Jason's Jive September 2025

It feels so good to be back. First of all, I must apologize for my absence last month. I mixed up deadline dates and by the time I remembered, it was too late to submit my article. So, my dear reader, I am sorry.

I had a brief visit to Beltsville on the July 4 weekend. I arrived from Dallas in the morning, and had to cover an event, the US Premiere of a Nigerian film, Aso Ebi Diaries, which was held at the Greenbelt Cinema. The sold-out event was a lot of fun and had the Greenbelt Mayor in attendance.

Labor Day is September 1, and we will be taking the film to Houston, Texas, for a showing there.

After a hiatus for many years, I am back in the media, doing what I love the best --- writing and marketing. I thank Beltsville News for the opportunity to do this column, which has kept the fire in me going. So, as I said earlier, it feels good to be back. I now publish a monthly newsmagazine, THE NAIJA BRIDGE --- aimed at promoting arts and culture and bridging the gap between Nigeria and the diaspora. In addition to this, I am re-establishing contact with media colleagues in the Caribbean, growing my media contacts here in the US as well as Nigeria. I also do media and marketing for some artistes, and trust me, it keeps me busy but is very fulfilling.

There is something about journalism that has always kept me intrigued. I still find myself picking up copies of newspapers and magazines.  Recently, I was buying a copy of the local paper here in Dallas, and the gas station attendant looked at me with a puzzled look. He did not have to ask questions --- the look on his face displayed the questions on his mind. I responded to his stare and said, yes, people still read newspapers. There is a lot of information in them and not all of us are built for staring at our phones all day.

Looking back, I remember my love for newspapers. My late father would bring home newspapers from work and leave them in the living room.  I would read them to get familiar with what was going on in the community --- politics, sports and business, in no specific order. On Sundays, I would walk 35 minutes to the vendor to buy the newspapers and then read through them as I walked home.  I wasn’t allowed to read the papers in the house, until after Dad had finished reading them. I think it was like five or six newspapers every Sunday.

Growing up in Nigeria as a teenager, there was a tradition where the newspaper vendor stands were unofficial citadels of learning.  Young and old would gather there to argue and discuss current affairs. The vendors would let you read the newspaper, but you had to pay for reading them. So, if a newspaper costs $1. If five or more people read the newspaper, the cost to read might be 25 cents each. He would make more than the sale value of the paper, especially on a weekend. Trust Nigerians to find an ingenuous way of making money.

The other thing the vendors would do is “marry” the newspapers that they sold. I’ll explain. The Guardian was and still is a very popular daily. A newspaper like The Observer or The Herald would be slow on sales on any given day. Rather than be stuck with a lot of copies of a paper that is not selling off, the vendors would tell you, “Today, if you want The Guardian, you have to buy The Observer or The Herald with it.” So, in other words, you buy a newspaper that you do not want to get the one you want. That’s just the way it is.

So, to those of you who read newspapers and magazines that some of us still take or time to write for, thank you for your patronage.  Well, time to wrap up. Have a great month.

end