For the co-founder of Tell Magazine and Chairman of Gaskia Media Limited, Dare Babarinsa, members of the fourth estate of the realm, the journalists, deserve better treatment and remuneration.
Fielding questions from journalists in Lagos during a media breakfast to herald his birthday, which held in Lagos recently, he observed, “most journalists are worried. They no longer earn as they used to. When we started Newswatch Magazine, we were better paid and were even earning more than lecturers. When we started Tell Magazine, we said our editors should earn at least the salaries of a High Court judge. You cannot have a true democracy where the press is under the tyranny of the stomach, such a press may substitute fiction for facts and rumour for news. We need to be aware that a media elite that is not able to take care of itself or of its own also becomes a liability to democracy.”
Speaking further, he noted some people may say what is their business with the fate of the Nigerian newspapers?
To him, “they don’t read newspapers; they don’t advertise and have no business with any journalist. They have no ambition of appearing in any newspaper until their obituary appears in one or two at the end of their earthly trip, such people do not know that the freedom of the press is the enduring pillar of democracy.”
Since return of democracy in 1999, he noticed journalism has faced physical security challenges, some media houses have faced the onslaught of security agents and some have faced the ultimate sanction from suspected assassins and even arsonists and the terrorist’s bomb.
He, however, assured, “but we can weather all those. After all, our predecessors covered the civil war and people of our generation fought military dictatorship to a stand-still. But how do we address the debilitating and corrosive impact of hungry journalists? This is the ultimate security issue.”
Saying the weakened state of the Nigerian press poses grave danger to the nation’s democracy, he insisted no democracy can survive in the long run without a virile press.
Babarinsa argued that no democracy is thriving in the world without the press being strong and responsible enough to play its role as the watchdog. Just like it happened to the banking sector and textile industry, he suggested government’s positive intervention in reviving the fortune of the press.
Insisting journalists deserve to be well paid, he also called on journalism teachers and media mangers to find a way to expand the income base of the enterprises.
He, however, expressed concern over the level of ignorance that has permeated the fabrics of the country. To him, “there is contagious laziness and Africans give excuse of social media for their ignorance. But all over the world, people are reading. The Jerusalem Times circulates about 500,000 copiers per day. Many India newspapers circulate 5 million to 10 million copies daily. Japan, a highly technical country circulates 11 million copies per day. Something has gone wrong. Our media managers must find out what has happened to us.”
He further recalled, “before 1984, every civil servant on level 8 and above was entitled to at least one newspaper per day. The governments of Nigeria have been the major clients of Nigerian press. Those practice made the newspaper buoyant, kept the citizens informed and seriously stemmed the tide of popular ignorance. It allowed hundreds of thousands to be sold daily.”
By 1984, he stated when Major General Buhari was the Head of State; that privilege was stripped off. To him, “if the privilege is restored, it may increase the circulation of newspapers. Media managers need to put heads together and find other solutions. Higher circulation figures would bring back the advertisers despite the expanding possibilities of the internet and electronic media. There is nothing like the intimacy of the printed word; its repeatability and its permanence.”
Sharing some of his memorable moments, he recounted, “as a young reporter with Newswatch, the greatest thing that happened to us was the assassination of Dele Giwa. It was a terrifying experience in 1986. I was honoured as the Journalist of the Year at Sheraton Hotel. They just completed the hotel then. It was a memorable moment. The award was presented to me by the Chairman of UAC, Chief Ernest Shonekan, Mrs. Stella Obasanjo, Emeka Ojukwu and other dignitaries were present. My trip to Nsukka, with my friend Dele Omotunde, to go and see Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe is one I won’t forget in a hurry. He was 90. And the old man asked for our names and we told him. Then he said, “you my colleagues, I’ve been reading you a lot! You are doing well for journalism. For me, it was a comforting moment that a historical figure like him has been reading our stories.”
Born on May 9, 1955 at Okemesi Ekiti State, Babarinsa was educated at Obafemi Awolowo University Ile- Ife and University of Lagos. In 1998, he was honoured by the United States government when he participated in the Distinguished Visitors Programme during which time his team was invited into the White House. Babarinsa served at Tell Magazine for 15 years.
