BUILDING SUSTAINABLE MEDIA IN NIGERIA: NAVIGATING INNOVATION, CREDIBILITY AND REVENUE CHALLENGES

By Isiaq Ajibola, co -founder and former Managing Director, Daily Trust Newspaper.
Author, Journalism & Business ; My Newspaper Odyssey

For the International Press Institute (IPI) Conference, Abuja – December 2, 2025

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured to stand before you today to speak on a subject that carries the weight of our shared future “Building Sustainable Media in Nigeria; Navigating Innovation, Credibility and Revenue Challenges”.

This is not just another industry conversation. It is a defining moment, because the Nigerian media is standing on the edge of a turning point. And the decisions we take today will determine whether we remain relevant in our media job tomorrow.

A. A Defining Moment for the Media
We are living through dramatic transformation.
The business models that sustained journalism for more than 100 years are disappearing.
Print revenues have declined.
Radio and TV face new and aggressive competitors.
Digital platforms now control advertising.
Audiences have migrated to mobile, on-demand, personalised content.

But despite these disruptions, I believe we stand at the threshold of the most exciting era in our profession because technology on its own has expanded our reach,
innovation has collapsed long-standing barriers,
and new opportunities now exist for organisations prepared enough to reinvent themselves.

B. The Three Pillars.
To survive and thrive, we must anchor the future of Nigerian media on three interconnected pillars:
1. Innovation
2. Credibility
3. Revenue Sustainability

These pillars are inseparable.
Innovation without credibility is an empty etho,
Credibility without revenue is unsustainable
And revenue without innovation is ephemeral

Let us look at them one after the other

1. INNOVATION
Our first duty is to innovate.
A modern newsroom cannot be built on old structures.
“Digital-first” is no longer a philosophy — it is survival.
A digital-first newsroom is one that;

(i).Tells stories in multiple formats
Text, video, audio, short social clips, data graphics, explainers.

(ii). Optimises content for mobile
which means:
writing shorter sentences,
using vertical video,
compressing load time,
designing layouts that display well on small screens, and
ensuring headlines are punchy and searchable.

(iii). Uses analytics to understand audiences which reveal:

which stories readers finish,
what topics they skip,
where they stop watching a video,
and what time they consume content.
This is how newsrooms now shape editorial calendars from real data — not assumptions.

(iv) Trains journalists to use modern tools

AI tools for transcription, analysis, translation and content discovery.
Data tools for visualisation.
Automation for repetitive tasks like tagging, archiving and formatting.

(v). Experiments with new formats

Explainers, deep dives, newsletters, podcasts, live blogs, interactives — formats that younger audiences already prefer.

Innovation is not an indulgence . It is an essential survival
strategy.

Technology Capital Readiness; building for scalability and innovation

Your technology is the invisible engine behind your success. A modern newsroom requires a flexible, SEO-optimised Content Management System (CMS) to ensure stories rank high on Google, are published quickly in multiple formats (text, video, podcast), and can integrate seamlessly with newsletters, social platforms, and apps.
Your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and payment systems must also be technology-driven. Invest in seamless payment gateways like Paystack or Flutterwave, and prioritise automation and renewals. Most importantly, build for mobile first — over 85% of Nigerian audiences consume news via smartphones.

As part of your innovation you must be ready human capacity ready.

Human Capital Readiness. Building a lean, smart, multi-skilled team is it.
In today’s media business, small teams with the right skills often outperform some large organisations. You must invest in good journalists, multimedia producers, social media experts and data reporters who can distribute stories across platforms and constantly guage audience needs.
Beyond the newsroom, business-focused personnel are essential. content monetisation specialists, event managers, and subscription growth strategists all of whom directly drive revenue must be hired. A lean, cross-functional team of fewer than 15 people in the early phase can often deliver more impact than a larger, less focused workforce.

2. CREDIBILITY

But innovation alone cannot save us.
Our greatest asset is not the printing press, digital newsrooms, the transmitter or the website.
It is credibility; the single currency that outlives every technology cycle.

As you will aggree with me today’s information ecosystem is polluted.
Rumours move faster than facts.
Social media amplifies confusion.
Anyone with a smartphone claims to be a journalist.

This places a heavier responsibility on us to:
Strengthen fact-checking
Uphold ethics
Avoid sensationalism
Separate news from opinions
Disclose sponsored content
Correct errors transparently

In a world drowning in misinformation, neutrality becomes a premium brand.
Credibility is our competitive edge — we must guard it jealously.

3. THE REVENUE CHALLENGES: THE PATH FORWARD

To explain the path forward, I’ll use a simple Revenue Model Framework, built around three categories which i will call primary, secondary, and future-growth revenue streams.

I. PRIMARY REVENUE STREAMS

These are the immediate, high-impact income generators driving today’s digital media revenue
They include.
Digital advertising, such as programmatic and direct display ads

Branded social content on X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube

YouTube monetisation, especially for our TV broadcast houses

And importantly, Native Advertising
I would like to single out Native Advertising as a unique model

Native advertising is not a replacement for traditional advertising —it is a pillar within it.

Native advertising refers to paid storytelling that blends seamlessly with a media platform’s editorial style. It is credible, value-adding, and far more engaging than traditional ads.

And globally, it is extremely lucrative.

The New York Times once earned over $250,000 from a single native advertising article created for Netflix’s series “Orange Is the New Black”.
This was a deeply reported, magazine-style feature about women in U.S. prisons—paid for by Netflix, but produced in the New York Times’ editorial style.

Native advertising is now deeply integrated into Nigeria’s print media through sponsored features, special reports, branded journalism pull-outs, and corporate-backed analysis pages that look and feel like regular editorial content. These campaigns; sponsored by banks, telcos, oil & gas firms, development agencies, and FMCGs have become a significant revenue source for major newspapers in Nigeria.

So in our primary revenue consideration, native advertising stands as one of the most profitable and fastest-growing income streams, especially in the digital space.

II. SECONDARY REVENUE STREAMS

These are medium-term opportunities that complement the core business.
They include:
Events and conferences, like BusinessDay’s CEO Forum

Subscriptions and premium content offered by Stear and Business Day

What’s interesting is that native advertising often becomes a gateway to these secondary engagements.
A brand that invests in a native story may later sponsor an event, commission a research report, or fund a documentary-style video.
So native ads don’t replace secondary streams—they strengthen and expand them.

III. FUTURE-GROWTH REVENUE STREAMS

These are long-term opportunities that will shape the next phase of media in Nigeria.

They include:
Data and research products

Podcasts and audio monetisation

E-commerce and affiliate partnerships

Here again, native content evolves into more advanced forms.
interactive storytelling, co-branded research, sponsored documentaries, and multimedia brand partnerships.
This is the direction global leaders like BBC StoryWorks and The Economist have already gone.

So across all three tiers—primary, secondary, and future-growth,native advertising plays a role.
It is immediate, it is expandable, and it is future-facing. It is easier done

The Economics of the New Rules

Overall the Economics of the new rulecl is Accounting for Profit – measure, measure, and optimise!

Profitability must be tracked and deliberately managed. Break down your revenue streams into categories ;advertising, subscriptions, events, branded partnerships and monitor each one’s performance regularly.

Control costs by classifying them into content production, technology, marketing, and overheads. Then track key business parameters such as: Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The total cost of acquiring a new paying customer.
Example: If you spend ₦5 million on advertising and logistics to attract 1,000 subscribers, your CAC is ₦5,000.

Revenue per Thousand Views (RPM): This may be harder to calculate, but it helps you identify which parts of your business are most profitable and where to focus resources.

Above all, remember: “If you can measure it, you can manage it — and if you can manage it, you can monetise it.”

And never forget that credibility itself is money. The more trust you build with your readers, the more likely they are to pay for your value proposition or recommend your platform to others.

A NEW CHAPTER FOR THE MEDIA

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
The Nigerian media has survived military rule, dictatorship, recessions and political intimidation.
We survived deregulation, digital disruption and revenue collapse.

What we face today is not going to hurt the media.
It is the beginning of a new chapter; a chapter that demands

Innovation
Credibility
Sustainability
Reinvention

If we build on these pillars, the Nigerian media will not just survive
it will flourish, to shape national conversation, strengthen democracy and continue inspire future generations.
Thank you very much.
God bless you, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.