By Ogar Monday, Adado Margaret And Kelvin Ololo
Readers of crossriverwatch.com have commended its management and staff for its contributions to the development of Cross River State. The commendations come on the occasion of the newspaper’s sixth anniversary.
Some of the readers who bared their minds while speaking on a weekly Hit 95.9 FM Calabar program (The Dialogue With Agba Jalingo) monitored by our newsroom said the coming of this Newspaper into the State opened the doors for alternative opinion to be heard.
The Chairman of the Association of Cross River Online Journalists (ACROJ) and Publisher of Calabar Blog, Mr. Hope Obeten in his contribution, said that CrossRiverWatch “changed the narrative of Cross River State by making Cross River a watch word and focusing exclusively on the State.”
He added that CrossRiverWatch focus on a balanced narrative has kept the Government on its toes and watered the ground for other platforms to thrive. “When they came, journalism print, broadcast and other forms changed. CrossRiverWatch gave us that alternative view to balance the report, it is a citizen platform.” He maintained.
The Chairman of the Cross River State chapter of the Inter Party Advisory Council, Pastor Sunday Michael said that Cross Riverians now use CrossRiverWatch to confirm the authenticity of news especially in the era of yellow journalism which is commonly termed ‘fake news.’
“CrossRiverWatch gives genuine and authentic report, not bias and people have overtime come to trust it and I will recommend they pass that to other online media platforms in the State,” Mr. Michael said.
On his part, the Chairman of the Young Progressives Party in Cross River State, Mr. Castro Ezama, stated that the news outfit has ticked the right boxes for accurate journalism, adding that: “The team has all the qualities that should be found in journalists including curiosity, honesty, loyalty as they have continuously been loyal to the people of Cross River State.”
Also, a legal practitioner and Chairman, Young Lawyers Forum who described CrossRiverWatch as a dependable online platform that has proven its worth over time, he also averred that: “I have followed CrossRiverWatch and I can only congratulate the team for a wonderful job so far and hoping to see more as the days go by. From the legal perspective there is nothing wrong the team has done and I can only urge them to do more.”
Adding that, “They have been able to balance their reportage; I particularly commend the management and team of CrossRiverWatch they have been able to operate within the ethics of the profession.”
Furthermore, Engr. Wofai Ewa, a Conflict Resolution expert CrossRiverWatch blazed the trail for online media in Cross River State and the nation.
According to him, “To a large extent CrossRiverWatch has done well, you can tell by the leadership, they helped many others spring up, look at ACROJ, they also pushed for it.”
Concluding he said, “They are there to check what Government does and give the citizens a voice too. It has revolutionized the way media job is done in the State.”
On his part, the Managing Editor of CrossRiverWatch, Mr. Archibong Jeremiah commended readers of the premier online media outfit in Cross River State saying, “First I commend our esteemed readers that have kept us in the system. It has not been an easy road, I remember how people thought we will just fizzle out but today here we are growing stronger and stronger.”
He further recounted some unpleasant situations maintaining “Initially even by colleagues we were hated but today we have turned the ball around. Our constant visitors made it happened.”
Archibong went on to promise that “Our readers should expect more improvement and creativity from us. But all these desired changes won’t come without patronage, we are a business outfit, do business with us so that we can grow to the standard you desire.”
The Managing Editor of the online media house established 27th August 2012 ended by lauding efforts of Team CrossRiverWatch.
Some pictures from the radio program.
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