‘News Platforms Should Place Priority On Quality Not Traffic’ – Olawale Adeniyi

Olawale Opemipo Adeniyi, the tech-savvy, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert CEO of Naija News, in this interview speaks on a wide-range of issues which includes; fighting fake news, media involvement in the war against terrorism, government clampdown on media organisations, building a unique news platform, amongst others.

Can we meet Opemipo Olawale Adeniyi?

I am the founder of Polance Media Limited, the parent company of NaijaNews.com who decided to take his love for news to a whole new level. I obtained my first degree in Business Administration from Bowen university in 2011 and bagged my Masters from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in the same course in 2019. In my quest for more knowledge, I obtained a Product Manager Certificate from Product School, a Digital journalism certification from Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and many other certifications.

In my foray into the news media industry, I started off with Whisper Naija, which I would describe as soft sell that deals with gossip and those type of stories but in the long run, I knew I had to build a quality platform with value, so I had to rebrand.

What makes Naija News different from others?

I started off Naija News in 2016 with the idea of it becoming a household name. To challenge and surpass the ‘big boys’ in the digital publishing industry. With news website popping up every day Naija News has to stay on its toes and constantly evolve or else it would fed out. Keeping the site amongst the best is no mean feat and I have been able to do that through dedicated staff and the drive to be the best.

Naija News is different to other news in more ways than one. We don’t want to follow the bandwagon that is why our unique house style stands us out from the crowd.

If you take your time to go through Naija News, you would notice we have engaged in unique stories which include the newspapers front page review, major headlines in Nigeria, dollar to naira exchange and Eco-watch, which is our own little way of drawing attention to climate change and its effect on our environment.

The news portal is continually updated 24/7 with politics, entertainment, gist/metro, sports, business stories, tech and many others.

There is no way you won’t find a trending and not trending story on Naija News. We serve the best of everything when it comes to Nigeria online newspaper. The website has been categorized for easy access for our over two million monthly readers.

Our readers are busy and time-starved that is why we act a gatekeeper to help manage the flow and weed out unnecessary news items. Naija News curates the news, makes sense of the outflow and saves its readers the unavailable time needed to access a multiplicity of sources.

How can platforms like yours help the government fight the spread of fake news?

With the coming of WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram and others, which has given almost everybody the means to send message and communicate easily, combating fake news has become a lot different. Traditional news media are known to make use of the ‘Agenda setting theory’ to disseminate news but that is no longer the case with the new media. Now online newspapers can only act as gatekeeper, filter news and reports. The bulk stops on the table of social media giants, they need to do more on fighting fake news, online abuses, online bullying, racism and others. It’s a job for all of us in the sense that we all have to come together to fight fake news.

Naija News has always placed quality over quantity when it comes to news reportage. We go the extra mile in verifying our contents before giving it to millions of readers. When you get seven to 12 million views per month, you don’t want to be known for spreading fake news. When are writers get stories and write them out, such stories have to go through editors who take out time to weed out errors and also carryout verification on such stories before they are finally published.

Even when we get some press releases and opinion articles we don’t just rush to publish, we have to read through and ask ourselves some certain questions before clicking on the publish button.

What can government do to boost online publication in Nigeria?

Well, the government should double it’s effort in providing an enabling environment and the regulatory framework for private owned businesses.

For example, the government can set out policies to enable the telecommunication companies to lower their internet service charges as the cost of data is one major expense we face in this industry.

Government through its regulatory agencies should compel internet service providers to ensure that they provide reliable, affordable and quality service to their subscribers.

What roles can online news platforms like Naija News play in the battle against insecurity?

Just like the war against fake news, the battle against insurgency, Kidnapping and others must be a joint effort of all well-meaning Nigerians. It is inappropriate and we won’t be telling ourselves the truth if we are to say it is only the responsibility of the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to tackle insecurity. With the power in the hands of media platforms we can shed light on areas that need funding to tackle Insecurity. We can highlight the welfare of security agents, weapons needed to prosecute this war amongst other things. We are also meant to draw government and the international community’s attention to where human rights are being violated in the course of this battle.