Media practitioners, regulatory bodies and scholars in Nigeria have converged on Bauchi to discuss the survival of the broadcast industry amid dwindling resources and threats of emerging technologies.
  
At the 80th General Assembly of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), themed: ‘The Broadcast Media in the Era of Economic Downturn – The Way Forward’, the Professor of Mass Communication and Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Kashare, Gombe State, Umar Pate, stressed that funding had become a serious issue for the media.
  
He said: “Every media manager today is concerned with issues of how the media can survive because of the normal model that we are used to as advertising of sponsorship. There are so many new players all over the place like YouTube and other platforms. They do not need to have bureaucracies; they do not need to have big setups for them to connect with millions of people.  
  
“They spend less and connect with more, but above all, the big tech companies like Google and Amazon have all of these. They are taking the advert revenue that should go to the conventional media. They are now sharing all of these things on the platforms. So, the money that should have gone into the potential media is being shared.  
 
“Two years ago, I attended a conference in Taiwan for the World Media Congress and we were told that the world made about $560 billion in advertising revenue, of this revenue, less than 30 per cent went to broadcasting in the whole world, less than that amount went to the print media.  
 
“A larger percentage went to all these platforms (social media), and this is why today, we are talking about the three Ps – Personality, Power and Politics.”
  
Meanwhile, the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammad, urged media organisations across the federation to explore strategic partnerships during the prevailing economic challenges.  He called on media organisations to leverage technologies and embrace digital transformation to remain relevant, prosperous and compete globally.
  
The governor advised: “While financial sustainability is important, it should never come at a cost of ethical journalism. The pursuit of profit must not override the principles that have guarded this profession for generations”.
  
Mohammed commended the Chairman and the entire leadership of BON for choosing Bauchi as the host of the event, stating that it was a testament to his administration’s commitment to fostering dialogue and development in the media space.
 
The Executive Secretary of BON, Dr Yemisi Bamigbose, commended the leadership of various media institutions and associations for partnering with the organisation to bring solutions to challenges facing the industry. The event was attended by representatives from NIGCOMSAT, NAN, NUJ and other relevant bodies.