As a fresh graduate with laborious drill in the language of English from the University of Lagos, Linda Ikeji decided to convert her writing skill into a hobby; not like the usual writing of fiction and non-fiction story, setting plot for plays, and carving lines for poem. It is hobby geared towards the act of gathering, processing and disseminating of information – activities allotted to individuals who are professionally trained in journalism practices. With this, her blog launched in 2006.
Being a well-recognised blogger among hundreds in Nigeria, she has through her dissemination of information to the public redefine concept of journalism; whereas the definition remains constant since the first journalism practice was recorded when the first regular published newspaper appeared in German cities and in Antwerp about 1601.
When Linda Ikeji started her blogging – an act of creating and maintaining content for a blog, the internet was not like this prominent in Nigeria. This monopoly led her to limelight for her practicing journalistic acts, while she cannot be compared to traditional media. This scrutinise information they let out to the public eyes and ears based of the ethical and demands of journalistic writings.
Over time, her activities cannot be overstressed to have affected the perception of many towards journalism practices in Nigeria. This has, no doubt, reduced the regard accorded to the profession; as many went to claim journalism is not a profession but a mere activity. Since the entry barrier is below the knee of anyone trying to come in. For this reason, anyone can leap over the barrier without any or no stringent requirements before gathering, processing and disseminating information to the public.
This has made the tale of those who have gone to study mass communication in tertiary institution a miserable one. Since, several individuals from diverse filed are hijacking their place. There are several publishers, editors, reporters, presenters, and countless individuals in the media industry across Nigeria and the world without tutelage on the rudiments of journalism.
Jon Snow once said landing a job in the media industry had far more to do with socio-economic class than merit and that this is fuelling the gulf between the media and the wider public. Disclosed during a keynote speech at the Edinburgh television festival, Snow said covering the inferno at Grenfell Tower which killed more than 80 people made him feel like he was “on the wrong side” of Britain’s social divide.
The veteran broadcaster, who has presented Channel 4 News on British Television for 28 years, argued the digital media had failed to fill the void triggered by the demise of the local newspaper industry and ultimately failed to connect with “the left behind; the disadvantaged, the excluded.”
He said, “Barriers to entry into journalism, largely on the basis of background rather than merit, are a central cause of our disconnect. We the media report the lack of diversity in other walks of life – but our own record is nothing like good enough. The Sutton Trust has revealed that just under 80 per cent of top editors were educated at private or grammar schools. Compare that with the 88 per cent of the British public now at comprehensives.”
Alberto Cairo also attested that journalism is not a profession, it is more of an activity or basically a universal skill. This assertion can be labelled heart-breaking to many journalists who see their doings as a profession. Meanwhile, it is not just a saying but a truth based on some facts. However, journalists are not licensed before embarking on gathering, processing and disseminating of information, journalism lacks a body of theoretical knowledge, journalism has no required curriculum through which all (or even most) journalists must pass before being regarded as one, journalists cannot exclude “non-journalists” like stringers and bloggers from reporting news, most journalist are not independent consultants but employees and therefore, lack “professional autonomy”.
In addition, journalists do not serve clients, but only employers or the public. Most journalists are not members of any professional organization; such as Nigerian Union of Journalist or Society of Professional Journalists, majority of journalists are not seen as high status fellows in the society. Clearly, journalism is neither a profession nor a quasi-profession. However, worry is not on if journalism is a profession or not, but whether it can remain a “profession” in a world where commerce, politics, and technology seem to be sharing the strength journalism among many citizens.
The great media empires around the world now treat news as a way of getting attention for their advertisements, not as a public service. Governments around the world have increasingly considered journalists a tool for their propaganda rather as the Fourth Estate. And the Internet seems to be making news organizations, including their journalists, unnecessary. Looking through the lens of the future, it seems as though the future belong to the bloggers.
Painful! Questions like “will the profession of journalism survive commercialization of the news, the Internet’s influx of amateur news bloggers, and other trends of the twenty-first century?” remain unanswered. But what is obvious is that, the society needs professionally trained individuals – people who are more committed to learning the truth of significant events and reporting them accurately to the public – to keep an eye on government and its activities, organisation and individuals to safeguard their commitment to humanity.
The narrative with swelling echoes that activism articles and investigative reports are rarely published in media must changed as those who are professionally trained in the act of gathering, processing and disseminating of information must rise up to ensure the journalism’s entry barrier is raise above the head of the tallest man. Thus, becoming what anyone and anybody cannot come into. Here, individuals after 4 years in tertiary institution must be trained in institute of journalism like Nigerian Institute of Journalism before they are licenced to practice both online and traditional journalism. And anyone who boycotted this must be irately reprimanded in the face of the law.
Perhaps, this will reverse the chronicle with only medicine, law, and a quite other careers as the only profession in the world. With this, journalism would move from being a mere activity in the public’s eyes to a profession as the narrative of its low entry barrier will be no more.
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