ABSTRACT
This research
exercise is on the challenges of journalism practice in Nigeria (A study of
Nigerian Television Authority, Enugu). The research study adopted the systems
theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory as the
theoretical framework for this study. The research population comprised 89
staff workers and the research study adopted the number as the sample size for
the study. The questionnaire served as instrument of data collection. The data
collected was analyzed using simple percentage method. The research work made
some of the following findings; that too much of government control,
shortage of staff, lack of modern /adequate equipment, poor salary, inadequate
funding and employment of non-professionals are among the major challenges
affecting the media in carrying out their duties.It was recommended that; journalists working in state government owned media
station should realize that they are serving the public and not the state chief
executives alone and so must pay adequate attention to social responsibility
principle of the press.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background of the Study
Journalism
in Nigeria has continued to grow immensely in line with global trends despite
strong infrastructural challenges. Communicating with a mass audience is not
totally strange in Nigeria. Thus, mass media have been important tools in
communication, and through which information is passed across within the
society (Ben, 2016).
In
mass communication, the media are divided into the electronic (broadcast) and
print media. The print media involves mainly magazine and newspaper; they are
informers which provide retrievable, researched, in-depth and interpretative
news stories of events. The broadcast media comprise of the radio and
television, it has not been as enterprising as it should be. This is due to the
majority ownership and control of the broadcast media by the government. These
two branches of the media has played vital role in broadcasting of information
in the society.
Abdur-Rahman
(2013) in describing the media roles noted that broadcast is a society wide
type of message dissemination, which involves the transmission of ideas, words,
sounds, pictures and values in the form of signals through the airwaves to a
target audience. Ben (2016) opined that broadcasting is an activity of a branch
of the media of mass communication called the electronic media that use
transmitters and airwaves in the transmission of news and information to their
heterogeneous audience.
According
to Munyua (2010), information is the least expensive impute for societal
development and it can also be viewed as a basic necessity ingredient for
bringing about social and economic change in any nation. On this fact, Santas
and Ogoshi (2015) stated that the mass media play crucial roles in achieving
developmental objectives at local, national and international level. The
further noted that the mass media has been recognized as an important resource
for mobilizing an entire nation towards national development. Being an integral
part of the social system, the mass media is a major stakeholder in the
realization of sustainable development in Nigeria. Thus, in the process of
information dissemination the media prepares the ground for development.
However,
there are several factors hindering the effectiveness of the media in
information dissemination. Santas and Ogoshi (2015) opined that factors like
corruption, poor communication channels, illiteracy, inadequate infrastructure,
poor implementation framework and political instability has continued to pose
great challenges to the achievement of sustainable development of Nigeria
media. Otolo (2015) also highlighted that ownership is one of the major
problems facing the media in Nigeria, be it State or Federal. In most cases,
there is a stigma on journalists who work in these media houses as they are
often seen as government’s propagandists. Journalists are made to give the
activities of their government owner more prominence at the expense of other
important issues. When they fail to do so, regardless of their role
or importance to the media organization, the reporters risk being sacked or demoted
unless they are lucky.
According
to Udeajah (2014), everything points to the fact that ownership has had some
significant effect on the operations of broadcast organizations in Nigeria. The
policy of the persons who pay the broadcaster’s salary determines the operation of
the media station. Ben (2016) observed that the
government owned media houses in Nigeria have been known to suffer a myriad of
problems which have left them redundant and reduced them to mere “government
handouts”. This is as a result of the overbearing influence of the government
owners on the media houses. Barnabas (2017) stated that due to the government
control of the electronic media, they lack credibility and objectivity. This
can be accounted in the caliber of workers they parade. He further noted that
the media is heavily being affected by poorly educated editor and reporters who
are easily target for manipulation by the government and its agents.
In
the same vein, it is important to note that beyond the control from the government
as posing as one of the challenges affecting the media in disseminating
information, the new media idea poses a great challenge to most media houses in
Nigeria. The new media rely strongly on digitally powered technologies,
allowing for previously separate media to converge. Media convergence is a
phenomenon of new media and this can be explained as a digital media. According
to Flew, (2012), “The idea of new media captures both the development of unique
forms of digital media, and the remaking of more traditional media forms to
adopt and adapt to the new media technologies". This obviously accounts
for the reliance on computers, smart phones, tablets, and other medium instead
of the previous analogue means of information gathering. The most prominent
example of media convergence is the Internet, whereby the technology for the
streaming of video and audio has now changed the face of broadcasting and
movies rapidly.
According
to Barnabas (2017) a challenge in using the new media in public service is the
fact that new media technologies are very expensive. This is a major limitation
to the use of the new media technologies as advertising channels in digital
television as it increases the cost of producing and running commercials.
Daniel, Ezekiel, and Leo (2013) noted that countries like Nigeria have low
level of technology penetration including new media technologies and lack of
availability of these the basic postulates of these technologies. This has made
the use of new media technologies to move on a slow pace. Just to highlight
these few as being part of the challenges hindering the media in playing their
role effectively. Hence, this research study aimed in examining the challenges
of journalism practice in Nigeria with focus on Nigerian Television Authority,
Enugu.
1.2
Statement of Problem
The
media is regarded as the fourth estate of the realm, this can be said to be the
role, bestowed on the media by nature. They are endued with the responsibility
to inform and educate the public on the happenings in the society. Despite the
essential roles play by the media in ensuring that there is free flow of
information within the society, there are still some problems affecting them in
carrying out these roles.
One
of such problem is the freedom of information. All over the world, press
freedom has always been a controversial issue, Africa is not an exception
especially in Nigeria where there are often arrest or detention of journalists
or media workers by security operatives. It is has gotten to the extent that
journalists are often assassinated and there are no proper investigation to
carry out for such incidence.
Nigeria
media houses often complain about the epidemic power supply and inability of
government of the day to address the issue have affected the media in
disseminating information. Also, it is wise to note that to cover news
periodically at anywhere and at anytime requires sophisticated equipments,
which are new media technologies. These new media technologies are expensive to
afford and this have made most media houses not to go total digital because
they cannot afford to purchase new technologies.
Also,
government control over the media is one of the problems affecting the
credibility of the media in disseminating information freely in the society.
Oloruntola (2009) noted that government control over the media hinders factual,
accurate, balance and fair reporting of the media houses, especially those
owned by the government. These problems mentioned above could be trace to be
responsible for limiting the media from disseminating information freely.
1.3
Objective of the Study
The
main objective of this study was to examine the challenges of journalism
practice in Nigeria. Other specific objectives include to:
1.
Identify the challenges militating against
the media in disseminating information.
2.
Ascertain the influence of these media
challenges on the practice of journalism profession in Nigeria.
3.
Find out the influence of government
control on the activities of the media in Nigeria.
1.4
Research Questions
This
study was guided by the following research question:
1.
What is the challenges militating
against the media in disseminating information?
2.
What is the influence of these media
challenges on the practice of journalism profession in Nigeria?
3.
What is the influence of government
control on the activities of the media in Nigeria?
1.5 Scope of the Study
This
work will concentrate on the entire activities of Nigeria Television Authority
Enugu, Enugu State.
1.6
Significance of the Study
This
study is significant in the following ways:
·
It would enable the researcher to
expand the frontiers of research in digital broadcasting especially with the
use of new media technologies, and how to render solution to some of the
challenges hindering the media if he later becomes a media practitioner.
·
The findings and recommendation will
be helpful to the government and its agents to administer effective control
that will enable the media perform their functions effectively.
·
This work will serve as a guideline to
enable media practitioners to gradually transform from the present analogue
state of broadcasting in Nigeria and embrace a broadcasting environment that is
driven by modern Information and Communication Facilities as obtainable in
western countries, as it will render solutions to certain problems hindering
the media.
·
It would add to the body of academic
literatures on journalism in the mass communication department in different
institution.
·
Lastly, this work would be beneficial
to future researchers who can now readily lay their hands on the result of this
work by making use of the research report.
1.7
Operational Definition of Terms
v Media: conceptual
(Wikipedia) Media is the collective communication-outlets or tools that are
used to store and deliver information or data.
v Ownership:
Ownership means the complete legal right to control or run a media.
v Content: is
the information and experience directed towards an end user or audience.
v Media Ownership: is
the act of establishing controlling and financing the media outfit either by
the government or private individual.
v Government Media:
This refers to government-owned newspapers located in the south-south
geo-political zone of Nigeria.
v Media Practitioners:
this refers to a professional journalist who has undergone training and is
working with a media organization.
v Information:
the created, stored, processed, retrieved and transmitted set of signals (or
symbol)
v Communication: The process of receiving
and transmitting information, ideas and opinions from one person or group of
persons to another.
v Convergence: The merging and blending together of
old and new media in terms of form, content and function.
v Information
Technology:
A term commonly used to cover the range of technologies
relevant to the transfer of information (Knowledge, data, text, drawing, audio
recordings, video sequences, etc) in particular to computer, digital
electronic, and telecommunication (Cambridge Encyclopedia, 2012)
v Broadcast:
Electronic means by which information is transmitted to a large and
heterogeneous audience. The broadcast media include the radio and television
stations.
v New
media: Modern
Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) used as a channel for the dissemination
of information to a heterogeneous audience regardless of time, space and
distance e.g. Internet, DVD, mobile phones among others.
v Old
media: These
are old media of communication that are essentially one directional like the
newspaper, radio, television among others.
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