Journalism must probe society , Soyinka says

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka said Thursday that journalism must tread new grounds to probe not just the state, but the society itself.

The professor of Comparative Literature said that society needs to be nudged into consciousness of where it is and where it is headed.

“The state stands to save or ruin the society, we know that. But sometimes, as this is what led to my chronicles, society itself has to be taken to task,” Mr Soyinka said in a recorded goodwill message played at the third-anniversary celebration of Naija Times, a Nigerian newspaper.

The newspaper also launched a compilation of its Editorials for the past three years into a book titled; ‘For a Better Society’ at an event in Abuja.

Mr Soyinka noted that journalism must tread and break new grounds to confront society with what it has become.

He said the challenge must be taken up and accepted to save society from sliding completely into what he called an “inescapable morass from which there’s no escape”.

“I mean, rigorously and ruthlessly, we have to ask ourselves, just what kind of people are we? What are we becoming? I certainly think it’s possible for journalists to report and then to become so consistently reported that it seems as if a negative culture, a negative view of humanity, valuation of humanity is just being discarded and trampled upon,” he said.

Reviewing the book, For a Better Society, which is a compilation of over 100 Editorials written by Naija Times in the last three years, the Editor-in-Chief of Leadership Newspaper, Azu Ishiekwene, said the articles reflect the importance of putting great ideas into newspaper commentary.

Newspapers use the weight of editorials to achieve at least three fundamental functions; to influence public opinion, to promote critical thinking and to cause people to take action,” he said.

In a lecture he presented, a former presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, spoke about the rise of the media in Nigeria and the role it played in Nigeria’s independence struggle.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, Ehi Braimah, said the platform covers several beats with a section devoted to Nigerians in Diaspora.

“Because of the kind of negative information those living and working abroad are exposed to routinely, they seem to have lost hope for a better Nigeria. We intend to change the narrative and, in the process, provide a two-way channel for them to get proper and factual information on developments at home as well as relate their own experiences from their respective host countries,” he said.