It was exactly the 21st of August 2020 the News Echo newspaper; a publication from De Kings Holistic Communications Network Ltd took a plunge into the murky waters of Nigerian journalism. Since then it has never looked back as it continues to delight its numerous readers with sizzling and exciting stories and news.
At the weekend the publisher of the tabloid, Chief (Prof.) Chimezie Kingsley spared moments to celebrate with his employees the success story of the one year tabloid. During the parley he gave a historical account of how he got inspired to put the paper on the news stand.
The paper was established with the vision of giving a voice to the voiceless. It is non-political and has the vision too of championing Igbo interest. It provides an opportunity and a rallying point for Ndigbo to be heard and to canvass their views on critical national issues.
So far at the risk of being immodest it has driven these objectives. We are not against any person or government and will not offer ourselves a willing tool to anyone to run others down. Commendations and remarks from the reading public pride the paper as having raised the stake for other tabloids in the South East region.
When the paper was launched on June 11, the massive attendance and the quality invitees who graced the occasion from various parts of the country indicated that it has the wide acceptance of the people.
While speaking to the staff, he commended them for a job well done and tasked them to continue to do more. Publisher explained that basically what motivated him to set up the media was his discovery during interactions with news hounds that there are those still desiring to practice true journalism.
Thus he saw the opportunity to make his modest contributions in the growth of the country. He described the adventure into the media as a charity work, his own Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to create opportunities for those in need, adding that nothing accrues to him from the venture.
“I and wife are passionate about what we are doing as we consider it a philanthropic work pumping money into a project that supports mankind, he remarked adding that he has no link with journalism.
Ndigbo are very enterprising people and can be found succeeding in virtually every area of endeavors. Today they are synonymous with commerce and their rare ingenuity sets them up to venture into diverse areas of activities. Our observations however, have revealed that Ndigbo have not been successful in newspaper business for reasons we all are challenged to research for causes and solutions.
This is the reason we in News Echo are excited that an opportunity has been provided to give a voice to Ndigbo and the voiceless.
As we mark our one year we salute our highly esteemed publisher, all those that have found favour with us, all our critics and those that do not wish us well, our contributors and beckon on all to join hands with us to jointly salvage a decadent society.
We must reiterate that we are committed to promoting the ideals of true and professional journalism and crave for the support of all. Together we make it greater as we journey forward. So far so good.
