Vice President of News at Google, Richard Gingras, has said there is great opportunity and business value in enriching the fabrics of a community by addressing its information needs.
   
Gingras stated this, yesterday, at the ongoing two-day West Africa Journalism Innovation Conference, organised by Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), themed: ‘Accountability Journalism: Nurturing Innovation for a Sustainable Future’. He said if the media doesn’t use such approach to bridge divides in societies, accountability journalism would not be heard beyond the depths of its own silo.
   
Gingras further said advertising model is not dead, revealing that 2/3 of Google advertising revenue comes from small businesses. Chief Executive Officer of CJID, Dapo Olorunyomi, said the conference was birthed by the need to innovatively tackle issues of sustainability in the media, especially because revenue is a major challenge.
  
According to him, there’s need for a change in the media, and this will only come when the media thinks innovation. Also, Africa Director, MacArthur Foundation, Dr Kole Shettima, in his goodwill message, said his organisation supported the conference because it believes in the cause. He noted that many media houses collapse because of revenue loss. 
    
He added: “We know that money from some sources is very corrupt, so the media needs multiple sources of revenue to keep afloat. We support accountability journalism, which must be financed by multiple sources of revenue. Independent media is critical for democracy to survive; the reason also why we support independent media.
   
“Technology and innovation are critical to catching up with what is happening around the world. I am hoping it will be a yearly event and we would always be there to give support because independent media is in our interest, else we may find it difficult to operate.”