SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE CROSS RIVER BROADCASTING CORPORATION (CRBC) ANNUAL LECTURE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE CROSS RIVER LANDSCAPE
By Beatrice Akpala
The Cross River Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC), was established as an electronic and broadcast arm of the Cross River State Ministry of Information and it has largely lived up to its core bidding as a remarkable and trustworthy means of informing, educating and entertaining its listeners across the country and beyond.
The present Season of Sweetness as evidently exemplified by the present administration's philosophy of spreading democratic dividends is not only novel in the broadcast media history but truly indicative of many positive things to come.
To move forward and attain achievable results, some innovations have become imperative.
As a first step towards moving away from the past, the Senator (Prince) Bassey Edet Otu led administration searched for and appointed an experienced journalism guru to oversee the affairs of the corporation.
Mr. Sam Nsor, General Manager of CRBC, has a vast experience in journalism, having been in the profession for decades during which he held sway as the General Manager of Radio Nigeria, Calabar Stations and other intellectual organs before his appointment as General Manager of CRBC.
Within so short a time, he has been able to effect major changes in the Corporation in order to make the media outfit compete favourably with its counterparts elsewhere.
Therefore he is determined to effect the desired changes to ensure that its viewers and listeners are properly served and equally to meet the yearnings and aspirations of its owners, the Cross River State Government.
One of such steps is the institution of an Annual Lecture and Award Series
with the theme : "Entrenching the Culture of Productive Consciousness in a Developing Economy".
This apt theme could not have been chosen at a better time than now when state, national and global efforts are geared towards productivity.
Throwing more light on the situation he met on ground and the imperatives of the annual lecture, Mr. Sam Nsor, noted that there is the urgent necessity of improving on content, quality of scripts as well as broadcast reach.
He contended that though, the social media seems to be the in-thing among the populace, it will only make the conventional media to work even harder, adding that the social media has a lot of baggages.
News items are just floated around without proper investigation and most times, what is dished out of the social media is unverified and therefore completely unreliable.
Mr. Nsor noted with confidence that CRBC will soon be viewed on DSTV and the StarTimes platforms which decorder will be made available in no distant time.
He expressed the hope that in the very near future, the quacks, whose activities act as serious drawbacks to the main media, will be fished out. Purging the media of such quacks will be a great and enduring achievement for journalism generally.
In the same vein, the Director of Programmes who equally doubles as the Chairman of the Organizing Committee for 2023 Annual Lecture and Awards Series, Mrs. Offiong Ani Offiong, noted that, it promises to be a great event. As the Doyen of the Journalism Profession in Cross River State, Mrs Offiong said unapologetically that CRBC will reclaim it's lost glory as the trail blazer in broadcast media. She reiterated that the Annual Lecture Series has the award and fund raising components, to help shore up the much needed revenue for other projects implementation.
The Chairman, Organizing Committee revealed that the annual lecture has on its list, a diverse array of professional organizations such as the Nigerian Union of Journalists, RATTAWU and NIPR, which practitioners have made great contributions to the growth and development of journalism over the years in Cross River State and beyond. She went further to commend the General Manager of the Corporation, for his initiative and expressed the hope that the event will be a huge success.
Mrs. Offiong Ani Offiong said that the envisaged N100,000,000 (One Hundred Million) expected to be the proceeds realized from the fundraising component of the lecture, will be utilized in the construction of an ultramodern multi purpose event hall to boost the revenue base of the Cross River Broadcasting Corporation.
She laid credible claims to the fact that the Corporation has lots of great ambassadors everywhere in the Journalism profession and its corporate image will continue to confound everyone.
The maiden edition of the Cross River Broadcasting Corporation Annual Lecture and Award Series, is slated for the Mary Ekpiken Hall of the Channel View Hotels, MCC Road, Calabar on Thursday, 30th November, 2023.
She also used the opportunity to admonish Cross Riverians to support the Station in whichever way possible as it is poised to bring the very best of journalism ethics to define its path.
It is indeed very commendable that an intellectual organ such as CRBC, would, out of its stifling schedule, initiate an event which will not only improve its image by drawing due attention to itself but will also help immensely in revenue generation.
Published by Governor Prince Otu spokesperson Pst Bill Francis Bill and Ceo Billionaire Bill media Team and Blog.
