The Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, the umbrella body of all editors in Nigeria, will hold this year’s edition of its annual flagship conference, the All Nigeria Editors’ Conference, ANEC, on Thursday, November 26, 2020.

ANEC is usually a three-day event but President of the Guild, Mr. Mustapha Isah, said this year’s edition will be VIRTUAL (Via Zoom) and it will be for one day.

Themed: Media, People and Covid-19: How to Create Sustainability in the Digital Era, Mr. Isah explained that the Guild had to adjust the conference in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and its attendant safety protocols of social distancing, virtual communication, among others.

“Every year, members of the Guild physically gather under one roof to brainstorm on national issues including state of the media, but this year, as thought-leaders and agenda-setters, we have decided to model our conference in tune with the exigencies of the moment hence the decision to make it a one-day event,” Mr. Isah said.

ANEC 2020 is the 16th in the series and will be chaired by Alhaji Kabiru Yusuf, a Fellow of the Guild and Chairman of Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust newspapers among other publications. Yusuf, also a member of the Board of the International Press Institute, IPI, is a recipient of many awards including the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).

The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Mr Steve Nwosu, said this year’s edition is essentially a capacity building session to be keynoted by Mr. Taiwo Obe, a Fellow of the Guild and Founder/Director, The Journalism Clinic, a Lagos-based journalism training centre with international affiliations.

According to Mr. Nwosu, the choice of the theme was deliberate. “The Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a big blow to an already distressed media industry, shrinking revenues both from advertising and readership. There is, therefore, the need now more than ever to seek new ways to create the type of content, aesthetics and overall values that would help sustain media as a business.

“This informed the choice of the theme and the keynoter by the Planning Committee. We hope members of the Guild would maximise the opportunities that this year’s special edition of our ANEC presents to us,” Mr. Nwosu said.

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