Weekly devotional publication of Journalists for Christ, The WORD, August 10, 2026, on the need for journalists to collaborate in establishing media platforms.
In his article titled Why Journalism Is Dying in Nigeria, former Deputy Editor of Sunday Nation, Dr Yinka Oyegbile, lamented that the inability of journalists in the country to team up to establish standard media platforms, as was done in the past, is one of the major challenges “killing” the industry.
Instead of collaborating, Oyegbile said, what presently obtains is a situation where almost every journalist and other non-professionals want to “publish online.”
“What results from this? Poorly edited and reported ‘news stories,’ some of which are copied from the websites of the few remaining legacy media that are still doing the real job,” he noted.
While noting that working in silos does not work for smooth news production, whether electronic or print, Oyegbile wondered why reporters, sub-editors, feature writers and investigative journalists with cognate experience cannot pool resources together and establish a strong online medium, rather than populate cyberspace with badly sourced news stories on the altar of being called “online publishers.”
Collaborating and pooling resources together to set up stronger media platforms will definitely be a better option, as Oyegbile suggested, than having too many unsustainable one-man platforms.
Ecclesiastes 4:9–11 emphasises the benefits of joint ownership and investment:
«“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?”»
What is required is the agreement that Amos 3:3 says is necessary for two to walk together, which, in this case, is a media business partnership. Two can work together if they agree and have mutual trust based on God’s Word.
A stronger partnership is likely to succeed, like a threefold cord that can not be easily broken.
May God grant us the grace to work together and succeed in our media endeavours. May our labour not be in vain.
Amen.
The WORD is a weekly devotional publication of Journalists for Christ International Outreach. www.journalistsforchrist.org
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