Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Tag: Media

  • Blackdrum TV Celebrates 5 Years of Promoting African Culture

    Blackdrum TV Celebrates 5 Years of Promoting African Culture

    According to Vanguard, Blackdrum TV is celebrating its fifth anniversary of broadcasting authentic African culture and lifestyle content. Launched on February 1, 2021, the channel has become a major player on the StarTimes platform, reaching audiences across the continent and the diaspora. Over the past five years, the channel has broadcast over 500 live and recorded events, ranging from festivals and fashion shows to art exhibitions, solidifying its position as a key voice for African storytelling.

    The channel’s leadership highlighted its commitment to showcasing the vibrancy of African experiences to viewers aged 16 to 65. As it marks this milestone, Blackdrum TV plans to expand its digital footprint and increase its weekly hours of fresh content. The anniversary is seen as a testament to the growing global appetite for African-centric media and the resilience of the continent’s creative ecosystem.

    The celebration was also reported by Tribune and Daily Post. Tribune noted that “the channel has been a platform for emerging African designers,” while Daily Post highlighted its “100% broadcast uptime over the last half-decade.”

    Echotitbits take:

    Blackdrum TV’s success shows that there is a massive market for “cultural lifestyle” content beyond just news and movies. As they move into their sixth year, watch for them to launch a dedicated streaming app to capture more of the younger, mobile-first demographic in the diaspora.

    Source: TheSun – https://thesun.ng/blackdrum-tv-5-years-of-telling-authentic-african-stories-on-startimes/#google_vignette, January 31, 2026

    Photo credit: TheSun

  • AIPS says sport can rebuild culture and connection as the world enters 2026 amid instability

    AIPS says sport can rebuild culture and connection as the world enters 2026 amid instability

    AIPS says sport can rebuild culture and connection as the world enters 2026 amid instability

    In a New Year message shared via Africa Newsroom, the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) argued that sport can help restore cultural meeting points and social bonds—especially for young people—if conflict trends reverse.

    The commentary frames 2026 against a backdrop of geopolitical tension, while insisting sport’s cultural role can re-create shared spaces where communities reconnect beyond politics.

    It also challenges sports media and institutions to treat sport as civic infrastructure—something that can support dialogue, identity and cohesion, not only entertainment.

    A second publication of the message repeats the framing “Our year 2026” and the emphasis on sport’s cultural power. AIPS’ official release materials similarly underline the role of sport in sustaining “culture and connection” across societies.

    Echotitbits take:
    Sport is one of the last mass rituals that can unify across class and politics. Watch whether investment flows into grassroots programmes—schools, community leagues, youth tournaments—rather than only elite spectacles.

    Source: Africa24 — January 2, 2026 — https://africa24tv.com/our-year-2026-between-war-drums-and-the-hope-of-a-sport-that-rediscovers-culture
    Africa24 2026-01-02

    Photo Credit: Africa24

  • Epstein records begin to surface under new US transparency law, but fury grows over delays

    Epstein records begin to surface under new US transparency law, but fury grows over delays

    Photo credit: Al Jazeera

    2025-12-19 12:00:00

    Al Jazeera reports the US Justice Department has begun releasing records tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s case under a new transparency law, reviving political conflict over what gets disclosed—and how quickly.

    Authorities are expected to release heavily redacted material in phases, citing victim privacy and investigative sensitivities as key constraints.

    Transparency advocates argue the release is overdue accountability, while critics accuse officials of slow-walking compliance and protecting powerful interests.

    The dispute could set up a sharper Congress–DOJ confrontation if lawmakers push for stricter timelines and fuller disclosure.

    Reuters described the release of “thousands of heavily redacted documents,” noting the political blowback around delays and redactions.

    TIME also reported that DOJ indicated it would not meet the deadline to release “all unclassified records” as required by the new Act.

    Echotitbits take: Expect the next wave to be driven by what’s actually in the documents—names, travel logs and exhibits—rather than the politics alone. Also watch litigation threats from lawmakers and any new DOJ timeline announcement; those dates will set the news cycle.

    Source: Al Jazeera — December 19, 2025 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/18/congress-passes-bill-to-release-epstein-files-sending-measure-to-trump

  • Wield ‘freedom responsibly’, President Buhari tells Nigerian media

    Wield ‘freedom responsibly’, President Buhari tells Nigerian media

    On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, observed globally every May 3, President Muhammadu Buhari recommits to freedom of the press, and urges media professionals to wield freedom responsibly, and without licentiousness.

    The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina noted that while celebrating the landmark day with the media, the President notes that freedom of the press is an irreducible minimum in a democracy that would flourish, adding that freedom must, however, be used responsibly.

    “That everything is permitted does not mean that there are no rules of correctness, particularly in a polity seriously challenged as ours now,” President Buhari says. “The media must be sensitive to what we are going through as a country, and anything that would exacerbate the situation, and further inflame passions and emotions, should be avoided.

    The media needs to ensure that while informing, educating, entertaining and setting agenda for public discourse, it does not encourage incendiary words and actions that could further hurt our unity in diversity.”

    Licentious freedom, the President says, is different from freedom with responsibility, and charges the Nigerian media to embrace the latter, rather than the former.

    On the part of government, President Buhari pledges greater cooperation with the media to discharge its duties, in line with the theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day, ‘Information as a Public Good.’

    He charges those who manage information for government to do everything in public interest, while also encouraging the media to use the Freedom of Information Act available to make its jobs easier.

    The President submits that it is very vital to have access to reliable information in an era of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, all to cause discord in society.