To keep track of media publications, print and online, the Lagos State Government has commenced the process of reviewing the existing Newspaper Law Cap No 2 of 2003, with a view to making it more effective and in tune with modern day reality.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, said this while addressing the media on the activities of his Ministry in the last one year.
Speaking on the inspectorate unit under his Ministry, Ayorinde said that the unit is responsible for the registration and renewal of newspapers and magazines published and circulated in Lagos.
He thereafter said that the law that empowers the Ministry to register the media organisations is undergoing review, necessitated by the need to make the existing law more effective and in tune with modern day reality.
According to the Commissioner, once the review is completed, media stakeholders would be invited to a meeting to intimate them with the provisions of the law and their obligations before promulgation.
He maintained that the review is not an attempt to stiffle the media, but to move with the trends and development of the time. He insisting It is for the good of journalism profession.
“You can’t operate as a print and not be registered with the Ministry. The media space has been going through transformation and the review is in line with the changes in the media space.”
Ayorinde said the unavailability of the true figure of the publishing media operating in Lagos poses a great challenge in terms of documentation and billings. He said the review is about how the Ministry can be empowered to register online media, trace who is who and from where they are operating.
Claiming that 90 percent of the online media in Nigeria are based in Lagos, Ayorinde enjoined online media publishers to come forward to identify themselves with the state as it would also help the state to better engage with them. He added that the review is being looked at from the point of media and law.
