An Assessment of Radio Voice FM, Enugu as a Tool of Women Mobilization on Political Process in South-East, Nigeria
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To determine the level of exposure of women in the South-East, Nigeria to radio voice FM.
- To examine the extent to which radio voice FM has created awareness on political issues among the women in the South-East.
- To assess the extent to which radio voice FM has contributed to political participation among the women in the South-East
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
THE CONCEPT OF POLITICAL AWARENESS
The concept of political awareness is a highly controversial concept among scholars that has not been given its fair amount of attention in scholarly researches. For instance, some studies referred to it as political participation, while other studies used political knowledge or political interest questions to measure it. Political awareness is one of the important elements of political participation. A people’s political awareness is crucial to the success of such a people’s political system. The major way of ensuring adequate awareness is through political socialization, which Doris Graber (1987:119) defines as “the learning, accepting and approving of customs, rules, structures and environmental factors governing political life”. It must be noted that the political institution, being the most important in any society, in that it defines and regulates the operation of other societal institutions, must of necessity, be well projected, analyzed and understood by the people, for its own success as a vital societal institution . Without this process, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the people to develop the appropriate relationship with the political institution. A most vital organ that effects this socialization is the media which plays a vital role in political socialization in all societies. There are different levels of political awareness. Hutchinson (2007:25) enumerates five levels. They are:
- Illiterate: Here, the people have no knowledge of issues. They may know names of the president and governor of their state. They may know more or less because they may not watch the news on television or read the papers.
- Misinformed: These may hold on to one issue or person or sect or ethnic group. They may or may not vote.
- General: Hutchinson claims that most Americans belong to this level. Here the people may know some issues and may be strongly motivated on one or two issues and might pick candidates based on personal appeal by the candidates rather than party affiliation.
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 an assessment of radio voice FM, Enugu as a tool of women mobilization on political process in South-East, Nigeria
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain an assessment of radio voice FM, Enugu as a tool of women mobilization on political process in South-East, Nigeria
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 challenges of radio voice FM, Enugu as a tool of women mobilization on political process in South-East, Nigeria
Summary
This study was on An assessment of radio voice FM, Enugu as a tool of women mobilization on political process in South-East, Nigeria. Three objectives were raised which included: To determine the level of exposure of women in the South-East, Nigeria to radio voice FM, to examine the extent to which radio voice FM has created awareness on political issues among the women in the South-East, to assess the extent to which radio voice FM has contributed to political participation among the women in the South-East. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 100 staff of Radio voice FM and 100 women politicians from different political parties in Enugu 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 up presenters, editors, women leaders and secretaries were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Political discussion programmes are some of the most effective means for political education, and awareness creation which will in some ways lead to action in various forms of political participation. Women are actively engaged in discussing political events and issues because of the informative, educative as well as balanced and objective analysis and presentation of political information on radio voice fm, Enugu. It is established as in other political communication studies that exposure to political content increase the level of political awareness. The only form of political participation which political discussion programmes have been able to influence the women to be engage in, was discussion of political issues, which is actually the least in the various categories of political participation
Recommendation
Arising from the positive findings in this study, the following recommendations were made:
(a) There is need for radio voice fm to sustain its stride and be more innovative in its programming style and extend the search for seasoned political analysts and commentators to add flavour and diversity to the programme so as to avoid monotony.
(b) The station should equally and occasionally invite young people as guests on the programme in order to give them a sense of inclusiveness and upholds the principle of participatory programming and more so, since the programme is interactive, listeners should be allowed to contribute exhaustively to issues being discussed in the programme.
(c) Other broadcast media organisations should borrow a leaf from radio voice fm by creating current affairs; political discussion programmes in other to expand the frontiers of political communication and enlighten the people more on political issues and events around them.
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