Biyi Adegoroye 
When beggars die, there are no comets seen, but the heaven blaze forth the death of princes. William Shakespeare
T
he above statement by Calpurnia, wife of the Roman statesman, Julius Caesar, aptly captured the predicaments of the media industry either in terms of their dwindling finances or the misfortune befalling media practitioners in recent times. Sadly, these are never reported for obvious reasons.
In a single week, a total of seven Nigerian journalists, frontline fighters of the COVID-19 pandemic lost their lives, though only ONE of the deaths- Dan Forster’s – has been linked to the virus.
The Crime and Defence Correspondent of the Africa Independent Television, Nkiruka Udoh; Naomi Uzor of Vanguard Business Desk, and Crime Editor of the Daily Independent, Xavier Ndayongmon, my colleague for over two decades, lost their lives.
Others were Hugo Odiogor, an old senior colleague in the Daily Times in the 90s, who until recently was of the Editorial Board of the Vanguard Newspaper, Aramide Oikelome, formerly Independent Newspaper and a cartoonist in the Nation, Mr. Azeez Sanni also took the final bow.
Arguably, death is a necessary, but these occurrences in quick succession still leave us with bewilderment. While a number of them were recuperating from one illness or the other during the period, one of the late colleagues reportedly had a surgery for the removal of fibroid, but like the publisher of the Classique Magazine in the 90s, May Ellen Ezekiel, she never survived it.
Sad and even more spine-chilling were reports that some of these colleagues had the peculiar history of high blood pressure and diabetes, the former is not novel to journalists who struggle daily with news gathering, writing, reporting and editing.
During such daily hassles, we contend with datelines, by-ling and deadlines – as stories and camera-ready pages must be submitted to the editor at a particular time daily, weekly irrespective of lockdowns, medical emergencies or extenuating circumstances. The show goes on.
The condition of service in some media is anything but satisfactory. Salaries are not only poor, but they are hardly paid as at when due. Today no fewer than five newspapers are in arrears of staff salaries in the upwards of five months. In some worse cases, a few media organisations owe over one year salaries.
Very few media organisations in Nigeria provide medical facilities, contrary to the extant laws, very few enlisted with the HMOs; annual leave is a rarity, and when granted, leave allowances are hardly paid. Some staff must even embark on mandatory working leave annually or they lose it.
In most cases, contributive pensions are either not remitted to pension funds administrators, or are done in trickles. I once worked in a newspaper for three years as Deputy Editor, sometime, getting home at 12am, but my employer pocketed pension deducted from my salary, neither did he remit his counterpart contribution.
Ironically, these media men are society’s watchdogs who must chronicle daily events without bias, shape public opinion, preach healthy corporate governance and international best practices as members of the fourth estate of the realm, next only to the three tiers of government!
In the course of such duties, especially while carrying out developmental and investigative journalism, some journalists or their relations have been kidnapped, and in some curious cases, some have lost their lives, even without an insurance policy.
It goes without saying that the unimpressive condition of service and sundry hazards are concertedly responsible for the exit of many journalists into corporate affairs departments of some organisations and the allure to the universities where some journalists now lecture after acquiring their PhD.
Needless to say, journalists were at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19, providing members of the public with up to date reports, researches and breakthroughs the world over at the risk of their lives. Like medical personnel, we braced all odd and confronted overzealous security agents who demonstrated poor understanding of presidential directives on our roles. A number of my colleagues even tested positive to the virus.
While medical staff enjoyed a hike in their allowances, in the heat of these coronavirus, such was not applicable to journalists. On the contrary, two prominent newspapers in Lagos downsized its personnel, and about 200, most of them journalists lost their jobs, apparently in response to the attendant cash crunch and fall in advert content.
Media houses that manage to keep afloat paid 40- 60 per cent of the salaries during the pandemic, while others could not pay at all, yet their radio or television stations must hit the airwaves, just as newspapers must be visible on newsstands. In extreme cases, the nation reeks of media houses on sick bed, while others are dead waiting for the undertaker, though universities and polytechnics churn out Mass Communication graduates annually.
Hard economic downturn, crippling poverty and new media have badly affected copy sales, compelling many newspaper houses to reduce print run. Albeit the cost of producing and distributing a 32-page newspaper today stands at about N350, that copy sells for between N150 and N250- an indication of inherent deficit from the onset.
This explains why today Nigerian media history is replete with scores of newspaper houses which now merely exist in history books. Such newspapers and magazines like The Sketch, Triumph, New Age, National Mirror, Newswatch, The News Magazine, AM News and there are indications that more would follow.
Interestingly, the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning have announced the release of N50 billion as part of monetary and fiscal measures to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, small and medium scale businesses, and households.
On this premise and in view of the critical condition of the media houses, as against the peculiar roles in the society, it would not be out of place for government to approve an interest free credit facility to the media to cushion their current economic strain and enable them to retain their workforce.
While media managers should also be introspective about how to address their internal problems and reposition to meeting current realities, the Federal Government may also set minimal standards respecting salaries, condition of service for media men to place them on appropriate pedestal to discharge their constitutional duties and rescue the profession for opportunistic investors.
