In journalism, there is no substitute for deep reading of quality stuff —Louis Odion

Louis Odion became a journalism veteran rather early going by normal standards. He tells a bit of his long presence in the media atmosphere in this interview by SAM NWAOKO.

 

Each of us in the media profession has a beginning of the journey. How did your journey in the media begin?

For me, it all started in 1991 in Concord Press. I submitted the typewritten copy of my first article to the deputy editor of Sunday Concord by name Mr. Sunday Alabi. Then, he read it and responded with a threatening frown on his face, “Where did you copy this from?” His doubt was obviously because my job description as an intern (student trainee) was only to type scripts written in longhand by editorial staff in the newsroom.

I told Mr. Alabi that I wrote it myself. I guessed he was amazed that the copy was impeccable, with no single error. Immediately, he sprang to his feet and walked from his office to the newsroom while I trailed behind him and watched him hand the copy to the Production Editor then by name Mr. Festus Asimole and said, “Festus, make sure this is published in this week’s edition”.

The next week, I turned in another good copy.

Of course, as an intern after my OND (Ordinary National Diploma), my primary job description was to type scripts. It wasn’t yet the age of computers. So, journalists would write in longhand and scripts were passed to us to type. In my own case, those who gave me scripts found that I was editing them. So, within two weeks, words began to circulate that there was this small boy correcting the spelling and tenses of supposed practising journalists while typing their scripts. Within three weeks, I succeeded in earning my own byline. It was a big thrill for me to see my own byline in the prestigious Sunday Concord.  Soon afterwards, the Editor, Mr. Dele Alake, called me to his office and complimented me, “Louis, you’ve a good baritone voice that’s good for the TV. I read your stories and heard that you write well. To encourage you, I’ve instructed them to put your name on the weekly transport claim for reporters.” Boom! I was so thrilled. Earning extra bucks meant a lot to me as an intern. That meant that within a month of getting the IT (Industrial Training) job, I started earning double salary. As the weeks went by, I also started writing for the daily newspaper called National Concord, edited by Mr. Nsikak Essien who also encouraged me by promptly signing generous claims for every article I published.

Mrs. Ewaen Osarenren and Mr. Lanre Arogundade were Features Editor of National Concord at different times. They used my articles regularly as well. Mr. Taiwo Ogundipe was midweek editor. He also published me.  So, in a good week, I could publish up to three features in National Concord. Not many journalists in Concord then could boast of such productivity. That made me popular. That essentially was how I started.

 

Was it your dream to work in the media or you divinely deviated from your original goal? What was your dream while in High School?

I started the internship at Concord at the age of 18. Back at the Federal Poly (Ado-Ekiti), I was actually admitted in 1989 to study Accountancy but had P7 in Mathematics. So, the option left for me was to cross to a course that didn’t require Mathematics or forfeit the admission. Funny enough, when my admission letter came my dad was very excited and started telling his friends that his son was going to become an accountant and potentially a bank manager. He actually bought beer for some in celebration.  Back at the poly, I had built a reputation on campus within two years as a prolific writer who dominated the campus journalism scene by winning multiple individual awards even from media organisations competing with the Press Club I belonged to. Apart from the Press Club I belonged to named “Satellite Communications”, two of the other media mainstream organisations on campus also named me the “Writer of the Year” in their individual annual awards in 1990 and 1991.

But at Concord, it was actually Mr. Tunji Bello that used his influence to get me formally signed on as an editorial staffer. He was very influential as the Group Politics Editor. Apparently, he too had noted my hardwork and writing style for some time. After a few months in Sunday Concord, I got moved to the Advert Manager, Mrs. Adesanya, to work as her secretary. Mr. Bello took my matter up with the management and got a waiver to get me deployed in editorial cadre formally as a journalist. The company policy was that you required a university degree or HND to be employed as journalist in Concord at that period. I had an OND. But Mr. Bello got the management to bend the rule for me because he saw my talent. Thereafter, he groomed and mentored me. In the politics department he headed, I now had the privilege to rub shoulders with great names like Sam Omatseye, Victor Ifijeh, Gbenga Amonboye, Warees Solanke and Jonas Agwu.

Mr. Bello taught me life lessons. At a relatively tender age, I grew into a man overnight, learning the true meaning of responsibility. He took me like his younger brother even though I was not a Yoruba like him nor belonged to Islam that he professes. He encouraged me to enroll at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) for university education. And throughout my four-year study, he protected me at work because the company policy also said you could not school full time and be working at the same time. But he protected me against the persecution of some of my immediate bosses who started murmuring that I was spending more time at UNILAG than at work. Even when Concord later fell on hard times following the detention of Chief MKO Abiola, the proprietor of Concord, over June 12, 1993 presidential election, Mr. Bello continued to support me financially. Without him, I doubt if I would have been able to continue at UNILAG. After my first degree, I also obtained a Master’s degree from UNILAG.

 

Look at journalism when you started and now, what are the remarkable differences that readily leap at you?

Compared to the environment of 1991 when we started, the media landscape is almost unrecognisable today. Those were the analogue age. It was not the age of computer or internet, meaning a lot of labour and craftsmanship was involved in those days. For instance, there was no button to click back then to background a story. When writing a story, you had to visit the physical library to either research or background your story. Telephony was not this pervasive. Owning a phone was a luxury… Nothing like cell phone then. This means that you had to do a lot of leg-work, going far to conduct interviews. And that took time, unlike now when you can sample multiple opinions by phone within a short time. Today, virtually everything can be done virtually: Fact-checking, spell-checking and so on. So, I tell the young reporters today that they have no excuse not to turn in a perfect copy, because all the tools are readily available and at virtually little or no cost. But ironically, technology has made journalism of today to be forgetful. Back then, the culture of following up a story was strong. When a newspaper broke a story, it prided itself with proprietorial airs, particularly if it was a big story. Daily, the editor would be on the neck of the reporter to ensure that there was an update until the story was milked to a closure. If it was about injustice or human angle, you could be sure different dimensions to the story would be explored. But such fidelity to rigour, such tenacity is uncommon these days. Maybe it is because life is moving rather too fast that we are simply dazed into a form of amnesia.

 

There is a lot of difference in active, on-field media practice and media management. Having had the opportunity to be a reporter, then editor and later managing director/editor-in-chief of a national daily, what are those marked differences you would like to tell?

Well, let me just put it simply this way: when you’re a reporter you’ll likely find it convenient to be an activist and an idealist. But when you find yourself in the position of leadership or having to manage newspaper business, you become a realist. You stop being a radical when the reality of existential challenges kicks in. Let me illustrate with one funny story. When I turned 35, I thought I needed to move to another level by becoming my own boss. I resigned as editor of Sunday Sun which I had edited for five years. Of course, over the years, I had maintained a weekly column in the newspaper, right from Concord to Thisday and then Sunday Sun. When we started National Life newspaper in 2008 and I was Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief, another reality kicked in. As the months rolled by, I realised that the burden of managing the company was excruciating, unlike when I was a mere editor. It was so much that once in a while I was unable to sustain the weekly column. Then, I recall that one reader, whom I guessed had followed my column over the years from Thisday to Sun, wrote an angry email that he believed my unexplained absences was because I was beginning to feel “too big” or “too comfortable” to write. After reading the stinker, I could not but laugh and told myself if only my dear friend knew that when you’re bogged down thinking how to pay printers and pay staff salaries or fighting dishonest staff pocketing your advert or sales money or newspaper distributors withholding sale returns, you would realise how easy it was to lose the presence of mind to write a column for the week. (Laughter)

 

What would you consider as some of the most significant things you have learnt from the experience at the top – considering the divergent demands of politicians, media consumers and the like?

Keeping your professional integrity is key to retaining your voice in the industry. To be honest, it is impossible to rise to the pinnacle of the editorial ladder and not know a lot of powerful and influential figures in business and politics. But don’t ever get carried away or get too emotionally attached. Having lots of contacts will help you as journalist or editor to get leads or insights. But as a general principle, my attitude is to ensure that both sides are given fair mention in the report. That way, you’re able fulfill your sacred obligation to tell the truth and at the same time create the climate to sustain your social connections with friends. When you give me a story, my first instinct is to try and decode your interest. But in pursuing the story, it is important that the other side is heard so that, in the final analysis, the entire facts are laid out for the readers to make their moral judgement. If that is your policy, no one will be hurt.

 

What are some of the fond or unforgettable memories you may like to share in your journalism and media management career so far?

Wow! That is a tough one. I have faced great and challenging moments in my career. I happened to have practised when the country was under brutal military dictatorship and when media houses were shut arbitrarily. I have written a number of stories that offended powerful people or the super rich and so faced a lot of danger and death threats. But as a journalist, one of the things you have to realise from the outset is that such challenges come with the job. However, let me just say that the greatest moments have always been when I championed the cause of justice or fight on behalf of the underprivileged and helped secure a victory for them. As editor, I published stories many considered suicidal. But the question I always asked myself first was this: is it the truth?  Whenever stories published brought victory to the weak against the strong in the society, I always felt a deep sense of fulfillment. But there is one particular story forever etched in my memory. It is about a young man who had languished on the death row for years. It turned out that while awaiting the hangman, he found a strange courage to better himself academically. I think his name was Mr. Victor Osamagogo. He was convicted of murder. He was sentenced in his teenage. While in prison, he wrote WAEC and passed in flying colours. And with the passage of time, he turned a new leaf by becoming a pastor in prison. He was serving his term at Oko Prison in Edo State. This was in the 90s. Acting on a lead, I travelled to Benin City to write a human angle story and believe his moving story led the authorities to grant him clemency. When his release was announced, I felt a deep sense of fulfillment that my writing saved a life.

 

What has media practice taught you and what have you taught people from your experiences in the newsroom and the executive chambers?

There is one piece of advice I like giving young journalists. I always tell them never to let money be your motivation for writing. If money is what brought you to journalism you will crash out in ignominy or regret before long. Be driven by values higher than instant gratification. Be hardworking. Be hungry for bylines. Of course, you have to first master your craft before you start demanding a reasonable compensation. When you write yourself into the limelight, then blessings will come. Doors will begin to open at the appropriate time.  But never let money be your primary motivation from the outset.

 

 It is the belief among some seniors in the profession like you that the newsroom is in danger because the younger generation doesn’t read. Do you share this sentiment?

I believe that’s a correct reading of the situation today. One of the stated objectives of journalism is to inform. That presupposes that the journalist is knowledgeable or at least better informed than those they are informing. Unfortunately, you find lots of uninformed writing in the media today. Sorry, you cannot be a good journalist if you’re not a voracious reader – a big consumer of the written words. It is not just about reading, but reading wide, across disciplines to get rooted as a writer. I always encourage anyone to form the habit of reading and reading wide. Growing up, my dad always bought two newspapers daily as well as a weekly magazine. We read cover to cover. So, from a tender age, we formed a love for reading. Apart from going beyond school text books to read novels etc. Today, at home, I never tire to drum it in the ears of my children that they have to devote more time to reading than watching TV.

Again, I believe it is one of the ironies of the Information Age. Technology has collapsed the walls of the library. You don’t have to go far to the library to read. It is right in your palm at the click of a button and 24/7. But the irony is that folks tend to read less these days. More like the parable of being surrounded by water yet preferring to thirst. I think part of the grievous damage the social media is doing to the young ones is that it limits their appetite to read long stuff. Words are even now abbreviated. Gestures are symbolised by emojis. But there is no substitute for deep reading, reading quality stuff. And such don’t come in garbage that mostly clogs the social media today.

 

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