Joyce Onwuka
The Founder of Penpushing Media, owner of online newspaper and television, Prince Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji has tasked media organizations to embrace introduction of corporate social responsibility as part of their operations.
He gave the charge while speaking as a panelist at the 2025 World Communication Day organized by the Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta held at the church premises, located in Isale-Ake area of the ancient town.
The media practitioner pointed out that media outlets should not just stop at dishing out news, but need to look inward, how they can give back to the society and on how to address as well as proffer solutions to plights of victims been reported
‘I have noticed that as journalists what we do is just to report news and move on and leave the fate and plights of the affected victims to the general public, and thereafter closed our eyes’, he said.
‘I am of the opinion and views that we should not just stop at reportage but as individual organisations, we should also start thinking of, after the news is reported, we should also look at how can we solve the reported plights and not just leave victims for general public to address’
‘When we started Penpushing Media, we thought of this, and injected it into our operations, as a policy, and within last seven years of our operations, we have been effectively addressing plights of the needy. We gave out scholarship, pay medical bills among others’, he stated
The Catholic Bishop of Abeokuta Diocese, Most Reverend Kayode Odetoyinbo, in his homily charged media practitioners to be worthy representatives of God.
The cleric added that they should equally be mindful of their critical role as propagators of good news and hope to a world grappling with despair, stressing that journalists and communicators have a responsibility to bring hope and positivity to their audience, particularly in a world filled with challenges and uncertainties.
Odetoyinbo at the celebration themed, “Share with gentleness the Hope that Is in Your Hearts’, emphasized the importance of inspiring hope and avoiding aggressive language in communication.
The Bishop stressed that journalists and communicators have a responsibility to bring hope and positivity to their audience, particularly in a world filled with challenges and uncertainties, encouraged media professionals to rise above temptations and sustain the hope that resides in Christ, guiding what comes from within them with the virtue of truth as they communicate to the outside world.
He emphasized the need for integrity, professionalism, and a commitment to truth-based reporting in the discharge of their duties, as well as engage inhumanity-focused media practice, and truth-based news reporting in promoting social development.
Meanwhile, other discussants which includes Dr Niran Malaolu,(Chief Executive Officer, Rock City FM Abeokuta,), who served as moderator, Stella Sawyer (Head of Public Affairs, Apple and Pears Limited), and Fidelis Moses (Chief Executive Officer FPN Communications) who all faulted the current trend of the advent of social media which has eroded the values of professionalism and ethics in Journalism and media practice.