The Chief Executive Officer of the Graphic Communications Group, Ken Ashigbe, says regardless of the decline in the number of people who resort to newspaper’s for information, the print media or newspapers will not be totally wiped off.
A recent survey by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) revealed that only 1.5% of Ghanaians resort to the print medium for information.
[contextly_sidebar id=”krDEZdw7b8xkevnEmD0ikCImgqT8gyrF”]The survey gave radio (62.9%), television (25%), and online media (6.4%).
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Ashigbe said the newspaper business would remain relevant despite the competition it faces from the digital media.
He admits however that the industry may have to modernize to become more relevant.
“Newspaper, even in the print form, is going to stay. I am of the school of thought that it is going to stay. The only thing I believe is that, the form and the nature of it would change and with that coming in, we need to move according to the times. As newspapers, we need to realize the fact that what we are doing is providing content.”
Mr. Ashigbe noted there will always be demand for serious journalism and newsmen should take the next step in content development which is more predictive and geared towards people’s needs.
“Serious journalism will still be sought after and if the content is right, if the price is right, people would pay for it. For us in serious media, we need to move from just reviewing and reporting the news g into the next phase which is more predictive, which is for providing news for people that they can use for their work… and that is what newspapers should be a bit better at,” he added.
Mr. Ken Ashigbe has been credited for bringing massive changes to the Graphic Communications Group, which is by far Ghana’s leading newspaper.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana