Mr Dare Babarinsa, former Executive Director of TELL magazine, has identified poor reading culture, social media misuse, and laziness to seek genuine information among African youths as major threats to modern journalism.
Babarinsa said this at a breakfast roundtable with selected journalists on Sunday in Lagos.
The event discussed the fast-eroding reading culture among youths and the decline in the fortunes of newspapers in Nigeria, as part of activities marking his 70th birthday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the veteran journalist was also a former Editor-in-Chief of the Westerner newspaper and has served in various capacities in major newspapers in Nigeria.
Babarinsa noted that many African youths used social media as an excuse to cover up their ignorance.
He pointed out that many youths lived comfortably with a kind of contagious laziness that prevented them from seeking out genuine information.
“If the social media says Calabar is in northern Nigeria, many of our youths in Nigeria will be quoting it as fact.
“They will not ask if Calabar could actually be in northern Nigeria. They have forgotten that everything on social media is not written by machines; they are products of human beings,” he said.
The Okemesi-Ekiti-born veteran added that many African youths found ignorance so attractive, while their counterparts in other parts of the world still embraced reading.
He cited the large circulation of newspapers outside Africa as proof.
“The Jerusalem Times still circulates 500,000 copies per day, and Israel is not as big as Lagos state, and is only about half as populous.
“So why should a newspaper in that country, half the size of Lagos, circulates 500,000 copies? And yet, with all the newspapers in Nigeria combined, I am not sure we are circulating 500,000 copies.”
He said 500,000 copies were what the old Daily Times used to circulate when Nigeria had only five universities.
“When I entered the University of Lagos in 1978, there were only five universities in Nigeria. Now, we have more than 200 universities, yet young people are not interested in knowledge.”
Babarinsa noted that while social media could be blamed, it was not the sole factor affecting reading habits.
He pointed to other countries, such as India and Japan, where newspapers circulated millions of copies daily.
He emphasised that Africa had a large number of undergraduates who were comfortable with being extremely ignorant, which posed a greater danger to the continent.
“Africa cannot be isolated from the rest of the world.
“People will come from other locations, from India, China, from everywhere, to take what belongs to us if our children do not have enough knowledge to preserve and protect what belongs to them.
“So, we have a generation embracing ignorance, and if we have people who are ignorant, they cannot maintain what they are preparing for, let alone improve on it.
“The greatest threat to press freedom is the increasing epidemic of ignorance that many of our young people find dangerously attractive,” he warned.
Babarinsa also frowned at some past leaders for withdrawing the provision of newspapers to certain civil servants.
He believed the decision had significantly contributed to the declining fortunes of newspapers in the country.
He urged media managers in Nigeria to advocate for the return of this privilege for civil servants, as it would positively affect the fortunes of many media houses.
“We inherited something from the First Republic: every civil servant on Grade Level 8 and above was entitled to at least one newspaper per day.
“When that privilege was withdrawn, many officers in the civil service simply decided not to buy newspapers. If we want to change the fortunes of newspapers, we must advocate for the return of that privilege.”
Reflecting on his journalism experience from the early 1980s, Babarinsa highlighted the resilience of journalists who faced significant challenges, particularly the pressures from the military government at the time.
He emphasised that in spite of many journalists being arrested and imprisoned, they remained steadfast in their commitment to truth and justice.
Babarinsa acknowledged that, while those challenges were tough, they helped build the foundation for stronger, more resilient journalism today.
He noted the critical support from patriotic Nigerians, including some members of the security agencies, who helped protected journalists and ensured their voices were heard.
“Babarinsa, who was born on May 9, 1955, will be 70 on Friday,” NAN reports.(NAN)
