Influence of Digital Technology on the Practice of Journalism in Nigeria
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To know the contribution of Internet to Journalism Practice in Nigeria
- To verify how effective, the application of Internet has been in newspapering in Nigeria
- To ascertain the problems associated with the adoption of Internet in Journalism Practice in Nigeria.
- To find out the extent to which Internet have affected manual production in newspaper industry in Nigeria.
- To identify how newspaper organizations have harnessed the potential of Internet in enhancing newspaper development in Nigeria.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Journalism
Journalists and the organisations they work for produce news. Essentially, news is both an individual and an organisational product; however, when considering the ways in which news is being constructed, it is imperative to examine the process whereby an excessive amount of events and issues relating to a given day are filtered into a bulletin or newspaper. The processes involved are complex, but “we can distinguish between two sequential stages” in terms of “the selection of events and issues on which to base news stories and subsequent construction of such stories” (Hodkinson, 2011:128-129). In the cause of looking at what defines journalism itself, it imperative to examine the end product of journalism, which is news. Most importantly, why do we study production? We study production because this is the point where encoding happens. Stuart Hall’s work on “Encoding/Decoding” (1993) is very important in this area; he not only played a key role in developing theories of cultural and media representation, but also in his theoretical contribution concerning the encoding and decoding of discourses. Drawing on semiology, Hall places emphasis on the encoding of meaning into media discourse by producers. Hall (1993) further argues that ‘discussion’ in the message plays an important role in communication exchange (Hall, 1993). Being a neo-Marxist thinker influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Hall suggests that these encoded meanings “have the institutional/political/ideological order imprinted in them” and are liable to reinforce this prevailing order by reinforcing dominant or hegemonic ideas (Hall, 1993:93). Thus, in recognising the role of media encoders (reporters, sub-editors and editors, etc.) in influencing audiences, we are alerted to the possibility of media audiences misinterpreting media messages in the process of decoding the messages. Research about news production has come from three perspectives. From the economic perspective, Schudson (2002), links news construction to the structure of the state and the economy. Likewise, Herman and Chomsky (1988) argue that the media create news that supports state interests rather than those of the individuals they are meant to serve. The second approach draws mainly on the sociology of how the television network structure influences news (Epstein, 1974). The third approach focuses on the broad cultural constraints in news work (Chalabi, 1996). Schudson notes that the perspectives are not wholly distinct and some key studies on media organisations have strong cultural and political references as well. Taking into consideration that news scholarship is vast and theoretically eclectic, this study will now consider the McNair and Schudson accounts of the sociology of news production
Journalism and Shared news values
One major area that unifies journalism practice centred on the ways in which certain stories are presented by newspapers or news organisations. According to Niblock (2005), “these values are not as easily accounted for in theoretical analysis of news since they relate closely to journalists’ experience of the process of selection rather than a study of the final products” (Niblock, 2005:79). This judging process, O’Neill and Harcup (2009) argue, “is guided by an understanding of news values” which is “somewhat mythical” (O’Neill and Harcup, 2009:161). One of the main contributions to the study of news values was Galtung and Ruge’s (1965) essay which focused on foreign news coverage, leading to identification of factors which can influence an event’s chances of being published or broadcast as news.
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 influence of digital technology on the practice of journalism in Nigeria
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)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 getting information on influence of digital technology on the practice of journalism in Nigeria. 200 staff of selected print media in Lagos were selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
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 influence of digital technology on the practice of journalism in 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 influence of digital technology on the practice of journalism in Nigeria
Summary
This study was on influence of digital technology on the practice of journalism in Nigeria. Five objectives were raised which included: To know the contribution of Internet to Journalism Practice in Nigeria, to verify how effective, the application of Internet has been in newspapering in Nigeria, to ascertain the problems associated with the adoption of Internet in Journalism Practice in Nigeria, to find out the extent to which Internet have affected manual production in newspaper industry in Nigeria and to identify how newspaper organizations have harnessed the potential of Internet in enhancing newspaper development in Nigeria.. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected print media in Lagos 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 managers, editors, news correspondents and junior staffs were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Journalism practice has grown phenomenally over the years across the world. While admitting that more growth and development has taken place in developed countries, developing countries have not been entirely quiet. In Nigeria for instance, journalists have made efforts to catch up with the rest of the world. This presentation was backed up with the technological determinism theory which argues that the media technology in any society affects the environment profoundly. Also, the availability of the internet and new media have naturally led to different challenges in the developing countries especially Nigeria where the problem of power supply remains unaddressed as well as the general complaint of lack of funds to acquire technological devices.
Recommendation
The power situation in Nigeria is embarrassingly poor, requiring urgent and effective reaction from government. The current situation where excuses are constantly proffered should be jettisoned. A more realistic approach to solving the problem should be embraced.
- There is need for the establishment of a knowledge economy where the acquisition and use of knowledge are promoted as a matter of government policy. So doing, citizens are encouraged to pursue and are encouraged to pursue knowledge and make if available for society.
- It is necessary for journalists who seek funds to obtain current media technology to be in a position to do so. Government should endeavour to organize a loan scheme that addresses such financial needs.
- Essentially, employers and employees of the media industry should make it a point of duty for continuous training and retraining. Man hours spent improving staff is definitely time well spent
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