COVID-19: Reactions of print media managers

By Abiola Ayankunbi

Businesses and crisis are like siamen twins whether it is an incident that warrants an immediate attention or an event that makes headlines across the globe. This is a situation that calls for attention for the fear to subside so that a solid plan of action can surface.

This is a crisis period for the print media managers in Nigeria. Early this year, there was a warning that the virus will be in the country, however, the preparations by both the government and business community has fallen short of expectations.

Journalists are in the streets to gather information on Coronavirus without being properly kitted with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), thereby exposing them to danger. Save for one or two media firms, there is no hazard allowance or insurance and their salaries still remain unpaid as at when due.

ALSO READ:COVID-19 may push print media industry to precipice

However, depending on the individual relationship with the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, such person may be lucky to access a salary advance or an I. O. U. Reporters’ welfare are not given adequate and commensurate attention vis-a-vis the risks involved thereby making them unsettled on the job.

There have been sameness in the way this COVID-19 is being reported by virtually all the newspapers. Their front pages are similar! Most of the news are press releases or briefings of the task force committee. Quality of questions asked during the periodic briefings are not encouraging at all. A journalist who is grounded in science and possibly from the education desk ought to be at the forefront, covering this. In other words, media firms should line up their best personnel for this critical assignment.

I strongly align with the position of Mallam Abdul Idris, Chairman of Nigerian Inion of Journalists (NUJ) in Niger State where he advocated for adequate funding of media organisations because poorly funded media organisations always bring about poor productivity. He said this at the 2019 World Press Freedom Day celebration in the state.

Media houses have gone ahead to reduce the pagination of their newspapers without prior notification. Agents, vendors and readers woke up in the morning and discovered that the pages of the newspapers have been reduced without reducing the cover prices! To add salt to injury, a front page comment on pagination reduction was not published unlike what happens whenever cover price is increased. This is not the best way to treat the stakeholders. Many newspaper firms are still deeply rooted in production concept of marketing when most businesses have scaled three other concepts to berth at societal concept of marketing.

The stakeholders are not seen as partners in progress because the sense of belonging has been relegated to the background. A particular newspaper tested the water; it reduced it’s pagination to 32 from 48 pages. Based on the follow-follow approach in the industry, all other newspapers embarked on pagination reduction the following day, to the same 32 pages except ThisDay Newspapers that reduced it’s own to 24 pages.

It must be noted that prior to this time, the cost of producing a copy of newspaper is higher than the checking rate. Depending on the print run, it costs an average of N282.50 to print a copy that is being offered for sale to the reading public at N200.00 and above; agents and vendors commission inclusive. This is where the much needed advertising revenue is required to cushion the effect of high production cost of which it’s pagination ratio to news can be 6:4 or 7:3 on the scale of 10 and depending on the stage of the concerned newspaper life cycle.

Reduction in pagination and print run amount to double jeopardy because production cost is being incurred in all the production centres, at least, for the majority that is involved in simultaneous printing. Rainfall is equally doing its own havoc to the copy sales. Thank God is not frequent and heavy yet!

The actions seen so far can be best described as a panic one because they are not laced with any pre-knowledge of the disaster. This time ought to have offered the media managers ample opportunity to retool their business models. Since media houses sell “contents”, elements of trust in crisis situation like COVID-19 is of utmost importance not minding there is an ineffective monetary policy, scant action from the government and global financial crisis.

Conclusively, media managers need not to respond with a knee-jerk reaction because of this adversity but a more considered approach is better for a successful handling of the issue. For a newspaper to survive these uncertain times, it must start doing things in an “unconventional” way.

Abiola Ayankunbi is MD/CEO of AbinMO3 Marketing Management Consultancy.