Mr Lawrence Ewhrudjkpo, Bayelsa Deputy Gov. has urged the Bayelsa Federated Newspaper Publishers Association (BAFENPA) to change the narrative of Bayelsa in the print media.
Ewhrudjkpo stated this during a courtesy visit by the association to his office in Yenagoa on Wednesday.
He noted that a lot of good things were happening in Bayelsa but which were not adequately reported or glamourised in the mainstream media.
The deputy overnor, while empathizing with the indigenous publishers, noted that the patronage for printed newspapers had significantly nosedived.
According to him, for the publishers to remain in business they must change their modus operandi by embracing online publishing as complete dependence on the sale of hardcopies will not enable them to break even let alone make profit.
He thanked the publishers for their support, and participation in the recent All Nigeria Guild of Editors Conference (ANEC) held in Yenagoa, which he noted would positively market the state to the world.
On behalf of the state government, he commiserate with the BAFENPA team over the death of one of their colleagues, Mr Major Debekeme recently.
He said, “I want to thank for your participation and the role you played in enabling us to successfully host the conference of the Nigerian Guild of Editors , which just ended last week in the state.
“It was quite a colourful event and it was also a memorable and remarkable event.
“It was one way of taking Bayelsa to the world, and bringing the world to Bayelsa because their presence made Bayelsa to be focused upon.
“We also want to thank you for being there to tell the Bayelsa story, even though you may not be telling it the way it ought to be told.
“I also believe that when you are in a tough situation, the tough keep going. And if your strategy is not working, then you have to change it.
“The generation we are in is a generation of electronics, so you need to go into electronic publication. There are online publishers who are doing very well. I think it is time for you to change your game.
“You also talked about loans. If we give you loans today to print your newspapers and there is nobody buying your hardcopies, how do you raise the money to pay back the loans you had collected?,” he queried.
Earlier, the Chairman of BAFENPA, Chief Jones Abiri, underscored the prohibitive cost of publishing and appealed to government to come to their aid by providing them soft loans to regularly publish their newspapers and remain in business.
Abiri, who applauded the infrastructural strides of the Governor Diri-led administration, however, solicited the state government’s assistance in the upcoming burial of the late Major Debekeme, who until his demise, was a member of the BAFENPA. (NAN)
