Newspaper Management in Nigeria: an Overview By
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HUKJAMS, VOL. I,NO, 2 2009 NEWSPAPER MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA: AN OVERVIEW BY SAMAILA BALARABE DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION, HASSAN USMAN KATSINA POLYTECHNIC, KATSINA. Abstract The article gives an overview of managing a newspaper in Nigeria. Although it is not very specific about a particular newspaper because of differences in their nature, structure and modus operandi, It dwells on some key issues related to newspaper operation in Nigeria. In essence, it highlights the general management functions, requirements for establishing a newspaper business, a typical newspaper organisational structure, communication patterns and factors affecting managing a newspaper. introduction A newspaper organization like other formal organizations needs to be effectively managed to achieve the set objective. Newspapers are owned by individuals, organizations or governments. The definition of mass media includes not only the mechanical devices that transmit and sometimes store the message (TV camera, radio microphones, printing presses), but also the institutions that use these machines to transmit message, Dominick (1996:25). When we talk of a media vehicle, it is a single component of the mass media, such as newspaper, radio station, television network, magazine etc. This paper dwells on managing a newspaper as a medium of mass communication. On the other hand, management has been defined by different scholars HUKJAMS, VOL. I,NO, 1 2009 such as Weihrich and Koontz (1994:4) who see management “as the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, efficiently accomplish selected aims”. Similarly, according to Henry Fayol (1916) cited in Cole (1993:3), “Management is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control”. The above definitions of management indicate that an organizational objective is achieved through proper coordination of people working in an organization based on a set of plans. Therefore, managing a newspaper is simply an applied management which could be seen as the application of management skills in the newspaper organization. In other words, it is the coordination of all resources of a newspaper organization through the process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling in order to attain its desired objectives. Management Functions For a newspaper organization to achieve its target objectives, certainly, those (managers) saddled with the responsibility of managing the organization have to adopt and apply the following functions as stated by Weihrich and Koontz (1994: 20 – 21): 1. Planning: Involves selecting mission and objectives and the actions to achieve them; it requires decision making that is choosing future courses of action from among alternatives. For instance, a newspaper organization can plan future expansion in terms of provision of more facilities, wider circulation, training and recruitment of more qualified staff etc. Planning here can be short term, medium term or long term. 2. Organising: People working together in groups to achieve some goal must have roles to play. It is, therefore, a part of managing that 2 HUKJAMS, VOL. I,NO, 1 2009 involves establishing an intentional structure of roles for people to fill in an organization; it is intentional in the sense of making sure that all the tasks necessary to accomplish goals are assigned to people who can do them best. Here, in a newspaper organization, tasks are assigned to reporters to gather news, editors to edit news, proof readers, technical personnel, accounts clerks etc to achieve the overall objective of the organization. 3. Staffing: Involves filling, and keeping filled, the position in the organization structure. This is done by identifying work-force requirements; inventorying the people available; and recruiting, selecting, placing, promoting, appraising, planning of the careers of, compensating, and training or otherwise developing both candidates and current job holders, so that tasks are accomplished effectively and efficiently. 4. Leading: It is influencing people so that they will contribute to organization and group goals; it has to do predominantly with the interpersonal aspect of Managing. All managers would agree that their most important problems arise from people – their desires and attitudes, their behaviour as individuals and in groups and that effective managers need to be effective leaders. It is understandable that leading involves motivation, leadership styles and approaches and communication. 5. Controlling: Is measuring and correcting individuals and organizational performance to ensure that events conform to plans. It involves measuring performance against goals and plans, showing where deviation from standards exists and helping to correct them. 3 HUKJAMS, VOL. I,NO, 1 2009 For instance, it is an aspect of control in managing a newspaper to ensure that expenses are according to budget, employees work the exact working hours etc. It is pertinent to state that the above functions of a manager when effectively executed, the goal of that organization will be achieved. Legal Requirements For Establishing A Newspaper Newspaper organizations whether private or government owned are legal entities and therefore have to be legally registered. Elias (1969:1) cites section 2 of the Newspaper Act (1958) that defines newspaper as “any paper containing public news, intelligence or occurrences or any remarks, observations or comments thereon printed for sale and published in Nigeria periodically or in parts or numbers…” Having defined what newspaper is from legal point of view, he goes on to give the requirements as follows: 1. Payment of Deposit: Under section 3 of the Act, the proprietor, printer and publisher of a newspaper may not print or publish or cause to be printed or published any newspaper unless each of them has sworn before a magistrate or a commissioner of oaths an affidavit containing the correct title or name of the newspaper, a true description of the house or building where the newspaper is intended to be printed, and the real and true names and addresses of all persons intended to be the proprietor, printer and publisher and the newspaper… 2. Affidavit and Bond: All these requirements are to be complied with by a proprietor, printer or publisher in any state within the federation; provided that the requisite affidavit and bond are registered at an office prescribed by the Governor of the State and that the Attorney 4 HUKJAMS, VOL. I,NO, 1 2009 General of the State had approved the sureties for the bond. 3. Affidavit or Bond as Evidence: All affidavits or certified true copies that are duly registered under the Act are, in all civil and criminal proceedings, conclusive evidence of the truth of all matters set forth there in. 4. Proof of Publication: It is compulsory under section B that, at the foot of the last page of each copy of every newspaper and every supplement, the true and real name and place of abode of the printer, publisher and the editor-in-chief or editor, as the case may be as well as the true and real description of the place of printing must be added and printed. In the same vein, Wilson (2000:154) points out that “for newspapers to go into operation in Nigeria, they must be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission and the Newspaper Registration Board, if the proprietors are individuals, groups or organizations”. He proceeds to say “but if the proprietor is the state, then the government in control would enact a law establishing such newspaper”. Editorial Policy Seymur Ure (1969) cited in Wilson (2000:156) defines an editorial policy “as actions affecting or decisions on a paper‟s overall style and content”. For instance, how many pages should a paper have and how many of that number should be allotted to sports, foreign news, women features etc. In this respect, editorial policy is an embodiment of managing a newspaper. In fact, no newspaper organization is established without any reason for doing so. It is important to have first hand knowledge of the 5 HUKJAMS, VOL. I,NO, 1 2009 target audience of the newspaper in order to determine how best to reconcile the interest of the audience with the objective, the publisher is out to achieve. In a narrow sense, an editorial policy refers to opinions expressed in leading articles i.e. the paper‟s own comment on issues of the day, all involving value and judgment. Organisational Structure Of A Newspaper The departmental structure and staffing of a newspaper vary with its size. All papers, however, have certain common aspects. Aina (2004:52) defines the organisational structure: As a relatively stable design specifying predictable patterns of authority and responsibility relationship between members of an organisation. It portrays the formal control system in an organisation, the location of decision making authorities and the information distribution routes. Ahuja and Chhabra (1998) have identified four main types of newspaper organizations: a) President and Publisher type is most often found. The overall head is a president and publisher to whom two or three other officers are responsible: either the editor and business manager or the editor, managing editor and the business manager (for two-phase and three- phase organizations respectively). b) For General Manager type of organisation, the general manager is the overall head responsible only to the Board of Directors. A single individual may serve as both the Editor and General Manager, otherwise called the Managing Editor. 6 HUKJAMS, VOL. I,NO, 1 2009 c) In Owner-Operator system commonly adopted by small newspaper organizations the owner-operator is the President, Publisher at the same time the Editor. d) The Employee Ownership and control system gives the right to workers of the organisation to serve as stakeholders/shareholders of the organisation who share both profit and responsibility of management. Also, according to Dominick (1996:126), newspaper organisations have a publisher and are generally divided into three main departments: i) Business ii) Production iii) News – editorial In his presentation, Aina (2004:75) adds finance as an independent department.