I focus on the media on days when I want readers to relax. I mean days when I want them to not sit on the edges of their chairs reading serious international issues that I enjoy raising on this page. Here, I shall mention several issues from the past with respect to happenings on TV stations; that’s because my attention has been arrested by some other matters for a long while. How far in the past any issue is isn’t so important though; that what’s noticed is stated for possible correction is the more important thing. But first, I clap for an advertisement on TV that I watched on April 14, 2016 for the first time. The advert had asked: “What are you doing to help the naira?” Rather than ask potential airline passengers to patronise it, the indigenous airline stated that patronising the brand was the same as helping the naira. Other Nigerian companies should do this in their adverts; they would be touching a nationalistic chord in some of us that way.
I noticed on March 4, 2015 that Aisha Bello Mustapha was in extremely high spirits during the 9pm newscast on the Nigerian Television Authority. She smiled brightly, regularly, and much more so at 9:01pm, 9:24pm, 9:47pm, 10:03pm, 10:10pm and 10:29pm. Even at exactly 10:06pm when the poor quality of the picture for a news item about the improvement in the services of the Nigerian railways became blurred and she had had to apologise, she did with a big smile. For this reason, I have made up my mind to ask Mustapha what was up on that particular day when next I find myself, as I often do, at theNTA headquarters, Abuja. Mustapha’s answer shall be placed on this page for readers to know and for younger generation of TV newscasters to copy from, which is actually the reason I make this observation.
Alright, let’s go into the real past. Channels TV on November 29, 2014 did something that I noticed. During “News Track” at exactly 7:14pm, the then Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, was shown next to the gate of a secondary school complaining that he couldn’t collect his Permanent Voter Card. In fact, there was a notice on the gate of the school in the Surulere area of Lagos State, stating that all citizens who had been registered at the school would have to re-register. The TV reporter pointed out that this was the place where the state governor was registered and had been voting for years, yet he would have to re-register. This was a serious matter, a major confusion involving a state governor and which deserved an explanation from the electoral commission. As the report was presented, the reaction of INEC should have been included. If there was none, efforts made by the reporter to contact INEC for comments should have been mentioned. This wasn’t done, making one get the impression of a curiously unbalanced reportage.
On August 24, 2014, the NTA aired “The Diaspora” at 5am. I thought the headlines were interesting and I had settled down to watch. But at 5:04am, this programme was stopped suddenly, and “Footprint”, another programme, was brought on screen. Such abrupt changes in programmes happen regularly, and I think it’s rather untidy. Could the NTA take a second look at its programmes with a view to providing variety? Interview programmes tend to dominate on some days, following one another so closely, especially during the morning and afternoon belts – “Good Morning Nigeria”, “Periscope”, “Platform” etc. In fact, on August 21, 2014, the day was filled with interview programmes from morning till 3:00pm. The same goes for the AIT on most days during the same belt. Interview programmes can be spaced out, interspersed with other programmes that make people relax rather than stay tensed up, being bombarded with hard core issues. TV stations shouldn’t forget newsy, informative and educative documentaries. Stations that air them retain my attention the most. The NTA had aired a well-researched documentary series in 2015 which dug into our past, focusing especially on our local heroes such as Jaja of Opobo. The series had got me clapping at the time. I expect the NTA to follow up on the success.
Why the AIT moves the daily sports programme produced by Mastersports from morning to afternoon beats my imagination. It used to be my must-watch breakfast sports programme as it provided the earliest sports news of the day. Since it was shifted to afternoon, I hardly remember it exists anymore; it’s lost in the crowd. On November 21, 2014, during the NTA 9pm news, at exactly 9:53pm, and as a prelude to the “Foreign TitBits” segment, Elizabeth Banu, the news anchor, mentioned the visit of the US Vice President, Joe Biden, to Ukraine. She added that Bidden had warned Russia of the consequences of escalating the security situation in Ukraine. When the presenter of “Foreign TitBits” came on air however, she mentioned about five foreign news items, including the nuclear talks with Iran that involved the US Secretary of States. Although the presenter began neatly and ended neatly without being cut off for lack of time, nothing was said about the Biden news item.
Susan Roberts of the America Desk of the Beijing-based CCTV News always baffles me. This newscaster has a habit of being eager to show off her breasts while she presents news on the CCTV. She would always wear something decidedly cut so low to show what she should hide. On August 15, 2015 during a newscast at 11pm Nigerian time which Roberts anchored, she appeared this way, thus making me to tune to another news station where nudity wasn’t part of the news bulletin. A news studio isn’t the same as a venue for award nights where it’s legitimate to walk naked on red carpets, is it? I wonder if the CCTVproducers are afraid to caution Roberts, an American; more so, as I notice that the CCTV’s Chinese female broadcasters dress modestly. Well, Americans may be free about some things, but the CCTV that Roberts works for should consider first its viewers in Africa, Middle East and other parts of the world where the dignity and modesty of a woman are still in high demand.
The AIT needs to avoid lifting news material direct from the Internet if its news reports must not lose credibility. On October 8, 2015, during Newshour at 8pm and in its sports segment, it was reported how Mr Issa Hayatou temporarily took over the leadership of FIFA. The arrangement of words in this news item sounded as though the report was lifted verbatim online. I challenge the supervisory officer at the AIT to cut two sentences from that particular report, paste them in Google, and see if he would not come up with the exact sentences. All I state here is that the AIT needs to try more. I enjoy them, especially their 8pm news bulletin, but if what I’m going to be watching in their sports segment is news that’s lifted verbatim from what I’ve read online, it’s no use waiting for their 8pm news. Also, on October 9, 2015 during its 6:30pm news, there was a news material on the AIT about the possibility of reappointing the then outgoing Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde. As the AITreporter read, what I heard word for word was a news report that had appeared hours earlier on the same day as breaking news in the online version of The PUNCH.
I’m often baffled by what’s wrong that’s displayed on TV screen, which stations should easily notice and correct, but is left untouched for hours. The DTN shows “Sanford and Son”, a comedy programme, at 11:30pm and I always tune in. The producers thoughtfully display words on screen for many who cannot follow the rapid delivery of the American accents by the characters. The trouble is, DTN permanently maintains a scroll bar at the bottom of the screen that covers up many of the words. On May 26, 2016, however, I was pleasantly surprised that the scroll bar was missing and one could read all the words on the screen. I told myself that this was thoughtful of the DTN. Disappointingly, the following day, the scroll bar resurfaced and the pattern had remained the same ever since, making one wonder if the station doesn’t think it’s important for viewers to see the words on screen.
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