The Future of the Print Media in Nigeria: Not Yet an Obituary by Reuben Abati

A word of congratulations is in order as the departure point for this extended commentary on the future of the print media in Nigeria. It is amazing that it is now 20 years since the first edition of the City People magazine appeared on the newsstands. Within the intervening period, the publication in reporting the city to the people, and capturing the character and the persona, the joys and the foibles, the ceremonies and the traditions, the fashion and the glitz of the people of the city for the overall benefit of society, has established itself as a formidable and successful business enterprise within its genre. It has served as a practicing field for hundreds of journalists, and a compulsory rendezvous for those seeking knowledge and information about the softer side of life as it is lived in our cities.

The founder, Seye Kehinde, and his team and all members of the City People family, including present and old staff, and the faithful patrons whose patronage has sustained the business deserve commendation. I assume however, that if Seye Kehinde were to be asked to reflect on the experience of the past 20 years, his simple, modest answer is most likely to be "It's not been easy", or something along that line to summarize the challenges of managing business in an environment wracked by peculiar uncertainties.

Social Media and the English Language by Reuben Abati

I get confused these days reading many of the posts on social media, and text messages sent through cell phones, because of the kind of new English that young people now write. The English language is without doubt quite dynamic. In the last 200 years, it has lent itself to many innovations, as cultural, religious, and situational codes have transformed the language and extended the dictionary, with new words and idioms.
       The kind of new English being written by twitter and what’s app users, particularly young people is however so frightening and lamentable, because it is beginning to creep into regular writing. Texting and tweeting is producing a generation of users of English, (it is worse that they are using English as a second language), who cannot write grammatically successful sentences. I was privileged to go through some applications that some young graduates submitted for job openings recently and I was scared.