PT Releases Azu’s Book On Media Content And Money

Premium Times Books, the book publishing arm of the Premium Times group, is excited to announce the release of its latest title, Writing for Media and Monetising It, by Azu Ishiekwene, a veteran of the Nigerian media and public commentary, which is due to hit bookshops soon.

This 280-page book, comprising 15 chapters and informative epilogues, is an innovative resource material and guide for students and scholars of the media, alongside professionals, who increasingly require novel roadmaps for navigating the exciting maelstrom that the media – and its various iterations or strands of practice – have become.

Writing for Media and Monetising It reveals how all of Mr Ishiekwene’s close to four decades of media work and public intellection have earned him a prized bird’s eye view, and still that depth of gaze, if not some form of omniscience, to both observe society keenly and equally calibrate the evolution of the media.

As such, this book chronicles various levels of disruption that have come to bear on media practice, particularly in terms of how they impact and can – more saliently – enhance the livelihoods of practitioners.

Of necessity, it identifies and seeks to bridge knowledge gaps, towards a renewed engagement with the economics of the media in these times; importantly, how writers and content creators can stay within the cusps of innovation, and thereby keep their work in demand, towards better compensation.

Part autobiographical, part personal reflection on a profession undergoing forceful transfiguration, and part manual for keen media workers or career pilgrims, on how to leverage their skills for more worthwhile recompense, Azu’s didactic form of storytelling is masterly in its subject command and projections.

Canons of practice within the media enterprise, who have read the book, experienced its uniqueness and offered advance praises of its novelty include Sonala Olumhense, a renowned syndicated columnist, who notes that, in this title, Azu Ishiekwene “gives back to the Times and Seasons that fostered him by giving to the future: showing how you can take your place in the bigger, bolder media, and be directly compensated by it.”

He rightly observes that “It is a world that did not exist when Azu was setting out, but one in which those who learn its pathways may not be simply craftsmen, but the owners of the craft.”

Equally, Farooq Kperogi, a professor of Journalism and Emerging Media at Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA, observes that “The book is a valuable resource for students, early- to mid-career journalists and content creators seeking to understand and thrive in our increasingly intricate and rapidly evolving media ecosystem.” He goes on to affirm how, “Ishiekwene’s first-hand experiences, combined with interviews with professionals, make this a comprehensive manual for effective, impactful writing in today’s digital world.” Moreover, he “recommend(s) it in the highest terms.”

The array of insightful annotations on Writing for Media and Monetising It ranges from that of South African journalist and editor, Ferial Haffajee, who believes there is none “better than Azubuike Ishiekwene to steward young journalists into a world and landscape (so) fundamentally changed and shifted from what we have known”, to the endorsement of Abimbola Adelakun, a notable columnist and professor in the African/African Diaspora studies programme of the University of Texas at Austin. Also, prominent academics, Professors Abiodun Adeniyi of Baze University, Abuja and Oluyinka Esan of Caleb University in Lagos, alongside journalist, author and communications consultant, Ngozi Anyaegbunam.

While Adelakun considers Writing for the Media and Monetising It as representing “a generous and gracious gift from Azu Ishiekwene — a master journalist, writer, analyst, critic, and media man,” she more so sees in it a “collection of lessons and insights that will inspire and challenge… a rare gift from a master of the craft.”

Adeniyi notes the unmistakable hands-on approach and simplicity of the book, which “captures the core essences of lettering for beginner and intermediate learners and could serve as refresher literature for the initiated.” Yet, for Esan, “Azu’s track record, the deep insight which he demonstrates as a seasoned columnist are further justifications that commend the present initiative.”

The author, Mr Azu Ishiekwene, is a highly respected and well-read columnist in the local and international media, whose over 35-year experience have seen him serve as Editor and Executive Director, Publications, at The PUNCH Newspapers, then as Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Interview magazine, is currently the Senior Vice Chairman/Editor-in-Chief at the LEADERSHIP Group Limited. A Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and director of the Dantiye Centre for Leadership and Journalism, he is also the writer of an earlier title, The Trial of Nuhu Ribadu.

Copies of Writing for the Media and Monetising It can presently be pre-ordered from www.azu.media and delivered both locally and internationally, pending its formal presentation later in June.