Simon Kolawole is a topflight journalist. He was editor of Thisday newspaper until 2012. Last month he moved to realise his childhood dream of owning a newspaper. He launched an on-line newspaper, thecable.ng. In this interview with JERRY UWAH, Kolawole spoke frankly on the high mortality rate of Nigerian newspapers, the future of on-line publication, the on-going national conference and lots more
Please, tell us the story of Simon Kolawole
I am a young man full of dreams. There was a time in my career you could describe me as restless because I was always changing jobs every year. I always wanted to explore something new. But it got to a stage I had to settle down somewhere and stop dissipating my energy. Right from my days as a little kid, I have always loved adventure – but controlled adventure, not the reckless type.
Journalism has been a very good adventure for me. I worked so hard as a reporter, doing things expected of editors. It has always been fun. I lost my father when I was four years old. I grew up without a father figure in the real sense of it and I always had to take decisions for myself from a tender age. My grandmother, who brought me up, was not literate enough to give me directions. But God was so kind that I did not go astray in the process. I found my true love in journalism.
You are poised to realize your childhood dream of owning a newspaper chain. Are we expecting the publication of a hard copy soon?
The printed newspaper is losing out in the market place. It is not a Nigerian problem.
It is a global phenomenon. Apart the heavy capital requirement – you need a printing press or two, circulation vans, and massive wage bills to produce a paper – the major drawback is that news is now free and people want free news. They want the news here and now. They don’t want to wait till tomorrow to read the news. And, of course, the new generations do not buy newspapers. They get their news on their mobile devices. That tells you a lot about how increasingly important digital news delivery is. I read all the papers on my smart phone as soon as I wake up. We are not thinking of a hard copy of TheCable at all. If anything, we may add a magazine in the future.
In an economy with low internet exposure and poor reading habit, how do you plan to break even in on-line publishing?
There are now 50 million Nigerians who have internet access – as well as over 120 million active mobile phone subscriptions. I would rather say that internet penetration is getting deeper. Things are getting better! Like I said, most people now get their news digitally. You can check the figures of hardcopy sales of newspapers and the number of hits they get on their websites. You’ll be amazed at the results. As for making money, we want to be creative about that. There is the tendency for people to rely heavily on adverts, but we are developing some revenue models. In the next one year, we want to be very profitable.
Many see the advent of on-line publishing as a threat to conventional newspapers. What is your view on this?
Globally, it is a threat. But the printed newspaper will never die, in my opinion. Why? Organisations will always buy newspapers for record keeping. Many of those who grew up in the age of the newspaper will continue to buy. And when we have free newspapers, as the trend is in Europe, people will continue to collect them to read. Newspaper market may continue to shrink but we will always have the newspaper.
On-line publishing is seen in Nigeria as being synonymous with the circulation of half-truths and downright lies. How do you plan to make “TheCable.ng” stand out?
That is the downside. The moment something is an all-comers’ affair, there is bound to be abuse. But this is not limited to online. Even newspapers publish half-truths and lies. TheCable will always be professional. We are not going to be perfect but we will strive to do things the right way. We are going to stand out on the basis of the quality of our news and views, the strength of our analysis, the speed with which we deliver breaking news and the wit with which we deliver the human interest stories. We also want to be problem solvers, to engage constructively with the authorities in order to help with nation-building.
What is responsible for the high mortality rate of newspapers and magazines in the country, and how can it be checked?
Nigeria is about the only country I see new newspapers still being launched into the market. I can’t remember the last time this happened in the US, UK or Germany. The world is changing and we cannot afford to be left behind. Can you imagine people still producing LPs when we are now listening to music digitally – on the phone and MP3 players? I am not saying newspapers are LPs. No. But they have to make themselves buyable. We usually complain that Nigerians are poor and that is why they are not buying newspapers. But look at telecoms. Poor people are buying phones. Poor people are downloading music at N50 per song. So the newspapers must re-invent themselves for people to buy them.
Media houses, including newspapers that are financially stable have notoriety for chalking up months in workers’ salary arrears. Who will rescue the Nigerian media worker?
The cost structure in the media is too high. The economy of the newspapers cannot sustain it. Only very few newspapers are breaking even and making profit. Imagine the cost of running a printing press alone. Imagine the cost of buying newsprint, ink, vans, diesel, electricity bills, and so on. When cash crunch hits, the first thing you want to do is keep the newspaper in the market and sacrifice other expenses. Salaries become a major victim. An average newspaper will have to sell at least 500,000 copies to be healthy because the advertising budget is stretched.
What is your view of the on-going National Conference? Is it just a “talking house” as many see it?
I am not against the National Conference in principle, but our problem in Nigeria is poor leadership. It is not the constitution. You don’t need a new constitutional to fight corruption and provide infrastructure. You don’t need a new constitution to fix power supply. You don’t need a new constitution to revamp education, healthcare and the environment. The conference is good for the review of what we have on ground and improve on our political relationship – but without good leadership, we are going nowhere.
How would you assess President Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the economy and the insurgency in the north?
He surely can do better and should do better.