The Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Friday advised journalists in the agency not to regard themselves as civil servants but professionals in news gathering and dissemination.
Onanuga gave the advice while speaking at a one-day lecture organised for all members staff of the agency’s Lagos office.
NAN reports that its former staff, Mr Aderogba Obisesan, anchored the lecture entitled, “The Modern Day News Agency: Challenges and Survival Strategies’’.
NAN reports that Obisesan, recently retired as a staff of Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Onanuga urged members of staff to increase their level of commitment and passion for news gathering in order to effectively cover events in the country.
He said that with 501 journalists, NAN should effectively compete in terms of news output with international agencies like AFP and Reuters and serve its subscribers satisfactorily.
The managing director said that to sustain NAN, members of staff should join hands to build the best and most vibrant news agency in Africa.
He said: “The problem I have today is that we do not know what we have as NAN journalists. I think it is a generic problem; most journalists today are very lazy.’’
Obisesan in his lecture, congratulated the management of the agency for the recent launch of a portal for its subscribers.
“The new portal effectively shut out free and illegal users of the agency’s contents.
“This innovation follows last month’s free-to-read site www.nan.ng, which offered selected news menu to readers.
“This is the modern way to go. Foreign news agencies have adopted this style many years ago. You are welcomed on board,’’ he said.
Obisesan suggested that NAN must keep resourceful reporters and media managers, adding that there must also be a form of reward for hardworking journalists.
He also advised that journalists working in a news agency must undergo regular training and re-training.
“Knowledge of modern journalism is a sine qua none,’’