A follow-up is a journalist’s term for a story which is written so that one can report more of a story which has already been published or broadcast. Those extra details can be new facts, later developments, reactions or new issues which have been raised by the original event. What all follow-ups have in common is that they depend for some of their news value on a story which has gone before.
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Follow-ups are needed because one story on its own may not cover all aspects of an event or controversy properly. Although life goes on second-by-second, day-by-day, journalists cannot report it all. Journalists have to concentrate on bits of life and report them to their readers or listeners. However, just because one as a journalist has described an event in few paragraphs does not mean that the event itself has been described completely. There are often side-issues which have not been touched or later events which will need reporting themselves.
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At this point, there is a need to distinguish follow-ups from what we call breaking news/stories, which are reports of events (or controversies or debates) which are still happening as we report them. For example, the hourly reports on any form of killings are part of a breaking story but it becomes a follow up when the culprits are apprehended, charged to court and sentenced or discharged. Follow-ups are used for a variety of reasons like for a continuity purpose, to satisfy curiosity, to add balance, and to cover missed stories.
As at today, in Nigeria, follow-up news items have taken back seat. To give credence to this, Femi Adesina, Special Adviser (Media) to President
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The recent senseless killing of Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a 200 level student of Sheu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto by some Islamic fundamentalists should awake the consciousness of the media maganers in pursuing this case to a logical conclusion by staying on it. Otherwise, it will add to the ‘failure’ of the media in its responsibility of following up on stories. We may wish to recollect that Ataga Usifo, Karen Apagher, Ochanya Ogbanje, Sylvester Oronomi, Osinachi Peter, and Bamishe Ayansola recently lost their lives in controversial circumstances in the hands of callous set of human beings and updates are not known.
Life is sacrosanct but no life is more valuable than another. If media had followed up on the execution of the judgments obtained in respect of those that committed murder, there is a possibility that the spate of these senseless killings would have been reduced drastically. With about 3,000 inmates awaiting execution and over 5,000 criminals being tried for murders all over the country, killings like that of Deborah may not be abated. Media has a prominent role to play in this regard.
It is a statement of fact that news writing is not like a film that must have a beginning and an end, the media practitioners owe the citizens by following a particular news item to a logical conclusion thereby building an egalitarian society. No matter how good a journalist is, he will occasionally miss stories which the competition gets. Perhaps the first one knows of this is when one hears the story on another station or read it in another newspaper. By that time, it is usually too late to report the same story by oneself. It is usually best to accept that one has been beaten for the story, and try to produce a follow-up. Media should make a loud statement with the killing of Deborah.
Abiola Ayankunbi is MD/CEO at AbingMO3 Marketing Management Consultancy.
0802 305 1315
abiolaayankunbi@yahoo.com
