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- Description:
- In this paper, the authors argue that press freedom is a key element of democracy. They, however, contend that for the press to serve its meaningful role towards a country's sustainable development, it must be transparent, accountable and responsible. The authors draw extensively from research findings in Nigeria and Sierra Leone, which to them are adequately representative of the entire Sub-Saharan Africa region. The paper discusses at length some factors which affect sustainable development, as well as the performance of the press in the two countries. The conclusions made are that the press systems in both Nigeria and Sierra Leone are neither democratic nor do they serve the cause of ensuring sustainable development. A major weakness, the authors maintain, is the fact that the press in the two countries pay more attention to the outside world than to issues affecting their predominantly illiterate population.
- Date Issued:
- 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This article presents an empirical study of the contribution of mass media to various integrative tendency among three ethnic groups In Nigeria. The study examined five dimensions of integrative tendency, namely (i) spatial integrative behaviour (working, visiting another state); (ii) associational integrative behaviour (working under another tribe, allowing son to marry from another tribe); (iii) government integrative behaviour (fostering interstate travel): (iv) use of a common language; and (v) inter-ethnic trust. The findings suggest that the contribution of the mass media to integrative tendency varies according to media type and dimension of integration. They also indicate Nigeria's need to streamline media policy on integration. But the author concludes that other agents of socialization (schools, family, peers) may also offer an integrated approach to achieving national cohesion in Nigeria.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This study assesses if gender has any influence on how Nigerian males and females perceive their communication styles. Using Norton's (1978) instrument of communicator style to collect the data, it attempts to answer three research questions, namely: (1) Will physical gender affect self-reported communicator style in the Nigerian environment? (2) What variable or combination of variables best predicts a good and effective Nigerian communicator? and (3) What type of inter-relationship exists between the variables of communicator style construct? It found no significant gender influence on self-reported communication style of Nigerians, unlike the findings of Montgomery and Norton (1981) among North Americans. It also found that friendly style was the best predictor of a good Nigerian communicator.
- Date Issued:
- 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- The specific role of mass communication and the mass media in the development dynamics is still quite controvertible. So is the status of development communication as a theoretical construct, as the multiplicity of its definitions suggests. These issues have become more critical in the light of recent world-wide political changes and of the many instances of debilitating ethnic conflicts. It is in this context that this paper investigated the incidence of development-oriented content in two Nigerian dailies, hypothesizing that, despite the claims that Nigerian newspapers have been excessively political, their contents are significantly more development-oriented than not and that this orientation is topically diversified and consistent over time. The results of the content-analysis study showed that the papers were more nondevelopmental in their orientation than developmental. Other aspects of the findings suggest, however, that sustained development requires a communication and governance system that accounts for both human rights and human needs.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- Against the backdrop of the familiar yet peculiar African political scene, where, from country to country, military dictatorships struggle (without real success), at wearing smiling faces; or where democracies strap of such full armour as to brook no opposition, this article discusses objectivity in the media. Objectivity is the state or quality of not being influenced by personal bias, prejudice, feelings and opinions. Objective news-reporting Is that which is devoid of inferences. Judgement and slanting. Yet modern journalism is not altogether a professional practice in which the operators become, simply, automatons - unthinking, unfeeling and without emotion. Objectivity is thus a relative term - relative to the system that exists. The position adopted by this article is that objectivity in news presentation is not a myth, nor a mere philosophical abstraction, but an attainable media goal which the journalist must strive for, even in the face of opposing realities. Six factors which the journalist and the media must grapple with, if objectivity is to be meaningful and a worthwhile journalistic pursuit, are presented.
- Date Issued:
- 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This analysis of the responsibility and ethics of six Nigerian daily newspapers addresses two major questions. First, what is the dominant ethical philosophy of the Nigerian press as indicated in its editorials? Second, what is the ethical responsibility of the press as indicated in its editorials? It examines the 'role-responsibility' of the press within the context of three dominant ethical themes: deontological, situational, and utilitarian ethics. A qualitative thematic analysis of the editorials indicates that the Nigerian daily press has a preference for applying utilitarian ethics to national issues. Situational ethics has the least presence in the editorials. The analysis also indicates that the government-owned newspapers are more likely than the privately-owned newspapers to use a utilitarian ethical perspective in expressing their opinions on, and in criticizing, government actions. This analysis concludes that by beginning to understand the different manifestations of government-press relationships and of media role in contributing to the nation's 'common good,' journalists can better plan for the difficult process of more effectively involving the press in national development.
- Date Issued:
- 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- Despite the prevalence of mass media institutions and 'paraphernalia' in Nigeria, the Nigerian masses still remain marginalized and denied their right to communicate through the conventional mass media. This is due to the structure of mass media ownership and distribution which reflects pro-urban concentration and bias. This article argues that given this reality, one cannot legitimately and accurately talk of 'mass' communication in Nigeria since the media of mass communication is used mainly to talk to the masses rather than with the masses; neither are they used by the masses themselves to talk with each other. To this extent, therefore, there is a state of 'mass incommunication' in Nigeria, a state which calls for urgent change through democratization of the mass media.
- Date Issued:
- 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This paper examines mass media bias in Nigerian political communications. It argues that ownership of the mass media in Nigeria tends to determine how they are used for political communications in the country. Other factors, such as ethnicity, religion, literacy, language of communication, legal limitations, political and socio-economic conditions, are also considered. The paper maintains, however, that the fact of ownership is not only the key which determines how the mass media are used for moulding the citizen's perception of political reality in the country, but that it is also a more precise means of understanding and investigating the role of the press in political stability or instability, national integration or disintegration. It concludes that as Nigeria approaches a third attempt at democratic rule in socio-economic conditions which are less propitious than in the past, there is a need for the Nigerian mass media to operate in a way which contributes to national integration. It suggests the need to restructure the media ownership pattern and to establish a Nigerian Media Advisory Council.
- Date Issued:
- 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review