The Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI) Celebrates with PUNCH at 50
In celebration of Punch Newspaper’s 50th anniversary, our Executive Director, Babafunke Fagbemi, and Media Officer, Anna White-Agbo, were fortunate to attend some of the commemorative events. Anna has compiled some highlights from this historic event!
The Punch Newspaper turned 50, and to celebrate the golden jubilee, the newspaper held a weeklong activity in Lagos State with the crème de la crème of the society in attendance.
The weeklong celebration started on February 24 with a novelty match between Team PUNCH and the Nigeria Media XI, a team made up of journalists from other newspaper houses in the country.
Beginning on Wednesday, February 28, PUNCH held a three-day photo exhibition at the Alliance Francaise de Lagos/Mike Adenuga Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, to afford its readers and other Nigerians opportunities to view the best photographs from its extensive pictorial archive of the biggest news events in the nation’s history.
Walking through the photo exhibition was refreshing, albeit a mixed feeling; it was a collection of beautiful historic moments spanning 50years. As the curator gave a tour of the exhibitions, one could recollect some of the beautiful moments in history and some quite tragic, yet in all, one can only be grateful that we survived every moment in history, still standing.
One of the very high points of the event was a public lecture delivered by Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka titled “Recovering the Narrative” on Thursday, February 29 which played host to leaders from the public and private sector.
The well-attended public lecture had attendees from all works of life such as government officials, military top brass, media chiefs, captains of industry, and members of the civil society, amongst which the Executive Director of the Centre for Communication and Social Impact, Babafunke Fagbemi ably represented the organisation gracing the photo exhibition and public lecture.
One of the key take away from Prof. Soyinka’s awe-inspiring lecture was shunning media sensationalism. He admonished the media to embrace professionalism and avoid negative influences from the clout chasers and intruders.
This lecture is quite timely, because any one in the journalism space or any on looker will agree that the rot and lack of professionalism is quite deep especially with the advent of social media. There is a subtle line of competition between the actual journalists and the ‘wannabes’, especially for viewership and popularity. There is a need for true journalist to dominate the space and control the narrative.
“The print media has a very special responsibility in this respect, as the communication field is now wide open, instantly, and promiscuously accessible. It is patronized by the knowledgeable and the vacuous, the purpose oriented and the dilletante, the nihilist and the builder.”
“Retrogression is when certain replacements are introduced, through imitation; attain currency through ignorance and a craving to be “in fashion”.”
We once again congratulate Punch and wish them all the best in all their future endeavours.
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About Us
The Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI) is a leading Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) organization with expertise in utilizing evidence from research to implement effective strategies that address barriers preventing designated audiences from adopting recommended behaviors.
Birthed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (JHCCP), Baltimore, USA, and registered in 2001 as a Non-Governmental Organization with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria, CCSI continues to work towards being the center of excellence in strategic communications in Africa.
Driven by values of integrity, passion, care, innovation, and excellence, CCSI focuses on the central role of strategic communication to impact behaviors, build brands, and provide technical leadership in health and social development.