How The Print Media Can Survive In This Digital Age

• Publisher, BUSINESS Day Newspaper, FRANK AIGBOGUN

It is no longer news that the Print Media is currently going through serious challenges and many newspapers have folded up. And those still in business are gasping for breathe. Many have cut back on their print run, to be able to survive. From huge figures many now print as little as 2,000 to 3,000 copies. The reasons are very obvious, the reading culture has reduced, affordability to enable readers buy copies of newspapers and magazines those days, have become an issue. The advent of social media has also affected the traditional media. Many elites now consume the news on the go. Many follow breaking stories on line in real time. Many sleep with their phones beside them and they wake up to catch up with the latest news.

By the time many people step out of their homes to go to work on a daily basis, they have read all the news on their phones. So there is no need to buy newspapers. These days, only few people patronise vendors. And the vendors now complain of how they roam the streets with little sales.

So, what is the way forward? A few days back, City People got Mr. Frank Aigbogun, a leading Journalist to share his thoughts with us as we celebrate our 27th anniversary. He is a veteran Journalist and former Editor of Vanguard, a leading newspapers in Nigeria.

Frank Aigbogun, who has paid his dues in the industry is the Publisher/CEO of BusinessDay newspaper, which he co-founded in 2001.

He has a rich pedigree, as he began his Journalism career in 1982, during his NYSC at the Lagos Guardian newspaper. At one time he had served as the Lagos Correspondent of the Associated Press, AP.

An alumnus of the Lagos Business School, Mr. Aigbogun first studied Mass Communication.

A man of sartorial elegance, Mr Frank Aigbogun honoured our invitation and came to express his views on how the traditional media can remain relevant and be sustainable. He said apart from Traditional media stepping up to digital space, the Management of the Print Media will have to diversify their income stream, from the old one-product tradition to creating many platforms. “Truth be told we no longer can remain selling only one product. People are now devising new ways to survive. The way businesses are being run now has changed. People are shaping up. COVID changed everything in 2020. There has to be a re-engineering of our business models to create new income stream.

The media landscape is changing and you have to change with it. The customer is now King. Whatever they want is what you must give them. Technology has changed the way Journalism is being practiced now”. He says there has to be Media Innovation.

According to him, Good Journalism is still the way to go. He says the old newspaper model has become outdated, because of the way readers want news delivered to them. “The Readers are moving on. So newspaper and magazine publishers must reposition their content”.

He explained that there are 4 things that shape the future of newspapers. (1) We now spend more time on our phones. He says many people have abandoned traditional TV for phones. The 2nd is the Growth of Phones. The 3rd is to be able to catch up with our Readers. What is happening now is that our audience have become more powerful. As media managers you have to find out where the reader is and position your product for them. The 4th factor shaping the future of Newspaper is Social Media.

“Social media has disrupted the old ways via which our Readers consume their news. So media managers must develop a profitable digital arm. They must make use of Technology, by that I mean Internet. We must leverage on Technology. We must use Techology. It is available for everybody”.

“There is a noticeable shift now from seeking Revenue from Adverts revenue to Reader Revenue. That is Traditional Revenue Versus Digital Revenues. You must grow traffic. You must develop your website to be active and strong.

“You must create a number of social media platforms that are active.”

He also revealed that the advent of Fake News will save Journalism.

“One saving grace is the mess we are currently witnessing on social media. Time and Time again readers will find out that many of what they read and see on social media is rubbish. So Readers are going back to the name that they trust.”

“Media Managers must realise that Journalism has become a product competing. Media Managers are now behaving like those who produce all these consumer products. Newspapers are adopting their style. We are all selling our different products”.

“The future of publishing looks tough. You either change or you die.”

“You either innovate or die. Like we used to say when we were in primary school, “There Is Fire On The Mountain, Run, Run, Run”.

“We have to learn how to write for the social media, how to make stories appealing. We live in an age of Action. Just do something now. Do something fast. No wasting of time. No procrastination. We have to look at what we do in a different way.

Speed is of the essence. There is competition. We are all in a race”.

“Media Managers must have a functional website. If you can’t do  it, get people who understand website to develop and operate it for you. There is a lot that needs to be done”.