February 26, 2018

Panelists at the Social Media Week (SMW) Lagos, on Monday call on publishers to improve on the credibility of their news content to enhance  better patronage.

The panelists made the call during the Social Media Week in Lagos, saying that people were paying for credible content and news, which could increase viewership and readership.

They also called on some of traditional media houses to be objective and trustworthy in their news reportage.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Social Media Week, Lagos is currently in its 6th Edition with the  theme: “Closer” is holding from Feb. 26 to March 2.

Mr Olubayo Adekanmbi, the Chief Transformation Officer, MTN said that for publishers to have access to high influx of followers their content must be credible.

He said that content was not just a product for sale but a tool to attract and retain subscribers.

Adekanmbi said publishers who do not have relevant content on their pages were likely to have low percentage of subscribers viewing their website.

“Digital reporting is about the content and if your content is credible and you are consistent, you will get the right viewership.

“Publishers should supply content that can expand and help them build a very strong readership or viewership.

“They should make deliberate effort to build a very strong brand that would keep the audience glued to their website.

“People want everything in life packaged in one platform, it is that lifestyle mindset that people want and that will make you profitable,” he said.

The Chairman of Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Mr John Momoh, also urged the traditional media houses to be objective and trustworthy in their news reportage.

Momoh, also the Chairman of Channels Media Group, said that objectivity would enable media organisations to meet up with the demands of modern day broadcasting, and limit fake online stories.

“For every good side, there is a bad side and for one to thrive from the bad side there should be trustworthiness and objectivity in what one does as media personnel.

“There is need for us to verify our information, double check before information is pushed online.

“This does not take the fact that there are people who sit somewhere trying to create mayhem in the industry, but when trust is built, people will be able to decipher right from wrong,’’ he said.

He said for there to be credible news, there was need for proper research, investigation, and digging deep to have an edge on information passed to the public.

He urged media houses to make sure that the stories posted were well balanced with all sides of the story being published.

He said with the changes in the industry as regards innovations, artificial intelligence should be incorporated by media houses to help surpass redundancy.

Mr Damilola Layode, Ringler Africa Digital Publisher, said that everyone had the power to release content but quality of the news released also matters.

Layode, however said that website and publishing had symbiotic relationship, “the social media strategy is to drive your platform and ensure you are driving your audience to where your revenue truly is.’’

He however said that there were down side and up side of digital publishing, “the downside is not reaching many people while the upside is the quality of content due to quality profile.’’