Mr Dele Momodu, Publisher of Ovation Magazine, on Thursday said that media houses must have a comfortable market for their business to thrive.

Momodu stated this during the discussion segment of the ongoing 13th All Nigeria Editors’ Conference and Extraordinary Convention in Port Harcourt.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the convention is, “Nigerian Media: Balancing Professionalism, Advocacy and Business.”

He said that publishers and media managers should understand that their product must be paid for, hence the need to be creative.

“You must have a market for your product and don’t bother about what people will say, it is not a charity,” he said.

According to Momodu, proprietors of media concerns must build their brand into something that is easily recognisable.

“Your business must be noticed as a brand and it is the best way to market it,” he said.

The publisher also called for collaboration among media houses and urged them to celebrate themselves.

“We must celebrate ourselves, we must collaborate to grow our business because the kind of partnership Ovation has with DAAR Communications today is what has kept us growing.

“We spend money to produce the content and supply to them, so, instead of playing free music for one hour that makes no sense, we give them one hour product that can also sell their airtime.

“The same thing we do with Thisday Newspaper; I write on the back page of Thisday on Saturdays and that has given me clout.

“So, we must come together and partner for growth. Journalists are standing alone claiming to know too much, we must collaborate to make content,” he said.

Momodu also urged journalists to manage whatever opportunity they have and plan for the future instead of staying out of job.

In his contribution, Mr Victor Ifijeh, Editor-in-Chief of The Nation Newspaper, said that innovation was key for any business.

Ifijeh said that it was better for the Nigerian media to believe in innovation and be modelled into the future.

He said that newspapers should be grown as a business, hence the need for corporate governance.

“Accountability is key to business, so we need to be audited to know where we are doing well and where we need to make adjustments,” he said.

The editor-in-chief called on publishers to come together to have a thriving media in the country.