To the uninitiated, ‘LTP’ is an acronym for ‘Let Them Pay’
which is itself a euphemism for ‘Commercial News’ or ‘News of Commercial
Value’, the aberrant Nigerian practice by which corporate organizations are made
to pay for radio and television news coverage of their activities.
Now no one is really sure how this anomaly started, but there
is no doubt that it has caught on like wild fire, to the extent that there is
hardly any radio or television station in Nigeria today (whether privately or
publicly owned) that that does not engage in the practice. You’d be quite right
to say that it has become ‘normal’ to charge a fee (a hefty one at that, I
might add) once a radio or TV station is invited to cover a corporate event. It
is even clearly stated on their Rate Cards!
As a Nigerian PR professional, increasingly being contracted
to provide my services locally to foreign-based companies and organizations, I
feel a sense of professional discomfiture each time I have to explain to them
that if they want to get any radio or TV station to come and cover their events
and report it as news, they have to pay.
So, what then is news to our broadcast stations? Is it only
when there has been a ghastly motor accident on the highway, with heavy
casualties? Or when a bomb has gone off somewhere, killing scores of people? Is
it only when a prominent politician or celebrity has been caught out in a
career-threatening act of indiscretion?
Conversely, is it not news when a commercial bank donates a
very expensive fire truck to a moribund
public fire service, to tackle incessant fire incidents in a particular
community? Is it not news when a company announces the launch of a new,
life-changing product or service inspired by a significant scientific
breakthrough? Pray, should it be tagged only as ‘commercial news’ if a
pharmaceutical company calls a press conference to announce the market launch
of a new drug to treat the dreaded Ebola virus, for instance?
For the PR profession, the practice of LTP represents a
complete distortion of the age-long paradigm of PR being ‘earned’ media. If you
have to pay to get news out on radio or television, that is no longer PR. There
has to be another name for it. And I’m not quite sure if it’s ‘Advertising’
either.
To make matters worse, the LTP is of dubious ROI value,
because there are no metrics for measuring the reach or impact of such reports.
I mean, these stations cannot even give you the most rudimentary information
and statistics on their audience size or configuration!
So where does this leave the Nigerian PR practitioner who has
now become restricted to pushing his clients’ editorial output almost
exclusively through the Print media?
That is a question that will have to be seriously addressed at
some point, if Nigerian PR is to take its rightful place as an important and
integral part of the global PR community and if global best practices are to
become ingrained in our operations.
I personally believe that, regardless of its seeming
pervasiveness (and possibly, acceptance) in Nigeria today, the LTP practice is
unethical, of dubious value and ultimately unsustainable. I know for a fact
that an increasing number of clients are
now moving from an initial reaction of consternation to that of outright
rejection of this practice. And it’s not just a matter of the cost.
We as PR people have to look for creative ways to get around
this situation, to protect the integrity of PR as fundamentally an ‘earned
media’ practice.
And I believe that Digital offers the way out.
Well said sir. Very informative write up. We hope things will get better
ReplyDeleteDear John,
ReplyDeleteIt's great to read your piece. I was in Nigeria in the middle of October 2015 on a Christian Mission trip. The Governor of my state was initially expected to come to an event but was represented by his Health Commissioner, the Head of Service, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and a host of Directors. To our chagrin, our organization that donated boreholes to the local community which the government officials were dedicating was asked to pay unbudgetted some of money for the news to be aired. We were told that the order to collect the money came all the way from the leading TV network's HQ in Abuja. We didn't give any money but people called us later in the night to say they saw the news on TV. The question is, how are Nigerian electronic media outlets generating income? Is every news item on air paid for? In that case, what is the integrity of the news being aired? Are there alternative ways they can generate income other than commercialization of news? I think the solution to this will ultimately come from within the media. They would have to find a balance between genuine news casting and finding creative ways of generating income for their running expenses. Thank you and keep up the needed advocacy.
Oladipo Ajayi, USA.