By Onyiye Olomu.
One of the major TELEVISION Stations in Nigeria has this as its prominent signature -tunes: WE ALL LOOK BUT SEE DIFFERENTLY.
By implication,this saying somehow infers that although all of us might experience or witness an incident or event together,our individualized or subjective INTERPRETATIONS of same incident or event will be as multifarious and variegated as the number of us at the scene of such event. Hence,it becomes apt to say that what usually comes out as end product of our psychosomatic activity of subjectively interpreting any social phenomena is nothing less than what we could call PERCEPTION.
In the Media World,creating,shaping or controlling the perception of the public(or what one might still term PUBLIC OPINION) towards any social phenomenon or personality is key for anyone wishing to hold sway as a Journalist or Media Specialist. This no doubt,is the desire of every serious-minded Media man /woman: to reign in the court of public opinion as a Don/Lord rather than a vassal by reason of the EXTENT to which one shapes public perception.
Indeed, owing to the power of the Media to DETERMINE HOW Governments everywhere are either shown love /acceptance or dislike /repudiation by the people they govern,political leaders have overtime, attached so much zest and carefulness in the selection of their Media Teams since they know that when the chips are down,Media Gurus can help turn (especially in the eyes of the masses),a saintly Government to an accursed one and vice versa. In this wise,comparing the media configuration of Goodluck Jonathan 's Government throughout and that of the APC and President Buhari beginning from the pre-elections period even until now,would give an insight into the crux of my argument.
Now,coming to Delta State,if one be sincere,one can seamlessly capture the sentiments and inclination of Gov Okowa in the elevation of Comrade Dantes Odogwu from his initial post of SA on Special Duties to his rightful turf which is Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on New Media. Very recently, most of us can attest to the pugnacious attempt of Gov Okowa's critics and detractors to incessantly and unsuccessfully malign or rubbish his Administration ;therefore,as an experienced Leader that he is,Gov Okowa has rightly deemed it proper to bring the likes of Comrade Dantes on board his Media Outfit.
The seminal input of Comrade Dantes and his Deltans Diaspora towards the electoral victory of Gov Okowa is sure to resonate a long time but what so many take away from all of it is that Comrade Dantes has shown enough craft,skill, resilience and tenacity to earn himself a place in the Hall of Fame of the New Media World.
Even as Comrade Dantes assumes office with his usual intent of assiduously carrying out such an onerous assignment, my personal appeal to all Media Stakeholders (who doubtless have the interest of Delta State at heart)is to join him to succeed. Everywhere now,no longer does the brand of 'Goebbellean Journalism ' (which is Journalism of one -man show),look fashionable. Successful Journalism that also cut teeth with the people is usually a by-product of Teamwork and Team unity.
So let's join Comrade Dantes to lift Delta State high in the eyes, minds...and PERCEPTIONS of all and sundry.
God bless Delta State.
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