As the newly
elected president and also a member of the board of trustees on OPAN -
Nigeria's premier association of digital/new media publishers and
entrepreneurs, he has the task of achieving OPAN's vision which is to
restore eroding credibility, professionalism and trust once enjoyed by
the digital media when it started over a decade ago.
OPAN's goal is to
instill the required high standards of quality, content and
professionalism in the internet news media.Founded in May 2010 and duly
registered at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria on 14th of November 2011 by some discerning
professionals who felt the time had come to define standards for the
fastest growing engagement platform of our generation, the idea of OPAN
was conceived after founders recognized and understood the shift in the
mode and means of social engagement, disruptions and changes that was
coming which would overlap with current laws and rules guiding conduct
and practice and therefore sought to create a self regulatory body that
would provide the means-tested standards for users and practitioners to
operate by.
It took founders
many years to get the model running due to wide consultations amongst
stakeholders, the public and private entities as well as learning from
similar international bodies.
As a self-funded
organisation, OPAN is modeled after similar international media
associations with a mandate to self regulate members to maintain high
ethical standards in digital publishing and uphold the sacred values and
principles of journalism.
Ogannah through
THEWILL has contributed immensely to the acceptability and credibility
that internet media enjoys presently in the country with dozens of
quality reporting and breaking news to its credit.
He was one of the
very first to report the death of former President Musa Yar'Adua, who
died in office on May 10, 2010 and the first to exclusively report on
May 12, 2010, the international arrest and detention of a former
governor of Delta State and highly influential member of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Chief James Ibori on charges of graft. Recently,
THEWILL exclusively unmasked the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) as
owner of the $43m found in an Ikoyi luxury apartment by the EFCC.
A graduate of the
renowned University of Benin with a Bachelors Degree in English and
Literature, Ogannah as most people who know him prefer to call him, has
worked in the media space throughout his professional career, starting
as a political reporter with Thisday newspaper and then rising to the
position of special assistant to the chairman of
the firm until he voluntarily resigned in 2006.
Speaking recently
while briefing representatives of the media on the association's
upcoming Annual New Media Conference billed to hold in February 2018,
Ogannah highlighted some crucial points, stating: "At inception, the
internet news media was highly respected and revered by the public for
its doggedness, fearlessness and resilience in bringing to light events
and news that ordinarily would never be published by the traditional and
establishment backed print media because of the influence that powerful
public and private sector figures have over their owners and top
editors.
For the public
then, the independent internet media (we were often called internet
warriors) was the only trustworthy source for untainted and unbiased
reporting. Sadly, that same unfaltering public trust is fast eroding."
"Today, every tom
dick and harry is a news site blogger or digital media entrepreneur or
about to open shop without understanding the basic tenets of journalism
(Truth, Trust and fairness). They write poorly, publish fake and
disseminate unsubstantiated information, lack the capacity to create
original content, plagiarise works of others, extort and blackmail
people with threats to publish stories about them that are often times
fake amongst several other odious practices that have brought damage to
the credibility of the genre and threatening to destroy the hard and
noble work of the pioneers of this space.
"In fact, because
of these unscrupulous practices by these misfits there have been growing
calls from the public for something to be done urgently to curb the
madness and chaos and it is that call that I am taking on headlong as
President of OPAN.
"OPAN's Annual New
Media Conference, slated for February 2018, is the platform amongst
other initiatives that we intend to use to begin the debate because it
brings every one to the table."
"OPAN has severally
voiced its openness to work with the federal legislative and executive
arms of government to enact an enforceable law that is fair and just and
does not impede the independence of the
media in anyway whatsoever."The battle has just began but it must be won!"
Comments
Post a Comment
https://saviournicodemus.blogspot.com