Sahara Reporters, Premium Times, The Cable and Modern Journalism

 Journalism has continued to evolve since the days of veterans like Professors Alfred Opubor, Onoura Nwuneli, Ralph Akinfeleye, Adidi Uyo, Idowu Sobowale, and other greats, not to mention the shining lights of flawless prose writing like Dan Agbese, Ray Ekpu, Yakubu Muhammed, Dele Gowa, and

not least, Olatunji Dare. But the entrance of Sahara Reporters appears to deviate from those widely held pragmatic principles of decency.

Stories by our reporters

In those days, the Department of Mass Communication of the University of Lagos was very hot and remains so to date. Exciting lecturers in the mold of Dr Adidi Uyo, Ralph Akinfeleye, and Idowu Sobowale made teachings very robust and thirsty to listeners. Students learnt the trade and picked up fast. They taught the tenets of practical journalism exhaustively and left no stone unturned. They made journalism so sweet that students were always hungry to learn more; the thrills were such that even the 13 points cut-off mark for entry into the course, the same as the law department, did not deter prospective students from flocking in. From that department, heavyweight giants in communication began to emerge. Professor Alfred Opubor became the best in Africa, a great orator afterwards; Dele Olojede was to win the Pulitzer Prize, which is said to be the Nobel Prize in Journalism; Chief Dayo Duyile, Nojeem Jimoh, Dare Babarinsa, Debo Adesina, Fred Okwakwa, Abiola Oloke, excelled in print journalism; Olatunji Dare was to be an expert in satire; Professor Femi Sonaike became an editor in Daily Times, same as Prince Tony Momoh. 

In other spheres, Chris Dugudje, Akin Odunsi, Steve Omojafor, Jim Awosika, and Biodun Shobanjo all became leading lights in the field of Advertising; John Momoh, Patrick Oke, and Bayo Onanuga are today plying their trade in comfort zones with relative ease. As the years rolled by, the likes of Azubuike Ishiekwene and Abike Dabiri Erewa began to emerge as modern-day journalists. These are people who practically indulged in professionalism, not dabbling in matters outside the purview of public interest. With the arrival of social media, a new branch of communication came the likes of Premium Times, The Cable, and Sahara Reporters. Simeon Kolawole is the founder of the Cable Newspaper, while Dapo Olorunyomi is the founder of Premium Times; Sahara Reporters was founded by Omoyele Sowore. In those days, most Nigerians used to flock to media stands to read about Azubuike Ishiekwene and his brilliant column; the same applied to Simeon Kolawale, whose Thisday Back page articles were enthralling; Dapo Olorunyomi gained prominence with his investigative spirit and was well-loved for his unbiased pinpoint reporting. Sowore, in his own way, started out well at first and was extremely popular from the year 2000 and beyond.

 It is possible that something happened along the way to Sahara Reporters; no one knows, but what is becoming increasingly worrisome is their apparent deviation from professionalism. They may not have figured this out, but the image they are creating for themselves is anything but palatial; Whereas The Cable is noted for precise constructive reporting, Premium Times has distinguished itself as the investigative Czar of modern journalism. Both The Cable and Premium Times send reporters to their various beats, conduct thorough interviews, and put out marvelous works of art too real to be denied. They are careful not to dabble into unfounded accusations and wild expose; they have gifted writers and reporters who are rising to replace ageing veterans; this is quite unlike Sahara Reporters, which first gained prominence and is now losing track. What is noticeable is their seemingly provocative style, which draws anger more than anything else; you will not fail to notice their confrontational attitude and brash angle; instead of being constructive, they dovetail into abuse of character and chronic accusers as though they have assumed the role of “policemen” of the State! 

Sahara Reports takes no thought of what they call “RedLines”, like a loose cannon, they spread chaos, disorder, and even falsehood! They operate as though above the law and have no legal limits; unlike Premium Times and The Cable, which are humane and principled, the Sahara Reporters are direct and controversial. They write, not minding the standards, and cannot rise above pettiness. For example, in the last two weeks, Sahara Reporters has consistently attacked a particular government parastatal without restraint! This is no more journalism; they are steadily on the path of activism, if not terrorism! Why drag the reputation of a government official into the mud just because of filthy lucre? In addition, and according to one observer, whereas the offices of The Cable and Premium Times can be traced, that of Sahara reporters can never; they are said to be phantom and Ghost-like! 

This is not the kind of reputation journalism greats like the late Prince Tony Momoh and Alfred Opubor left for mankind. Social media is meant to advance real-time journalism and enhance the digital advantage; what is there to grab from this style of frontal and unrestrained attack on government officials? Everyone remembers STBMaccan, Insight communication, Lintas, Rosabel; they were employers of men and women;  Segun Osoba who cut his teeth as Managing Director of Daily Times is still hot cake today, albeit on the right side of the law; one should have thought from the speed with which Sahara Reporters evolved by now they should be somewhere, possibly leading other crack reporters to explore the moon like the Artemis11 people have done; one would have thought like the promoters of Flutterwave, OPAY, Moniepoint who  exploited the digital and media space to create unique pay points, the same may have been possible with Sahara. Leekeleeke, a new digital platform, has just been launched by Thisday Proprietor; this is an advancement! 

The new generation of journalists should have something better to learn than crass reporting. Sahara can elevate its standards and embark on constructive reporting just like the Washington Post, the New York Times, etc. They can certainly do better than what they are practicing today. The grace to purge the nation of corrupt leaders start from the ballot box; Sahara can invest money in educating Nigerians on the power of the ballot; they can also recuse themselves from current corrupt reporting by helping the military curb terrorism; if they are very good in exposures, they can carry out “pin point” exposure of where ISWAP and Boko Haram terrorist are hidden; they can also help Nigerians expose the brains behind continuous Plateau and Benue attacks’ these are areas that demand professional coverage. By limiting themselves to attacking only government officials, the motive is clear, and this is unfortunate. Modern journalism does not permit attacking individuals and government institutions! Rather than lose respect like they are now, they should readjust, redefine their editorial depth, eliminate bias, and create a solid foundation to start anew! They have done well; they can do better! After all, they are professionals who must show examples like Alfred Opubor, Debo Adesina, Dayo Duyile, John Momoh, and even President Bola Tinubu with his The Nation NEWSPAPERS.