As TNN Clocks Nine…
3 min read
Exactly nine years ago, this newspaper hit the newsstands in four states of the south –south-Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Bayelsa. Nine years after, we are still on the streets, practicing professional journalism, setting agenda for the government and public office holders and giving all Niger Delta people the opportunity to be heard.
When we started, the impact of the social media was not this penetrating. Fake news was not so pronounced. Readers had the money to buy copies to be able to enjoy every page of our publication. Quality reporters were not in short supply. Getting adverts for the newspaper was not so much of a prayer point. But between then and now, a lot has changed. Regardless, we have refused to change our style and focus. We have refused to abandon journalism ethos, despite the challenges we have had to grapple with.
TNN was actually established to fill a gap and meet certain needs. We came as a newspaper that will give a voice to the people of the Niger Delta, correct societal ills and compel leaders to sit up and do the right things. We set very high standards for ourselves and made sure that all our staff worked in line with the code of ethics.
Just like most tabloids in Nigeria who have had to face some daunting challenges trying to meet up with staff salaries, printing cost and other encumbrances, we have had our own fair share of those challenges. There have been times that we had difficulties paying staff salaries. There have been times that we felt like throwing in the towel. There have been times when we were told to, or we felt like suspending the print edition, to focus only on the online edition. There have been very challenging moments. At some point, like we have said a number of times, we had some court cases over our reports.
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But in all the nine years, we have rummaged all the oddities and remained afloat. One thing has kept us throughout this period: the desire to make a difference. We have had this serious driving force; that no matter what happens, we will not drown. And because God has been the aerie, we are still waxing strong, winning awards and getting commendations from our readers and fans.
By next year, we would have clocked 10 years as an independent-minded, professionally produced newspaper that has impacted the Niger Delta. We hope to, for the first time, celebrate the milestone. At that time, we will be able to publicly appreciate you in specific ways, for standing by us all the way.
We are certain that if you were not there for us, we would have become history by now, just like those who started the same time with or after us. We cannot thank you enough, especially for those calls, those adverts, those information that have helped us to produce earth-shaking exclusive reports. We thank you for defending us when people attempted to run us down.
Our commitment to professionalism is unshaken. In the coming years, we will continue to do those things that made us who we are-the best regional newspaper in the region. We will continue to defend our region, our country and our profession. And we will always defend you.
We must thank all our distributors, our vendors and our readers. We thank all our social media followers for their consistency in followership. We thank all our partners and advertisers. We thank all our staff, past and present, for contributing to our success stories.
Let’s keep doing this together. Let’s keep enjoying your support and patronage. For, better days are truly ahead for us.
