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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The basics
Tell us about yourself.
Jerry Musa from The Bit Gazette: I love to write. I'm a journalist by training. I love mass communicating, and I love the art of writing. I worked at one of the biggest media conglomerates in Africa—Africa Independent Television in Nigeria. I also worked at many diverse publications. This is my passion, my life, my everything. I've also been able to add public relations to my craft as well.
What do you love the most about this job on a busy morning?
Jerry Musa : I think what I love most about this job is that I have the opportunity to dictate people's mornings. I have the opportunity to set the tone for someone who's reading my articles. I have the chance to either make them start the day on a positive note by giving them good news, or start their day on a negative note by telling them the stock market has crashed. I feel quite privileged to be able to determine the mood of people when they wake up in the morning. That's why we ensure that, as early as possible, we already have what's happening in the markets live on our website.
Name the single tool that you would bring to a desert island newsroom.
Jerry Musa: Oh my goodness, my computer, computer, my computer. That's where my office literally is. I put everything there. Give me my laptop and I think I'll be fine. I won't even think about food.
Lessons learned
What is a memorable mistake and what did it teach you and your team?
Jerry Musa: This mistake happened just recently. I don't know if you saw the news—The Bit Gazette was hacked. Hackers infiltrated our backend and started publishing false information to sway our readers into making financial decisions that would cause them to lose money and property. But we were able to track that down as soon as possible, and we took decisive steps to ensure this never happens in the future.
That was a big lesson for us. We can't afford to let our readers down by allowing fraudsters to invade our territory and impersonate us. That was a wake-up call to ensure 100% security at all times.
When breaking crypto news hits, how do you decide whether to publish now or wait?
Jerry Musa: When there's a breaking crypto story, we publish immediately. Of course, we have to verify the story to ensure the information we're putting out there is newsworthy. If we're not educating, not entertaining, and not informing, we feel like we're not doing well enough. We're not sticking to the principles and tenets of journalism.
You may ask, how do we entertain with financial stories? We've got seasoned writers who understand the use of language. As they're telling you how the market is fluctuating, they're also adding humor and soft words in between just to ensure that nobody develops high blood pressure reading that the markets are crashing. So as much as you're getting information about fluctuations and market instability, you also get some humor in between to douse the tension a little bit. That's exactly what we're always keen to achieve with every piece of content we put out there.
Partnerships
What kind of partnership or ad deal would you refuse outright? And why?
Jerry Musa: At The Bit Gazette, we're not out for irresponsible financial gains. I say irresponsible because, unlike some publications, we don't feel like he who pays the piper should dictate the tune. If we have commercials, advertorials, or press releases, we also go the extra mile to verify if this information is true, because we are responsible to our readers. We're responsible for whatever happens from the information we put out there for them. Our responsibility is more to our readers than our clients. We appreciate that clients bring money, but readers are the reason we're in the market in the first place. That's why any partnership that comes in has to go through management scrutiny to ensure that it serves not just our financial purpose, but also our readers' educational purpose.
Finish this sentence. In 3 years, The Bit Gazette will be known for…
Jerry Musa: In 3 years, The Bit Gazette will be known as the biggest and most trustworthy crypto and financial news platform in the entire MENA region.
Choosing syndication
Why did you decide to partner with Newstex?
Jerry Musa: For us it was more about the reach. It wasn't really about the financial incentives. We thought this is an opportunity to reach out to people who haven't heard about us, because we're not yet in the category of Bloomberg or Forbes. As much as we aspire to reach those heights, we also have to ensure that we build the right connections and partnerships, which is why we chose to partner with Newstex. We're looking forward to serving your audience with useful information they can use in their daily lives and decision-making.
Jerry Musa is a thoroughbred journalist with over 13 years of professional practice. He began as a radio personality at Raypower FM in Lagos, Nigeria, and quickly rose to continental prominence, becoming the anchor of Gbedu, a flagship Afrobeats show. Jerry's diverse communications background propelled him to explore deeper communication tools, including Strategic PR and Marketing Communication. He founded The Bit Gazette in mid-2024 and has stirred the company to becoming one of the most trusted crypto and tech publications of this era. He holds a post-graduate degree in Mass Communication with specialization in Journalism, enabling him to bridge theoretical frameworks with practical market solutions in the Middle East media sector.
About the author,
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