The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has said that there is an urgent need for the Nigerian government intervention to save the media from collapse.
This is contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the Standing Committee Meeting of the NGE held via Zoom on Thursday, June 4, 2020, at Editors’ House, Ikeja, Lagos State.
The guild, in the communique signed by its President Mustapha Isa and General Secretary Mrs Mary Atolagbe, acknowledged the dire state of the media, now made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Guild specifically recommends the injection of funds by the federal government, not only to help keep media jobs but, also to ensure continued existence and operations of the various media houses, be they Print, Electronic or New Media,” the communique reads in part.
It noted that using public funds to finance private sector operations to save them from bankruptcy and total eclipse is not new and has been adopted in other jurisdictions.
“It cites the instance of the United States government, which used public funds to save the U.S. automobile industry, banking and other ailing sectors from insolvency during the financial crisis of 2008 and currently with the $2 trillion bailout for companies, amid the COVID-19 scourge,” it added.
The Guild emphasised federal government financial intervention on the ground that media services are regarded as “essential services” and hence, deserve to be treated like other essential services that played key roles on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19.
The body of Editors avers that government intervention at this point is imperative, to ensure that the media continues to discharge its constitutional duty; stressing that survival of the media is sine qua non for the survival of democracy.
It supports the position of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) and the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), both of which have made strong appeals to the Federal Government of Nigeria for financial intervention.
The Guild notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the poor state of infrastructure in the nation’s health sector and urges governments at all levels, to apply the lessons learnt from the pandemic to fix the nation’s healthcare delivery system.
