What we intend to achieve with DAME —Idowu

WHAT exactly do you hope to achieve with the DAME Awards?

If you look at the name DAME- Diamond Awards for Media Excellence, the whole idea behind it is to have a platform whereby we celebrate the media and celebrate the positive things occurring in the media. The media do a lot of things in the country, the professionals go to great length to research and unearth stories of importance to us as a nation and as a people. And because the media as an industry, is so critical to the good health of this country, the job they do is an important job, it’s an onerous job. So we feel it is in our interest as a country, as a people and as a society to encourage them to use their enormous power at their disposal for positive things. We talk about hate speech, we talk about irresponsible journalism. We can condemn, there is nothing wrong with that. But while we condemn those we believe have erred, we should also encourage those that deserve to be encouraged. We should celebrate those who do well, because what they do is in the overall interest of the society. So, that in a nutshell, is the idea behind DAME; to celebrate excellence in the media, to encourage people to toe the path of responsibility, to help our professionals enhance their professionalism, so that the consumers, the society, the public can differentiate between those who do what is right and those who do what is bad. And when they see that there is reward for good work, they now become role models for others to emulate.

DAME has been around for 28 years now, how has it impacted the nation’s media industry?

Well,  let us look at it from the reverse. If we did not have programmes like DAME, to encourage people,  what would the situation have been? Even with the encouragement, we still have pockets of mis-behaviour or waywardness, here and there, in the media. But the idea is, when you put before the media, something good, something positive, something ennobling, then you put before the people something to aspire to. But if it is the reverse, if it is the negative that we celebrate, then our colleagues will begin to see the negative as something to emulate. So what we have done in a nutshell, is to give the media, a sense of pride, to give them that belief also that they are professionals in their own right,  and that it’s not accidental that they are journalists. They are journalists because they play a very important role, and that important role needs to be recognised, needs to be celebrated. That’s the main message I think we have passed successfully, over the years, that is in the past 28 years, so much so that DAME has become coveted. It has become something to look forward to, in the media calendar, on an annual basis.

Looking  at the list of the awardees, the online rarely gets a mention. Is that a vote of no confidence in the platform?

No, I disagree with you. There is Premium Times, there is Cable News there. Those are serious platforms, online. They are there. Don’t forget also that what we do requires you to also step forward. It’s like you want SAN (Senior Advocate of Nigeria) title, you want to be a SAN, they don’t just give you, on a platter of gold. You must show interest. You have to step forward and apply for it and say ‘I want this thing, and these are my credentials’ to show that you deserve it. The same thing with DAME. You have to step forward. And, interestingly, people are stepping forward. We have a jury, some distinguished judges who will look at the entries and say ‘this is  a good work’.

This without doubt leads us to another issue, which is that of the new media. Looking at their impact, would you say it has rubbed off negatively or positively on the media industry as a whole?

The term ‘new media’ is very broad. Who are the serious players there? There are many people doing things who are not journalists, who have no training in journalism. But when you look at those who are actually playing a serious role, you can count them on your fingers. And those of them that are being celebrated today are part of the major players in that sector-Premium Times, Cable. They are major players in that sector, so I’m not bothered at all.

 The issue of Hate Speech continues to generate controversies, What’s your take on this?

Hate speech is not something we should encourage. It is something that is divisive. It is dangerous, and it should be condemned. However,  the argument is that there are already provisions in the existing laws to address the menace of Hate Speech. So there is no need to now create a new law and to be talking about death penalty. I think that’s ridiculous. That’s carrying it to the extreme. I think  we have to be very suspicious of  the interests of those who are advocating that, we must know what is  driving them, their intention. I think we should subject the bill to the treatment that it deserves, that is to ensure that it’s killed by mobilising our resources and fighting it, and pointing out to the promoters that it’s  going to be counterproductive. Definitely, it’s not going to be useful to society and to the practice of our profession.