AfriChat

𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲
Balance in the media means giving all views, perspectives, and opinions a fair chance of being heard. This simply means that as responsible citizens, we are expected to share the positives in addition to the negatives.

It also means giving two opposing parties an equal chance of being heard, as we experience during seasons of elections and politics. If you give a 30-minute audience to Party A, it is expected that you also give a 30-minute audience to Party B.

To what then should we attribute this unwholesome practice of asking for a fee to broadcast positives while all negative news is shared free of charge? To tell the world about the kidnapping of scores of travellers on a road trip by bandits costs nothing in monetary terms. But sadly, private sector operators must pay for their social responsibility initiatives to be shared across virtually all media platforms. This is more prevalent in the media of television and brings to the fore the challenge of revenue generation in the media ecosystem.

The question then is, what is responsible for this disturbing trend? What factors do you think fuel this act that veers away from the social responsibility function of the media? Are there other ethically sound approaches to revenue generation open to the media houses if they fail to charge fees to disseminate positive news?

Please share your views.

The big question is whether the benefits of this relationship is mutual.

Nigeria and the top African countries with the highest debt to China, amount African countries are indebted to China to the tune of $140 billion and most of them are the verge of default, according to reports released recently by IMF.