By Mufutau Ojo

The Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, has urged journalists to explore opportunities provided by all-media platforms.

He made the call at the Global South Media and Think Tank Summit taking place in Sau Paulo, Brazil.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit has as theme: “Development and Revitalisation: A New Journey for the Global South.”

Ali said that the devolution of content into digitally stored information meant that print, film, recording, radio and television among others could now be seen as one intrinsic complex.

According to him, this phenomenon now known as convergence has invariably given the global media its protean face.

“Perhaps more than any era in the evolution of the world media, these are indeed interesting times with traditional media intrinsically fusing with its emergent digital successor,” he said.

The fusion, he said, was being carried out in a way not ordinarily envisaged by content creators and consumers in the past.

” It is amazing how profoundly this fusion has kaleidoscopically altered the global media landscape, creating in the process an All-Media behemoth.

” At such a trying time for the media industry across the globe, it has become imperative for us to explore viable options, and ingeniously innovate if must pilot our outlets through treacherous waters.

” In an era where media products and services are constantly changing, innovation which is about change will readily define our very existence,” he said.

He described the all-media era as a time of significant technological change in which media content can be spread across many different media channels.

According to him, technologies are also now connected, allowing messages to move easily between people and places.

Ali called on stakeholders in the industry to embrace all-media platforms because of their global reach.

He also said all-media platforms would ensure diversification of income streams through sponsored content, advertising and e-commerce among others.

He further called for strategic partnerships with critical stakeholders to foster fruitful collaborations.

Media leaders, he added, must develop diverse content while intensifying audience engagement through various interactivity initiatives.

According to him, NAN is constantly innovating and exploring options to meet the demands of a diverse and increasingly choosy audience.

To drive the process of inclusivity at NAN, he said the agency had launched an ambitious and highly interactive website in local languages, beginning with Hausa.

” Media leaders must continually experiment with new formats and platforms, invest in digital literacy and skills and above all join the vanguard for promoting a brighter future for the media,” he said.(NAN)

Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz