The Kwara State government has projected the next six months for the completion of the turn- around in the state owned media houses in the bid to make them trendy.

The government said the media outfits including The Herald Newspapers, Radio Kwara and Kwara Television remained the heritage and sources of pride to the state among its contemporaries across the country. The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr Mahmud Babatunde Ajeigbe, made this known in Ilorin yesterday when he received in audience members of the state chapter of the National League of Veteran Journalists (NALVEJ) led by its chairman, Mr Samuel Akindele.

This came as NALVEJ urged the state government to begin implementation of media salary structure for journalists in its employment to boost their morale and commensurate with the selfless service they render. However, Ajeigbe said the government was targeting between August and September this year to complete the repositioning efforts as government was interested in ensuring the viability of the media organisations. He stated that the government was taking cognizance of the commercial viability of the establishments while making frantic efforts to provide them with the state of the art facilities.

The commissioner highlighted the repositioning to include people, process, technology and infrastructure, adding that the work would have reached an advanced stage in the event that it was not concluded by the projected period. He pointed out that the seeming stretch of the targeted period became imperative as the state government was interested in the commercial viability of the outfits before carrying out the thorough operation.

The commissioner noted that though the steps to reposition the media houses would be taken one after the other, the huge cost of equipment had become a source of worry to the government. He said the present administration needed media outfits that would stand the test of time and disseminate information adequately to the larger populace as expected.

Ajeigbe also denied any contrived plan to dispose off the media houses, insisting that it was figment of imagination, even as he maintained that the government was prioritizing favourable competition of the outfits within the media industry, which he said, was also contending with innovations brought about by the social media.

He praised the NALVEJ for being a laudable body and for promoting the interest of its members, adding that his ministry would be consulting the league from time to time on capacity building for the current generation of media practitioners in the state.

In the address of the league delivered by the state Vice-Chairman, Mr Kayode Adeyipo, stressed the need to insure practicing journalists in the state because of the numerous hazards they are exposed to.

He also called on the government to retool the media houses with the state of the art facilities to enable them meet the current trend in the media industry. Adeyipo also expressed the readiness of the league to collaborate with the state government in the area of promotion of economic interest in the state. He also noted that the league, which came into being about 26 years ago, was established to advance social interaction, welfare of members and provide guidance when and where necessary.