Covid-19 necessitated UNILAG Sun going online — Masscom HOD
By Elizabeth Osayande
One of the positive fallout of Covid-19 in the education and media space is reinventing the wheel to harness the gains of going online.
This was the submission of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, Akoka, Head of Department, Mass Communication, Associate Professor Adepoju Tejumaiye, during the recent launch of UNILAG Sun online newspaper, previously produced in hardcopies alongside Mass Cope.
Prof. Tejumaiye, in a statement, noted that the production of the online edition was dictated by the prevailing incidence of Covid-19 which made it compelling for media professionals to avoid physical contacts with news sources, while sourcing the raw materials for their stories.
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While adding that this feat was in line with the global best practices, Tejumaiye explained that the production has since been approved by the Departmental Board of studies years back with a further directive to print lecturers in charge to properly monitor and supervise the production by the students.
His words: “Immediately the Department observed the global misfortune which has adversely affected newspaper and magazine business across the world, attention was shifted to the online edition in line with what obtains across the world.
“As a foremost Mass Communication training institution in Africa, the Department further re-engineered the training and focus of the students to the various opportunities presented by the online edition in the training of the students.”
Tejumaiye further stated that the original plan this year was to release both the hard copies as well as the online editions simultaneously, but with Covid-19, the Department rested the hard copies till when they can guarantee the safety and health of the students.