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Broadcast Media's Daily Reviews of
Print Stories Worsen the sales of Newspapers and Magazines
– Comfort Obi (NPAN General Secretary)
The duo of Ayode Longe and Joseph Izibili met with amiable Ms.
Comfort Obi, General Secretary of the Newspapers Proprietors Association
of Nigeria (NPAN) and Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of ‘The Source’ magazine
to enquire into why NPAN decided to seek legal redress over broadcast
stations daily review of newspaper stories in stead of alternative
resolution. She disclosed that NPAN was not against the review in the
first place but that it had asked the stations to follow acceptable
standards by reading the headlines, the riders and then giving listeners
a teaser to make them go for the newspapers and magazines. The stations
have refused to do that but choose to read the whole story thereby
making the newspapers and magazine unattractive to buyers.
She ALSO spoke on other issues affecting NPAN. Below are excerpts
of the interview.
First, we wish to congratulate you on your election as the General
Secretary of NPAN and also to salute you and your magazine for staying
on the side of the people.
Thank You
Why is NPAN taking the broadcast stations to Court for the review of
the newspapers considering the fact that they acknowledge the newspaper
titles and they don’t do it for commercial purposes?
The fact is that case has been on for a couple of years now. But we just
revived it the more since the new regime of NPAN. We are not basically
against their review of newspapers and magazines. The problem why NPAN
has to go to Court is that they don’t just review (she demonstrates) as
I’m holding a copy of the Daily Champion now, they don’t just review by
saying “Crushed” and then read only the kicker or just a few lines, but
they go on and on to read everything. If it is just the headlines giving
the audience a teaser only, something that will prompt them to go and
look for a copy, no body will worry.
NPAN’s problem is that when they pick a copy they go on and on to read
to the end, that of course you know affects sales. The media industry is
distressed already. It results to low sales because people have listened
to the review on radio and television. It just worsens it. That has
been the problem, it’s not that we are against them reading the
headlines and teasing the people.
As for the commercial aspect of it, NPAN strongly feels that electronic
media is not losing either. If you listen very well those things are
sponsored. They will say it is sponsored by so and so Company. Again we
have problems about that. We don’t think that is right, we don’t think
it is okay for the market; basically that is the problem nothing more.
You said there is distress in the industry already, are the reviews
of newspapers and magazines responsible?
Yes, it contributes. The review, the cost of things, the state of the
Nigerian economy, you know for you to buy a copy of newspaper for
N100, N150 or N200 etc, people will say, well why would I do that. At
times, those we call the free readers association, go to the vendors,
stand beside them and read newspapers and magazines. That aside, there
is even the worse scenario, these free readers go and deposit N10, N20,
or N30, and they take all the copies including the magazines: take them
home and finish reading and bring them back and the vendors return them
as unsold.
Madam, don’t you think that this later scenario is more serious than
the review because there are people who cannot afford not buy at least
one newspaper a day as stakeholder whether it is reviewed or not?
We are fighting on all fronts; the vendor who allows people to elope
with our products, so to say and the broadcast media which reads our
papers from the beginning to the end. A younger sister of mine, that is
the thing she does; she puts on the radio and listens to all the papers,
then she doesn’t think it is necessary to buy, including my own
magazine. I’m just being honest with you. At times she calls me to tell
me what is happening. When I ask her where she got it from she tells me
she has just listened to the review. I don’t think that is okay. They go
on and read every thing. We have no problem with them except that they
go on and read everything and after listening to every thing, there is
no temptation to go and purchase a copy again. That is the only thing
and nothing more.
From the much you’ve said it seems to me that the prices of
newspapers and magazines are high for the ordinary person to buy.
That’s because the cost of production is high. In the past five years,
the cost of newsprint, the cost of every thing we use for production has
increased by about 600 percent and it is so tight. Aside the low sales
and high cost of every thing, you have to battle with advert agencies
that will place advertisements and take 20-25% commission, some will ask
for 30 to 40 percent commission. That aside, they will owe you and you
are expected to run your organization and pay staff salaries and then
you are going to cope with low sales. It is tough for us, it is very
tough
Madam it is often said in journalism that dogs don’t eat dog. Before
the legal suit have you made an overture to them as colleagues to try to
make them know your problems?
NPAN has been discussing with them for years, we have told them that we
have nothing against them reading the headlines as a teaser. They have
sponsors who pay them for those segments. We don’t mind, we are not
asking them to give us the money. All we are saying is that don’t do
this to the extent that it becomes unattractive for readers to buy.
If they have sponsors, isn’t that an infringement of your copyright,
since they are making money off you?
They are making money, and even at that we don’t still mind because like
what you said dogs don’t eat dog we take them as our colleagues, we
don’t mind but we mind because it is affecting the sales.
Has NPAN tried to do anything to see if it can increase the sales of
its titles, maybe through survey or research?
We do that all the time. But when our economy is distressed, it is
distressed.
Newspapers’ review, is it peculiar to Nigeria, have you done a study
to show it is not done elsewhere?
It is not. I listen to BBC; I listen to Sky news and all that. They do
their own review but not in the manner it is done here. They read the
headlines and show you and tease you so you go and buy. That’s how it is
done else where. Here somebody start a story from page one and continue
it on page 4, 16, on and on like that. And once you listen to it there
is no need buying.
What really are the objectives of NPAN as a body?
NPAN is there to protect the print industry and that is what we have
being doing. From Taxes to VAT. But for NPAN things would have been
worse [for the print medium]. Apart from taxes and we are asked to pay
VAT on the adverts we collects, you know for each advert we collect we
pay VAT. It is the NPAN that fought these things, for the last three
years they have been writing to us to pay VAT on each copy sold. They
want to audit to know how many copies you are selling and say you must
pay VAT on every copy. We told them it is not like that in any other
place. Newspapers and magazines are educational materials and by
Florence agreement it should be free; we didn’t achieve that until just
last December.
So that is what the NPAN is for to protect the interests of the print
media and that is what we have been doing.
You are a core journalist, you have been in practice and today you
are a publisher that means you are an insider. What are the taxes that
you pay?
We pay Lagos State governments, we pay the Federal government, we pay
VAT on adverts, VAT on all the materials that we buy, newsprint, ink,
every thing. The only one we succeeded in fighting against is this
paying of VAT on copies sold. We pay VAT on every thing nothing is free.
The local government also collects it own?
Ah that is worse. Oh that is worse. Everytime we pay tax. I have never
seen something like this. You Know, it’s like nobody wants the print
industry to survive. That is when you see that some of us when we start
publishing within one year we are off the newsstands. If you count the
number of media houses that started and have gone off the streets, they
are in their twenties and thirties.
That is also very controversial you will agree with me that
mismanagement caused some of them to close shop.
You are absolutely right, absolutely. But in addition to all that, every
body wants to answer publisher/ CEO, you cannot remove the fact that the
outrageous prices of what we use and low sales contribute to that. That
is the problems we are facing.
Is the organization looking at any way of coming together, maybe to
purchase newsprint, ink, printing materials generally in such a way as
to bring down sales?
Some media organizations import newsprints. When we found out that when
we buy from the open market it is more outrageous, some started
importing; those who could.
During the Obasanjo government, we went to him, discussed with him a
couple of times over the newsprint Company at Oku-Iboku. We discussed
that we wanted to be part owners, but we didn’t quite finalized with
him. I think it is an ongoing discussion which after all these Tribunal
cases, we want to take up. We are interested in that, that is the only
way all of us can survive.
Apart from newsprint, there are also some print inputs like ink you
can also buy as a body and sell to members
We haven’t talked about that. All we have been concentrating on is
newsprint it is the most expensive of all. Maybe when we succeed with
the newsprint we can look into all that.
Does NPAN have a data bank where researcher for example can go and
find out print run, circulation strength, sales and advert revenue etc
of individual members?
Let me tell you the truth. No media house wants to make its print run
public. At times some of us tend to exaggerate but now we are gong to
ABC [Audit Bureau of Circulation] now so that they audit. That will
take care of all that.
As for having a place for research the NPAN has a library or a data bank
where any body can go to.
Do you by any means have dealings or relationship with World
Association of Newspapers (WAN)
Not as a body. If you remember during the era of Abacha Nigeria was
excluded from some of these Association. We are just starting again. But
we do have very good relationship with some of colleagues outside.
What do you think are the solutions to the low sales? It is on record
that those days ‘Daily Times’ newspaper titles sold as much as
500,000 copies per day in it’s hey days and today no medium can boast of
a print run of 100,000 copies.
It is the economy. When people think of how to spend N100, N200 to buy a
newspaper they rather use it to buy a cup of Garri or Agege bread. It is
the economy that has to pick up.
With this understanding of a very low economy would you say
newspapers’ cover prices are justified?
Absolutely. Indeed those that are still on hundred naira cover price are
crying but that is because they cannot help things. If you ask me, the
appropriate price for a copy of a newspaper should be between N250,
N300, because the cost of production is very high. It is suffocating.
In a nutshell, in addition to the unfriendly economic environment,
the broadcast media are making matters worse.
Yes, they are by reading everything. It is not just a teaser, they read
every thing. That is the only problem we have with them; we are in
Court, hoping maybe one day they will see reasons with us and we sort it
out. For now we are joining more media houses.
Can’t this case be settled out of Court?
We hope so if they want it to be settled out of Court. Like I told you
it didn’t start today.
Is NPAN also involved in doing something about the backlog of
salaries owed in most print media, since you said your organization
responsibilities is to protect the interests if print industry?
Not all the publishers and all the media houses are members of NPAN. The
Association is restricted to what you call the serious newspapers and
magazines. Having said that there was a time a couple of the serious
newspapers and magazines owed. I don’t think that is still the same
situation now in the core media houses.
Ms. Comfort Obi, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of ‘The Source’
magazine is also the General Secretary of the Newspapers Proprietors
Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and can be reached on
comfort@thesourceng.com or, by SMS only, on +234(0)805 680 0527
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