By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja
The 16th Virtual All Nigerian Editors Conference,organised by the umbrella body of all editors in Nigeria, the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), began on Thursday.
The conference has as theme: “Media, People and Covid-19: How to Create Sustainability in the Digital Era.”
The Reporters’ correspondent gathered that the conference began with a minute silence in honour of the fallen colleagues like Malam Wada Maida, who was the former Managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) a among other public offices he held before his death few months ago.
Other deceaseds are: Musa Tijjani, Mrs. Ronke, Abba Ado Gwarzo among others.
A statement signed by the Ken Ugbeche,the Social and Publicity Secretary, a copy of which was made available to The Reporters, qouted the President of the Guild, Mr Mustapha Isah as saying that though ANEC 2020 would have been a three-day event, “this year’s edition will be VIRTUAL (Via Zoom) and it will be for one day.”
Isah traced the development to the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant safety protocols of social distancing, virtual communication, among others.
“Every year, members of the Guild physically gather under one roof to brainstorm on national issues, including state of the media but this year, as thought-leaders and agenda-setters, we have decided to model our conference in tune with the exigencies of the moment, hence the decision to make it a one-day event,” Isah said.
The online publication further reports that the ANEC 2020 is chaired by Alhaji Kabiru Yusuf, a Fellow of the Guild and Chairman of Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust newspapers among other publications.
Yusuf, also a member of the Board of the International Press Institute, IPI, is a recipient of many awards, including the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).
The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Mr Steve Nwosu, said this year’s edition was essentially a capacity building session, to be keynoted by Mr. Taiwo Obe, a Fellow of the Guild and Founder/Director, The Journalism Clinic, a Lagos-based journalism training centre with international affiliations.
According to Mr. Nwosu, the choice of the theme was deliberate, adding: “The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a big blow to an already distressed media industry, shrinking revenues both from advertising and readership.
“There is therefore the need, now more than ever, to seek new ways to create the type of content, aesthetics and overall values that would help sustain media as a business.
“This informed the choice of the theme and the keynote by the Planning Committee.”
He urged members of the Guild “to maximize the opportunities that this year’s special edition of our ANEC presents to us.”
