The Online Publishers Association of Nigeria (OPAN) on Thursday 26th
November 2015, had its formal launching ceremony with endorsements from world’s
number one search engine firm, Google, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, Publisher of
Nigeria’s foremost newspaper ThisDay and Chairman, Newspaper Proprietors
Association of Nigeria (NPAN), State Governments and corporate Nigeria.
At the formal launch, OPAN and its members pledged a
self-regulated, process-driven, credible, reliable and a well-structured
Nigerian online publishing space.
Hosted at the Protea Hotel, Westwood Ikoyi, the event brought
together stakeholders from the public and private sectors who were eager to
witness a new phase of online publishing in Nigeria.
In his opening remarks the President of the OPAN, Mr. Olufemi
Awoyemi noted that with the increase in internet penetration in Nigeria, there
has been an upsurge in online publishing.
Speaking on “Imperatives for Standards” Mr. Awoyemi shared that
online publishing is the process of publishing original content, following the best
practices of journalism.
He asserted that the obvious issue in online publishing is
balancing “free expression” with the “ethos of journalism”.
The OPAN President assured stakeholders that the body will bring
to Nigeria, the online publishing ecosystem with global best practices.
Giving her keynote address, the Country Manager for Google
Nigeria, Mrs. Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor believed the digital space afforded online
publishers more opportunities than challenges, talking on ‘creativity in a
digital age’. She identified the fact that through the online space, civic
participation in Nigeria has increased remarkably, citing the 2015 general
elections example.
Chiazor, however made a bold statement stating, “Any publisher
that does not have an online presence, risks losing relevance”.
From the Google side, the Nigerian Country Manager hinted
stakeholders that its “AdSense” tool offered online publishers an opportunity,
to monetize their work.
In his special message at the occasion, Mr. Obaigbena, lauded OPAN
on it launch, but urged online publishers to distinguish themselves as
journalists, following the path of transparency, fairness and truth.
In his address entitled “Positioning Nigeria’s Online
Publishing for Global Reckoning” the foremost Publisher expressed his delight
at associating with OPAN, according to him, the internet is a mass
communications platform with members of the association realizing that they are
Journalists and must go back to old traditional ways of doing journalism which
includes investigative journalism and facts checking before publishing. “You go back to the old fashion way of doing journalism, check
your facts and write the truth. So, if you publish the truth, if you publish
facts, if you set the right agenda, then you build the right brand online and
if you build the right brand, you will get currency, you will get audiences,
and it is those audiences that you monetize. So, you do a great business,
essentially, I urge you to all return to that age old virtuous of journalism,”
he said.
Obaigbena reminded OPAN members not to forget the purpose of the
online space, which is all about journalism and the media.
On his part, Mr. Charles Aigbe, Divisional Head, Marketing and
Corporate Relations, UBA Group, in his paper entitled “Reporting with
Credibility-Building Value & Trust with Stakeholders” advised members on
the need for a fair and balanced reporting system that can impact the society
positively.
Others present at the launch, were the former Governor of Anambra
State, Mr. Peter Obi; Mr. Ahmad Sajoh, Commissioner of Information, Adamawa
State; Honourable Ossai Nicholas Ossai, Chairman House of Representatives
Committee on Ethics; Mr. Anthony Chiejina, Group Head, Corporate Communications
at Dangote Group, who represented Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote
Group; Ovation publisher, Mr. Dele Momodu; Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney, who
represented First Bank Group; Mr. Ufot Essien, who represented Zenith Bank Plc;
Mrs. Bunmi Onyiola; representatives of the governors and governments of Delta,
Ogun, Abia and Anambra States amongst several others.
OPAN Vice President 1, Prince Austyn Ogannah, Vice President II,
Mr. Emmanuel Asiwe and Mr. Daniel Elombah anchored the ceremony, which started
at 10.30am and closed at 2.pm.
OPAN is
modelled after international standards and affiliations; with specific
deliverables to meet the needs of the Nigerian market. It desires to deliver a
web-based ‘self-regulatory’ service that is founded on global best practice.
The mission
of OPAN is to advance the policies of high-quality online publishers before the
Advertising Community, Corporate Organisations, the Press, Governments and the
public.
OPAN will help provide some level of high standard reporting
online and will serve to help its members fairly compete in the marketplace for
advertising services, online crisis/issues management for both corporate &
individuals and will act as a voice so that online users clearly understand the
benefits that quality publishers provide to the public discourse.
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