Audience Perception of the Credibility of Foreign and Local News Organization
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
This study will be based on some of the crises period in Nigeria, between June 12 1993 and March 2004.
The objective of this study will among others include:
(i) To determine if any difference exist between audience perception of the credibility of local foreign news organization.
(ii) To find out how the political system of a country affects the objective presentation of news reports.
(iii) To determine the influence or ownership in enhancing the credibility perception of a media organization.
(iv) To determine the factors that militate against audience perception of a media organization as credible.
(v) To make recommendations based on the findings towards making our local news organization more credible.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
News Credibility
The Pew Research Center (2005) reports that 60% of Americans think the media are politically biased in their reporting, whereas only 42% felt this way in 1986 (Pew Research Center, 2002). Similarly, the percentage of those who believe most of what they read in their daily newspaper dropped from 84% in 1985 to 59% in 2006 (Pew Research Center, 2006a). In 2002, only 35% said media reporting is generally accurate, down from 55% in 1985 (Pew Research Center, 2002).
The believability of several major news organizations has also declined since the mid-1980s. For example, in 2002, only 65% of Americans surveyed rated ABC news as highly believable, while 83% did so in 1985. The results were similar for NBC news and CBS news. In addition, believability for daily newspapers declined from 80% in 1985 to 59% in 2002 and from 81% for television news in 1985 to 65% in 2002 (Pew Research Center, 2002).
Nonetheless, a February 2006 study suggests that the public’s trust in the media may be on the rise. Fifty-nine percent of Americans reported having a favorable view of the press, up from 43% in December 2004 (Pew Research Center, 2006a). Similarly, 42% of Americans gave the media high marks for coverage of the 2006 elections, up from 33% for the 2004 elections (Pew Research Center, 2006b).
Regarding the credibility of online information, research has generally found that the public rates online news similarly to other media. Johnson and Kaye (1998) surveyed politically-interested Internet users to examine whether they viewed Internet publications to be as credible as their traditionally delivered counterparts. They found that online newspapers, news magazines, and politically-oriented websites were judged at least somewhat credible by more than two-thirds of respondents. Moreover, online newspapers and online candidate literature were judged as significantly more credible than their traditional counterparts.
Residents of Austin, Texas rated newspapers highest in credibility for news information, followed by Internet news and television news in a study by Kiousis (2001) (other media were not examined). Flanagin and Metzger (2000), in a survey comprised largely of U.S. undergraduate college students, found that newspapers were perceived as more credible than television, radio, the Internet, and magazines for news. However, the differences across the four media were not significant and—like the results of Johnson and Kaye (1998) and Kiousis (2001)—suggested that overall, the mass media are only considered moderately credible.
The Online News Association (2002) surveyed a nationwide panel of U.S. Internet users and reported that online news was rated about as credible as that of traditional media sources. For example, 78% said that cable television websites were credible. National newspaper and local newspaper websites were rated as credible by 67% and 63% of respondents, respectively. Cable television news ranked first, with 82.5% finding it credible. However, 13% of U.S. Internet users felt that online news was their most trusted news source.
Another national study found that the credibility of news sites is an important concern for Internet users (Consumer Reports WebWatch, 2005). Sixty-seven percent said that the news site they visited most often was believable most or all of the time. Interestingly, this was nearly identical to perceptions of the believability of daily newspapers (67%) and national television news (68%).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Design for credibility study
Survey research uses scientific sampling and questionnaire design to measure characteristics of the population with statistical precision.
Area of study
Minna is a city (estimated population 304,113 in 2007) in Middle Belt Nigeria. It is the capital of Niger State, one of Nigeria’s 36 federal states. It consists of 2 major ethnic groups: the Nupe and the Gbagyi.
Sources of data
The primary and secondary sources of data collected were adopted in this research work.
Primary Source: Data in the category were collected mainly though visits, personal participation and observation and distribution of questionnaires to the bank under study.
The various methods were adopted independently to reduce the incidence of bias or subjective views about the subject on investigation.
Secondary Source: Secondary data in this research work were collected through the review of related literature; the relevant literatures were obtained from books journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Consequently, libraries were consulted, prominent among them were the institute of management and technology library, national library and school library.
Sampling and sampling technique
A convenience sampling technique was adopted to draw a representative sample from among the television viewing population of Minna city. Care was taken to ensure that all parts of Minna city was covered.
A survey was conducted in which 250 respondents from all across Minna city were administered a questionnaire. The Questionnaire was first tested and the reliability and validity was ensured before a full scale survey was concluded.
CHAPTER FOUR
Data Presentation and Analysis
The survey provided the following results-
- News is very important for the citizens of Minna. Newspapers are still the preferred mode of getting news for the older generation of the Minna people. But surprisingly the young get their daily dose of news from internet and specially online news portals and social media sites. Television is gaining but is still behind newspapers as the preferred source of news. Television is seen as an entertainment medium rather than a source for serious news. Newspaper has a high trust value among all age categories and is able to maintain its credibility due to the adage: If it is in print, it should be true. Radio, unfortunately, doesn’t have any takers as far as news is concerned- purely for music.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
In 1995 when the Hausa news channel Aaj Tak was launched, there was a belief that like Doordarshan for over three decades, private channels will also cater to a national (Hausa) speaking audience. But soon the scene changed and in the last decade regional language news channels have flourished everywhere in Nigeria. It is not surprising given that the top five newspapers in terms of circulation and readership happen to be regional language newspapers. The Times of Nigeria is number eight, way behind the leaders Danik Jagaran (Hausa), Malayala Manorama (Malayalam) and Daily Thanthi (Tamil). The number of English language news channels is just eight and that in Hausa is a little over ten. But the largest number of news channels are in the other Nigerian languages- close to one hundred and growing. The saturation point for English news channels has been reached and soon Hausa will follow suit. The potential for regional language news channels in Nigeria is driven by economic realities as much as by the socio-political considerations. The true nature of Nigeria- unity in diversity- is translating into regional news hubs in virtually all states. Space for articulating and strengthening the culture that is specific to every state, and in some cases within states, is to be found in language specific television channels; more specifically news channels. Regional aspirations in the form of political agitation is finding voice in the language press (includes television). Further fragmentation of the existing news channels, specially the Nigerian language ones, shows the impatience of the regional aspirations trying to assert its uniqueness.
In all this the credibility factor seems to take a back seat as competition is driving the TRP wars. Everything is fine to get one more viewer to switch to your channel- ethics is confined to the text books to be taught in J-Schools and not practiced in news rooms. Its impact is obvious in the news and views on news one gets to see on news channels. The more harsh, shrill and noisy the debates on primetime news the better for TRPs, or so is the perception among the news heads. The fact that more people in cosmopolitan cities like Minna are switching to foreign news channels is a point to be noted by the decision makers in the local news channels. But it is also true that audience for regional language news channels is increasing faster than that for English channels. Credibility depends on the culture- the practices prevalent in news rooms of television channels. Unless that changes for the better with strict code of ethics, credibility will be low. What is also lacking is a role model that begs to be emulated by others in the industry. In case of newspapers we have The Hindu but the beating NDTV 24×7 took after the revelations in the Nira Radia tapes episode has left a vacuum in the broadcast news industry.
Far more cause for concern to the news channels per se is the increasing reliance on online news by the young population of Minna. The lack of credibility coupled with convenience may very well push a majority of viewers of news to online sources. The West, where majority get their news from digital media as opposed to newspapers or television channels, may get replicated right here in Minna.
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