A few weeks ago, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, co-founder of Andela and former managing director of Flutterwave, stated in a podcast that tech media in Nigeria is dead.
"There is no future for tech press," he said.
"There is no future for tech press," he said.
Given Aboyeji’s reputation and accomplishments, it would be a mistake to dismiss his position outright. As a result, his statement got me thinking.
Should tech founders be obsessed with getting media mentions from major tech platforms? What is the real value of being featured on TechCabal or TechPoint? And do the audiences these tech startups are building for actually read tech media platforms?
I sincerely don’t know whether the tech press is dead or not, but the entire Nigerian journalism ecosystem should sit down and have an honest conversation.
I sincerely don’t know whether the tech press is dead or not, but the entire Nigerian journalism ecosystem should sit down and have an honest conversation.
Visit most of our mainstream news platforms — not just tech — and you’ll be pursued by an avalanche of Google ads that barely allow you to read stories. Once you fight through the ads, you’re then met with PR stories. I feel that brands want news platforms to bombard readers with these press releases, and media houses often run with them.
Real, deep work by our capable journalists is often buried somewhere within the chaos.
I wish Chimgozirim Nwokoma’s response to Iyinoluwa Aboyeji’s claim that the tech press is dead will spark a wider conversation about the sustainability of journalism in Nigeria.
