can follow them up, they can advise you. But your work must speak well for you when you are applying and like I said, it’s a very competitive process and only the best gets chosen. Again, that’s also why it is good to be multi-skilled. They will ask you questions, they will ask you to put your Instagram account, or your Twitter account, or your Facebook account; they will go and check. So, if you say you are a multi-media journalist, and they check and discover that the last time you posted was a year ago, or what you are sharing on your platform is not current, then you are not saying the right thing. Because they will find out. So, do your assignment very well, do investigative reporting, because anything you are going to apply for will be on the basis of what you are doing now and they will ask for recommendations. That’s why it’s also good to be a good person where you are working. They will ask your editor for permission to ask you to go, and that you will also return. They want people who can verify that you will come back. So, this is very, very important.
What are the mistakes that any modern journalist must avoid?
No. 1 – some of us, when we become journalists, we are always bellyaching, saying this is not the job I want to do. As long as you are doing it, do it well. Don’t start thinking this is not what I want to do. Even if this is not what you want to do, do it very well so that it can move you to the next level, where you want to be. I know people who are journalists, who want to be lawyers. They did journalism very well and they became good lawyers. I know journalists who want to work in banks or whatever, in corporate affairs, the work they did recommended them. So, do what you are doing very well, with a passion so that people can see that. That’s very important. Then, I also want to say that if you need to acquire additional qualification, don’t wait for too long to acquire it. Sometimes when you don’t acquire it on time, it can catch up with you, and I have a personal experience. After being a journalist for more than 15 years, I applied to teach part time in a journalism school, a campus of a university, in Lagos, and they told me I didn’t have a Master’s degree. I could teach this course better than the people who are teaching it, but they asked me to get a Master’s degree. So, I had to go and get a Master’s degree more than 15 years after my first degree. So, I’m saying, be sure of what qualification you need, and get it. Then, make sure that you work in an organization and know the industry very well. Sometimes we shortchange ourselves by not knowing the industry very well. You will think that what is happening to you in your environment is the best. But if you know the industry very well, you will know where you can apply to move on to, you will know the kind of remuneration you want to get. Then, these advantages that we are talking about, you must know them. It took me time to start applying for fellowships and awards. It took me a long time, and I used to think that it was for some privileged people, but the moment I applied, I got a 3-month all-expense paid trip to the U.K (United Kingdom). Before then, I had never stepped out of this country. So, you must know the industry locally and abroad and don’t jump at every offer. Talking about mistakes, don’t jump at every offer. There are some offers that may destroy your career. There’s a time to wait and process what you are doing, there’s a time to move on. It’s not every offer you must jump at. I know people who had left where they were working, got better pay only for that organization to shut down. So, make the necessary enquiry. You may be earning N10,000 here, somebody is offering you N30,000, be sure that they have the capacity to continue, check them out, find out their antecedents, ask people who have worked there before, what kind of person they are, because sometimes money is not everything. A conducive environment is also very, very important. You may be working somewhere, where you are earning N10,000 and it is more conducive where you are going to get N50,000. If you make the mistake of going there, they will cut you down and you will be back in the job market. That is very, very important. And again, like we are saying, don’t make the mistake of remaining old school. I still see some journalists who tell me, all this internet thing, it’s not for us. No! It’s for you. If you want to continue to remain in the industry, you must scale up, if you don’t scale up, young people who don’t have 1/10th (one tenth) of our experience will get better jobs, because the jobs that people are applying for these days, they ask for all these skills, they will ask for the normal skill, then they will ask for new media skill. So, those are some of the things we must ensure that we guard against and like we are saying, take advantage of fellowships, ask questions, attend seminars, local ones. Don’t wait for the big ones alone. Most people are waiting for the big ones before applying and ignoring the small ones. The small one is also very important. It will recommend you. I have an example – even this one is about grant. Some journalists say they want to get money from their work. I saw a grant for $100, I applied for it and I did it very well. I even brought a colleague to join me and we shared the $100, which was about N40,000 then. But after that, I got another grant that was for $2000. If I didn’t do that $100 grant, I probably would not know what to do in the other one and sometimes the big one you are going to get, it’s the small one that will make it happen. So, it’s very, very important and again, ensure that your online presence is updated regularly. Many journalists, their online profile is not updated. You will see a journalist who has moved on to another organization, he used to be an assistant editor, but now he’s editor. His profile is still saying he’s an assistant editor and so, somebody who is checking him out is seeing an old profile. Because this thing about being digital is not just being able to use the computer, it’s to be able to have presence that can be verified so that the right opportunities can come for you. Those are my thoughts about that. Again, one thing I also want to suggest is that money is very important. We must be money-wise. Spend the money you are making now wisely. For me in particular, I didn’t wake up early enough to think about properties, but today I wish I had. So, if you are making small money now, invest it. It will not continue this way. Some of the money some people are making, they will not continue to make it. Those people who are calling you, and treating you like a king, the moment you move on to some other things, they will not treat you that way. So, invest the money you make. The same way we cover industry that people are making money from, learn about the business, invest, buy shares, do all those things that people are doing. Don’t just report about business, also do business. Explore some of the opportunities that you have been opened to. It’s very, very important.
What are the qualities of a good story?
A good story is a story that tells a good story. What I mean by that is that a good story must have all the elements of the basic things that we talk about – the who, the what, the where, the why and the how. But nowadays, you need to transport people to what you are reporting, people must be able to see… A good story must provide all the necessary perspectives. So, beyond the basic ones – what, who, where, why and how, you must be able to answer questions that will make that story worth people’s reading. If it’s an investigation, you must transport people to the venue and explain the environment. That’s very, very important, and I’ll like to explain that because sometimes people tell you that they have done investigative reporting, but what they have done is just basic features; an extended news reporting. People can’t feel that they actually travelled to that place and see what they are reporting. So, a good story must provide us the environment, must ask the right questions from the person being investigated, or the person that is being reported, because if you don’t ask the right questions, you can’t get the answers that are required and a good story must not leave any question unanswered. That means you must prepare very well. When you prepare very well, you are able to also have researched ahead and see what had been written about this thing and what is left so that what you are providing is new. If you don’t do that, you will just be doing a rehash. Just like you want to interview somebody, you didn’t read what has been written about the person, the interviews that he has granted before, you won’t ask questions that will make that interview different. So, that is very, very important. Again, storytelling is not different from the basics. It’s about issues, it’s about what people are saying about that person, the place, the issue and the new perspective. Even what people are responding to and the story shouldn’t just end at reporting it. It could be a continuous engagement.
For you, what are the qualities of a good interview?
A good interview is an interview that is revealing. I remember my MD at The Nation, Mr. Victor Ifijeh. He said that if you do an interview and you are struggling to get a headline, what you have done is public relations. You didn’t ask questions. Because if you are struggling, if you can’t find good headlines or if you were asking can we meet you, can we whatever, it’s a poor job. But a good interview is a product of advanced research – when you have found what needs to be revealed, what’s new. Because like we said, news is about what is new. What’s that person saying; probably he has said something about it before, but you are asking him to provide some fresh perspectives. For example, somebody has granted an interview and said I will never contest for Lagos State governor again, two years ago. When you are interviewing him, you need to remind him that he said so before, why are you changing now? He will say let me explain to you why I’m doing this. That brings something new, and a good interview is also when you ask questions that can elicit answers; when you don’t allow the person that you are interviewing to just take control and be telling stories that may not be germane and you are able to cover all the issues. For example, if you have ten questions, you don’t end up asking three and the person is still telling stories. You must take charge of the interview and be able to say, what you are saying is good sir, but we need to move on, we need this perspective, this is what people are saying, this is what you have said in the past. You need to take control of that interview and at the end of the day, you will be happy that you have done a good job. But even before that, like I said, do your research, ask people around, know more about the person. People say when you meet someone and you say can we meet you? It is not good. You can even ask that one offline. You can’t be telling us or asking the person can we meet you because if you don’t know somebody, you can’t do a good interview. Except it’s an impromptu interview. If it’s an interview you have prepared for, you should have the information that will guide the interview and then you set questions that people want answers to. I have seen interviews that people conducted, and people say he didn’t ask the questions he should have asked this person. This is the matter that is trending about this person, you didn’t ask him about that, and it will defeat that purpose.
So far, which is the most memorable story you have written as a journalist and why?
Hmmm! I will try. It’s a long time. I’ve been a journalist since 1997, so you can imagine me trying to think back that long. But I think I can try because I’ve actually written this in one of my books. I have a book called The Journalism of my Life and the most memorable story, which I probably did not write, but I supervised, is a story about a Nigerian that died in the U.K. Unfortunately, the family in Nigeria did not know that he had died. What happened was that a U.K newspaper reported in a new television series about people who just disappeared and their families were not around when they were buried. That story was published in a U.K paper. I read it in a U.K paper as a Sunday editor and I saw a Nigerian name among the people who had died without anybody being there when they were buried. So, that Yoruba name struck me and we turned round the story. For us, the story was not about the new television series, it was about a Nigerian who was on that list of people who died. We published it in The Nation and lo and behold, the family that had not known the whereabouts of this guy, read about him for the first time and they invited us. They called us and one of my staff, Eni Akinsola went to somewhere in Ibadan, in Oyo State and they provided all the details and we were able to publish a story about that. I’m so glad that, that story connected them for the first time. But beyond that, there are a few other stories that one had done that I’m trying to remember. But I think that is the one that really gives me a lot of joy and I’ve also done feature stories that provided people some succour; people who had been in need that I’ve done some stories about. I remember again, for example, that when I went to the U.K, I meet a Soyinka who is the younger brother of Wole Soyinka, but who is a pastor. I remember when I came back to Nigeria, I wrote that story and I said ‘This Soyinka is a pastor!’ Because when you hear Soyinka, you are talking about activism, you are talking about every other thing. But this one is different. So, I’ve done stories like that and a couple of others that I may probably not remember as I speak. But it’s been a privilege being a journalist and being able to tell stories.
Which is the most memorable interview that you have conducted?
Ah! I wish I had these questions in advance, I probably would have prepared. But I’m just thinking… I’m thinking, I’m thinking now because… You know, for example, being an editor means that you don’t probably go around again as much as you used to. But in recent times, running Media Career, interestingly, in the last two years has given me opportunity to do interviews, just like you are doing; to speak to professionals, and extract information that some other people have benefitted from. So, I’ve interviewed quite a number of professionals who have won awards, who have done great things, who have also shown that journalism has second hand value. Some people will tell you stories that journalism doesn’t have second hand value, but doing those interviews has given me the opportunity to find information that people have not shared before. So, I would say the series of interviews that I have done in that regard. I will say they are very memorable. Because for now, my life is about journalism, it’s about mentoring people. So, when I’m asking people questions, I’m saying what have you done, just like you are asking me; what’s your advice for this person and they have elicited some responses that have been very helpful. Maybe I should add this one – recently I did a story that I think I’m very proud of. There was this offer to do a story about COVID and development and because I publish a media website, I felt that I can do a story about journalists and COVID. So, the story I did was how journalists were able to access COVID vaccine. We are the ones talking about people taking the vaccine, we are the ones talking about why it’s important, we are the health reporters and whatever. Are we being involved? So, what I did in conjunction with a colleague, Yinka Sokunbi was that we drew up a questionnaire and we interviewed journalists. Have you taken COVID vaccine? Which one? First or second? If you have not taken, why? And journalists who should know about it have also not taken for this reason and whatever. We did a story that as I speak with you, that story is going to be turned into an academic paper, because it’s perhaps one of the first time, when somebody actually took on journalists in terms of their health and that story was about COVID-19, which is very, very current. That story is a data-driven one and we were able to use research and present it with graphs and so many other things.
Your interest in journalism, what has kept it going?
I will say that this is what I signed up to do very early in my career. First and foremost, my father provided the ambience, because my father was somebody who had access to newspapers, so he liked the media. He did not go to university, but the kind of education they got in those days gave them a lot of knowledge. So, there were newspapers in the house, there were books that I had been reading and having become a journalist, I have seen that this job; it’s a privilege to be a journalist, because it gives you access to talk about things that other people may not be able to talk about. So, for me, I think my interest has been that journalism has helped me to impact the world, it has provided me opportunity to be the voice of the voiceless, it has given me chance to hold government accountable and I think those goals are very critical and as I do it, I derive joy from it and anything that will take me off from it, I avoid. That’s why I tell people I’m a proud journalist. Even if you are making one billion from selling oil, I’m not likely to be interested in selling oil. I’m interested in journalism and I find any way that can make me to continue to do it. Nowadays I’m involved in training journalists, in mentoring journalists and that is very, very exciting and helping people to discover that there is life in journalism. I’m able to show them opportunities and so, even for journalists who are thinking of leaving, they stay on; they realize that there were many things they didn’t know. So, I’m giving them opportunities. Some of the things that we didn’t know, things that we didn’t take advantage of early, that’s what we are doing now and sharing with them because we do more of mentoring journalists now. Journalists need to be inspired, because the environment can be very suffocating. They need encouragement. Today, for example, a journalist called me from Bauchi. She just wanted to talk to somebody and because of the kind of work I have done with them, she called me and I was able to talk to her. So, we need that kind of ambience because if we don’t provide it, many people will run away. I say to people, some of the things you are asking that the government should provide for people or work environment we are asking from people, we don’t provide it in our own profession. So, we must ensure that the environment is conducive. It’s not only about money, it’s also about the support that we give people, about hearing them out and letting them know that they matter.
If you had not taken to journalism, what other profession would you have opted for?
I’m not very sure, but probably a teacher. I think probably a teacher. I had a chance of being a teacher. But what I’m doing now is also teaching and it gives me joy and I think if I hadn’t become a journalist, I will probably be a teacher. But like I said, very early in life, I discovered that communication is something that I like and my father prepared me very well for it. So, it was so easy for me to make up my mind I wanted to read Mass Communication. I didn’t think about being a lawyer or any other thing.
For example, I did a A-levels; I entered university with an A-levels and I remember that I did Economics, History and Literature. I scored A in Economics, but I knew that it was not my strong point. So, I didn’t make the mistake of saying I wanted to go and put Economics in the university. I was the library prefect at Government College Ibadan and it helped. But I tell you, even in the work I do now, even for Journalists for Christ, as the president, journalism is a ministry – and that’s the ministry of encouraging people, of impacting people’s lives, of reminding people of their essence, which is very, very critical. Again, one of the reasons people don’t understand journalism is that they don’t have the kind of environment that some of us yearn for abroad. When we say we want to go for fellowships, ask yourself, in Nigeria, how many media fellowships do you have? And they are not too difficult. One of the things I’m trying to do is to talk to universities. We can organize some of these fellowships; we can do it. It will encourage people to stay on, which is very, very important. We can go back to training school and talk to young people and show them patterns that are very, very important.
Is the coming of social media a blessing or a curse to the journalism profession?
I think it is complimentary. It’s a reality about the fact that the world is changing. Again, I always tell journalists, the disruption is not only affecting our industry. Every other industry is affected. New media is not only affecting journalism, it’s affecting everybody. Even for people who do small business; these days, there are new ways of doing business. So, I think it’s complimentary; it is helping us to do our work better. It doesn’t take away the skill that we have, which is very important. But with social media you get more information, you follow people and you are able to use it, both for social and your professional enhancement. But you must understand it, you must be there. If you are not there, you can’t be part of it. If you are not there, you are not a global citizen; people will not know you beyond your local environment. Recently, somebody called me from abroad. They were looking for a journalist to do a work in Abuja. I was invited because they saw my profile on LinkedIn, my updated profile. So, social media is complimentary. Even if you are covering a beat, some of the people you can’t reach, you contact them through social media and you can find sources beyond. If you work in Sokoto State as a journalist, you can harness sources, you can do what we call crowd funding, source funding online, beyond your location. If you see it from that understanding, you will know that social media is very crucial to our work and we need to understand it. The thing is to understand it and see it as complimentary. It will not go away, that’s the truth. It will not go away, it’s going to be there and only people who are using it better will enjoy the benefits, because these days there are journalists who do their work only on social media. There are people who have social media following that gives them money, that gives them leverage. Today, if a conference is holding, a journalist can be invited to tweet, to live tweet. So, these things I’m amassing is not for fun, because if I’m invited to live tweet, they pay and people reckon with you when they see that you have good following; not just following for following sake. You are not a celebrity, you are a journalist, and you are using it functionally. That’s what I think is very, very important.
Why are some journalists still reluctant to embrace social media?
I think it’s also about awareness and understanding and then the negative stories that sometimes they hear. Again, like I said, the media has been living in denial. When the new media came, we were thinking it was something that would disappear. But we have since realized that it’s not so. So, we still have editors, for example, who are not on social media. It is not compulsory; you don’t have to be on social media to be successful, but we are saying that if you are not there, some of the benefits, you may miss out from them, especially if you are a younger person. Some of the expansion that you need, you may not be able to do. That is the point that is very, very valid, and we need to know about this thing. So, they are reluctant because they don’t understand it. Some of them are thinking they are too old for technology, but what I can tell you is that even after practicing journalism for more than 25 years, social media helps me. My address is no longer The Nation (newspaper), my address is Lekan Otufodunrin, journalist and media career development specialist. You can find me on Twitter, you can find my profile there and I’m on my own. My brand can expand because I’m available on those platforms and I keep offering what I know how to do. So, if you Google media career in Nigeria, you will find my name and organization among the first three. It’s a conscious thing that I’m doing. So, journalists should understand that these things can help them. If today you move away from where you are working, you need your own brand and one of the biggest brands that you need is to be able to have had online following. Not just like a celebrity; you are still a journalist. But online following that can compliment what you are doing.
In order not to be overtaken by events, what are those things that serious journalists must do?
You must be aware of what has changed. One of my favourite quotations, interestingly, is by Omoyele Sowore (of Sharareporters). He’s not a journalist and he tells you he’s not a journalist. He came to a training that I attended some years ago. It was for experienced journalists and he said with due respect sir, I am not a journalist, I am a crusader. He said journalism is not changing, it has changed. It is you that has not changed. It is you that is still thinking backward, it is you that is still thinking that a story that happened at 7am today, you still need to use that same story for somebody tomorrow morning, when they’ve read it online and all they need is additional information. So, going forward, what we are saying to people is that you must have what I call a conscious career development attitude, you must see yourself as a professional. You are not just a casual journalist – a professional knows his trade, enhances his trade, gets regular qualifications that they need and expands his scope. So, today, I’m no longer a journalist alone, I say I’m a career development specialist and I present myself as such and I’m constantly updating my knowledge so that if it comes to a point when I need to provide some support, I have that capacity. Therefore we must not be laid back to think that it’s enough because again, some media houses are going to shut down. Not because they want to shut down, but because of the economy. They can’t sustain it. The monetary model has changed. So, we must understand it; we must begin to see the new ways of doing journalism. Some of us need to reinvent our products, some of us need to retool our skills. You’ve been doing interviews on Instagram. Many media houses need to become really digital. It’s not enough to just have a website. I ask people, why is it that the same story that we put on our big media houses, old media houses’ websites, we have 100 views and that same story will have 1000 views on a platform like Pulse or some other news platforms? Or Saharareporters or Premium Times or Linda Ikeji blog? You may fault some of the things some of these people do, but we must learn the thing that is working for them because digital is big. You must know what is analytics; when you publish a story, who is reading that story, where are they reading that story from, how much of that story do you need to do, when should you stop? Must you continue to publish a column continuously? You must reassess, you must become very evidence-based. If you don’t do that; like somebody said, insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a change. So much is changing around us. You must learn from best practices outside this country. When I’m online, I’m seeing what people are doing and seeing how I can localize them. I’m seeing transition, how people, journalists are transiting, what new things are they doing? I’m seeing how people are doing what we call real local journalism. In Nigeria, we say local journalism does not sell, but I’m seeing how media organizations abroad that are facing the same problem are remaining local and being able to get support. You must also be able to attract grants. There are organizations that are providing grants, but you must be able to apply for these grants and be able to justify why you must be the person to be given the money and be able to justify why you would be able to do it well and when you do one well, you will attract more. So, those are the things in all ramifications that we need to see and realize that, again, like I said, the disruption is not only affecting journalism. Law is not the same way it used to be. Medicine is not the same way it used to be. So, we should not be engaged in press pity and be saying it’s only journalism. People are losing jobs in banks because banking operations have changed and except we have that understanding, we will just be looking for people to sympathize with us when all we need is to just renew our way of doing things and learn from best practices and see what we are not doing and also collaborate. Collaboration is very, very important. Too many journalists are struggling on their own. Everybody does not need a website. Some people need to come together and collaborate and provide a stronger front. It is very, very important. I ask journalists – why do journalist work for employers sometimes for one, two years without pay and some of them cannot come together to have a strong website that can do the work, so that you are not only the person getting the stories, editing the stories, uploading the stories, and in that process, you are not able to do the other things that you are supposed to? Because it’s not enough to just put a story on the website. You must be able to ensure that you optimize it and so many other things. So, collaboration is very, very important, if some of us are going to survive the onslaught that has happened to journalism.
To write well, what must a journalist do?
To write well, you must read. That is the first thing. You must read well, because if you don’t read, you can’t write well. You must also write regularly. I have seen many people these days, they say I’m a writer and I will say what have you written? I can’t see proof that you are a writer. So, to write well, you must read, you must know the basic requirements, the grammar that is involved, because good writing has to be based on grammar that you need to express yourself; you must do research. I keep saying you must do research because again, we are in a time when people need premium content. They are not looking for they said he had it. Somebody said, tell me why, don’t tell me this thing happened, tell me why it happened, tell me the implication, tell me what’s going to happen after now. So, to write well, learn the basics of writing, write regularly, read good writings, know that you can improve. Today, how I write is not how I used to write 10, 20 years ago. So, continuous learning is very, very important and take corrections. Find good editors, don’t repeat the same mistake. Some journalists don’t read what comes out. I remember there’s this story about The Guardian. The Guardian used to have what we call a rewrite desk. When you submit a story, some people sit down and rewrite it and when it comes out sometimes they say the only reason why you will know that it’s your story is your name that’s on it, because of the way it’s re-written. But the thing is for you to read that new one so that next time, they don’t have to do that kind of work on your writing. So, like I said, read good writings, write regularly, take corrections and the best can happen to you.
Finally, to be a good editor, to edit well, to ensure that your stories are error-proof, what are the best ways to go about that?
To be a good editor, I’m assuming that you must have been a good reporter. Because it’s a process. It’s a process where you have learnt the basics and now you are the person superintending. So, to be a good editor, you must be able to have what we call editing skills. Because editing is not the same thing as writing. As an editor, you are able to look at a script, you are able to see whether it flows, you are able to know whether it complies with the house style, that’s if you have a house style, a writing guide; you are able to find what is not in the story. So, if a reporter submits a story to you, you read that story and say look, this story has missed this, you need to add this, you need to interview more people. But you must know better than the person that is reporting to you. And that’s a function of practicing over a period of time. So, know the rules that guide your writing. Every media house should have a house style. Unfortunately, it’s not happening again. And that’s why you find in the same paper, you see different styles. We need to ensure that we co-ordinate these styles. For example, it’s as simple as this – in some media houses, you mention the title before the name. In some media houses, you mention the name before the title, but in a paper sometimes you will find different styles. There’s no co-ordination. So, an editor must be somebody that is free-headed to be able to look at scripts and say look, this is missing, this can be added. But he’s not to destroy people’s copy. He must help people to find what is not there. You must be a mentor, a coach. There’s a difference between being a coach and a fixer. What most people do is that they fix. When a story is not well written, you take it and you write it and that person doesn’t know. A coach teaches you that this is what is wrong with this writing, go and work on this and present another copy, especially when there’s enough time. So, I’m advocating that a good editor is a coach, not a fixer. You are not just fixing a problem, you are teaching that person to understand what is easier. One of the reasons why in Nigerian editors do too much work is that the people who are supposed to support us, some of them have not been prepared very well and we are not spending time to train. I need to say that we are not spending time to train. I need to say that we need to do more trainings for people. Training is not a waste of money because when you have good reporters, your job as editor is easier, which is very, very important.
