Audience Perception of the Attitude of Media Organisations to the Reporting of Corruption (Vanguard Newspaper as Case Study)
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain audience perception on vanguard newspaper reporting corruption in Nigeria
- To determine the frequency of reports on corruption in vanguard newspapers
- To determine the direction in which issues of corruption are reported in the newspapers
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Meaning of corruption
According to Stople (2008), United Nations Convention against corruption recognised corruption as a multi-faceted, dynamic and flexible phenomenon, and therefore does not define, but describe corrupt practices. Corruption may not be easy to define but, according to Tanzi (1998), it is “generally not difficult to recognize when observed”. Corrupt acts require a minimum of two individuals from one or more communities, and either exchange or the promise of an exchange of money or services takes place; typically secret, the pact benefits the dyad to the detriment of everyone else. According to Salisu (2000), the simplest definition of corruption is that it is the misapplication of public resources to private ends. For example, public officials may collect bribes for issuing passports or visa, for providing permits and licenses, for authorising passage of goods at sea/air port, for awarding contracts or for enacting regulations designed to create artificial scarcity. Macrae (1982) defined corruption as “an arrangement that involves an exchange between two parties (the demander and the supplier) which (i) has an influence on the allocation of resources either immediately or in the future; and (ii) involves the use or abuse of public or collective responsibility for private ends.” Konie (2003) identified two types of corruption, these are: C Vertical corruption, which involves managers and decision makers. This is more common in less developed countries and C Horizontal corruption, which involves the entire official, informed, and laymen groups in the countries. The two types of corruption should be seriously addressed and eradicated if any meaningful economic or political progress is to be made. Sternberg (2000) states that a “bribe is an incentive offered to encourage someone to break the rules of the organization he nominally represents and deliver an (unfairly) favorable outcome.” Corrupt acts are increasingly regarded as “unfair” and indeed criminal by many high-income countries because the bribe-recipient’s betrayal of trust with his employer, when practiced systemically by high-ranking public officials, compromises the “development of fair and efficient markets” (Boatright, 1999).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to audience perception of the attitude of media organizations to the reporting of corruption.
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
- Primary source and
- Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in gathering information relevant to audience perception of the attitude of media organizations to the reporting of corruption. Two hundred (200) staffs of vanguard newspaper in Rivers State was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA
One hundred and sixty (160) questionnaires were distributed and one hundred and forty (133) were returned. This figure was the sample size. Out of the one hundred and thirty-three, only one hundred and twenty (120) were properly responded to. As a result, the researcher used one hundred and twenty for this study when more than 50% of the respondents agree to the questions, the answer is taken as valid for the purpose of this study. In analyzing the data, the approach that will be adopted is to find out the percentage and positive and negative answers to the question posed.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain audience perception of the attitude of media organizations to the reporting of corruption. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenge of audience perception of the attitude of media organizations to the reporting of corruption
Summary
This study was on audience perception of the attitude of media organizations to the reporting of corruption. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain audience perception on vanguard newspaper reporting corruption in Nigeria, to determine the frequency of reports on corruption in vanguard newspapers and to determine the direction in which issues of corruption are reported in the newspapers. In line with these objectives, three research question were asked and answered. The total population for the study is 200 staff of vanguard newspaper in Rivers state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made editors, news correspondents, production managers and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
This research has shown that the Nigerian media is willing to tackle corruption but, by adopting an episodic approach, tends to simplify the issues. The prominence of solutions for corruption in Nigeria suggests a public yearning for the issue to be tackled but the solutions proffered focused mainly on less effective measures such enforcement and detection. In depth reporting of a complex phenomenon like corruption is not easy, but we believe that there is scope for improvements through enhanced collaboration between researchers and journalists. But ultimately, change will only occur if, people are willing to take a stand against corruption. What we found in the Nigerian newspapers is that journalists can play a key role.
Recommendation
Any provision of the law that forbids the disclosure of information concerning public officers, such as in their declaration of assets and liabilities forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), should be expunged so that the media can more easily keep tract of the activities of public officers and expose their excesses when necessary. Any existing law or regulation that places limitations and provides for secrecy and other constraints on media practices should also be reviewed with the aim of reducing their negative barrier on anti-corruption reporting. The mass media should encourage their audiences to participate more actively in communication activities by allocating more newspaper/magazine space or radio/television time for them to express their views on such a topical issue as anti-corruption. This involvement of the public would ensure the generation of more ideas on how to succeed in the anti-corruption campaign. Sixth, since the people need to be properly informed on the war against corruption as well as other topical issues, the media have a responsibility to provide them with the information to be good and incorruptible citizens. Therefore, mass media contents should always be accurate, fair, complete and untainted by the biases of media practitioners. Government should see the mass media as partners in the war against corruption in Nigeria rather than as opponents and busybodies that need to be kept afar off from being unnecessarily nosy in things that do not concern them
References
- Atwood, J.B. (1998). “Corruption: A persistent development challenge.” In Schaffer, J. (ed.), Economic perspective. Washington DC: US Information Service.
- Baran, S.J. & Davis, D.K. (2012). Mass communication theory: Foundations, ferment, and future (6th edition). London: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
- Belch, G.E. & Belch, M.A. (2009). Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communication perspective (8th edition). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
- Bertucci, G. & Armstrong, E.Y. (2000). “Why anti-corruption crusades often fail to win lasting victories.” A paper presented at the Anti-corruption Summit in Virginia, US on September 21-23.
- Federal Republic of Nigeria (2000). An act to prohibit and punish bribery and corruption of or by public officers and other persons. Abuja: Federal Government Printer.
