In this era of internet, social media a.k.a digital media, the print journalism will not die, but will only become a priceless art for those who appreciate it. From the print, radio, television and now internet, they are all platforms for us to propagate our gospel, which is the news.
I am particularly glad that I am here in this time of full digitization of journalism; it’s the in-thing now, and it makes us realize our dreams faster and readily available to our yearning readers and subscribers.. Remember, what it used to be to establish a media house in the days of ‘off-cut and manual typewriting,’ but now, the social media era makes it a lot easier, readily accessible, that now you can work remotely from anywhere in the world, with just your internet and other gadgets; a lesson and reality we now really understand in these days of the deadly pandemic that is daily threatening the life span of many worldwide.
I must confess, the journey has been quite melancholic, especially when one looks at the vicissitudes along the way. We seem to be the last generation of the soft-sell genre; we didn’t get in any way the juice of the genre of journalism; we only met the ‘bottom pot,’ not always nice, unlike the likes of stables like City People, Global Excellence, National Encomium et al. Even the second generation of soft-sell tabloids, First Weekly, News of the People, Global News and others too many to mention, were no longer in credible circulation before we got in.
However, we were even the last of it, with the advent of society and gossip lifestyle blogs, which a lot of us have become anyway. Still, we can count our blessings of the pride of dominating that space from the off-shoot till now, with incisive stories, topical issues, politics, entertainment and life style.
As the Editor-in-Chief, I won the Editor of the Year, 2018 Nigerian Media Niteout Award, NMNA, amidst many nominations. I was also bestowed with the prestigious traditional title of Otun Baaroyin of Ibogunland by Oba Ifakayode Faluade, in the same year, 2018, at an event that was witnessed by distinguished personalities from far and near.
In the last five years, I have equally been privileged to attend many conferences at home and abroad, the last of which was the Social Media Conference, PUBCON 2018, in Austin, Texas, USA in January, 2018. In tow, I was also at the Writers’ Conference, The Reading Room, Bryant Park, New York, in August, 2019. I wrote my first book, ‘The Best Man I Know in 2018,’ while the second one, ‘A Letter to My Father,’ is in the offing Insha Allah.
In fact, the UrbanLife Media Group recently berthed a sister company, Ijebu Nation, an on-line community newspaper www.ijebunation.com which takes news from the entire Ijebuland to the world, borne out of my maternal tie to that unique community and its fascinating and endearing heritage.
In commemoration of our five years anniversary, we shall be seeking to alleviate the sufferings of many inmates in the Nigerian Prisons and sundry correctional facilities. We shall climax it with a modest celebration with a few specially-selected excellent personalities in the Nigerian society via inducting them into the UrbanLife Hall of Fame, for having achieved extraordinary things in every facet of our national life.
We shall also appreciate our sponsors, advertisers, corporate citizens and fans, those who have severally and individually made us stars in this noble profession, by giving us the motivation and believing in us. This, we believe, is our own modest contribution to the society at large, and we hereby promise you all that we shall not wane, renege or relent in our commitment.
AyobamiAdedeji
(Publisher/Editor-in-Chief),
Urban Life Media Group