Influence of Gratification on Journalism Practice
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives of the Study
- To ascertain the extent to which external factors influence journalism practice in Nigeria.
- To determine how gratification influences journalism practice in
- To find out factors responsible for gratification practice in Nigerian journalism.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Journalism Practice: The Nigerian Experience
The role of the Nigerian press or media in decolonization cannot be over emphasised, neither can their role in the struggle against neo-colonial dictatorship, military rule and imperialism. Indeed, the role of the media in the struggle for democracy since the 1980s is also well recorded and important. Out of this arose the tradition of what is euphemistically referred to as “guerrilla journalism”. There are four issues I wish to address in this article viz, the nature and state of the media in Nigeria, the professional and ethical issues, the media and political activities. As the aphorism goes, every society gets the kind of leadership it deserves, but the media all over the world have tended to violate this rule. If you want to know or gauge the level of freedom or lack of it in any society, all you needed to know is the health of the media, how much freedom the media have. However, it should be noted that there is no society in the world where press freedom ever came cheap. All through the ages, press freedom had come at a price and struggles had been waged to ensure and sustain press freedom (Oladele, 2009).
In Nigeria too, since the colonial era, there has been repression of the press, resulting in the shutting of media houses and assault on journalists. This tradition continued into the military era. However, all this did not halt the campaign for press freedom. The media in Nigeria has been highly battered and highly compromised. It is now meant for the “highest bidder”. Many journalists have become so compromised that their reports are based on what butters their bread; news has now become what serves their patron’s interests. Increasingly, the proliferation of media houses, the weak supervisory role of the Guild of Editors and the Nigerian Union of Journalists, the lack of interests in building career in journalism as such and the greed and materialism of journalists have made it difficult for many journalists to maintain the standards and ethics of the profession. Worse still, some journalists do not know what constitutes minimum conduct and expectation of a professional journalist. This raises two other questions, first, the calibre and nature of those who call themselves journalists, second the induction and training offered them at recruitment by various media houses.
To be sure, journalism is an all-comer profession in Nigeria. People of diverse backgrounds and disciplines with mere “interest” in journalism or who are merely seeking job opportunities, automatically become journalists when such offers are made. Many essayists or writers can easily claim to be journalists, there are no rules of entry, or to restate the same thing, there are no rules for regulating conduct and practice of journalists or better still, enforcement mechanisms are weak. Most prominent people, who are editors and news editors in many media houses today, never studied journalism or mass communication that is true. But I do not think that accounts for why they are morally wanting. Not studying Mass Communication is not and cannot be an excuse, because all subjects, all disciplines teach ethics and good conduct; so it is with and in all professions -there are best practices. But why are these not respected by journalists or enforced by media owners or professional unions? (Oladele, 2009)
The cheapening of professional and ethical standards in journalism has affected the quality of news and reports; and has introduced excessive biases, fabrications and partisanship in the conduct of many journalists. What happens is that many journalists are on the payroll of key established businesses, governmental and political interests. From time to time, these patrons get news syndicated and planted in the media. They also pay heavily to get news killed, the public interest, notwithstanding. Many people occupying the office of “Press Secretary” whether at federal state or Local government level, or legislative arm or even to former political office holders, are meant to achieve that purpose. Hence those positions in many ways have become means of compromising the press and quality of news. The implication is that Nigerians no longer trust in what they read, they no longer believe what they hear, and rumour seems more authentic than what the media tells them. The result of the inaccuracies and falsehood of Nigeria media have resulted in a lot of litigations in law courts over libel and so on.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
This study employed the use of survey method of research to evaluate the effect of gratification in journalism practice in Nigeria. The choice of survey method is considered as an option to obtain necessary data in order to proffer solutions to the existing problems of journalism in Nigeria.
Osuala (1982) and Nwana (1981) submit that survey method (research) is vital means of eliciting information from respondents. It facilitates the computation, analysis, and interpretation of findings.
Population of the Study
The population of the study is centered on three randomly selected states in Nigeria, viz; Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States with emphasis on Ministries of Information, State-owned broadcasting corporations, State-owned television stations, and federal government owned television stations in these states, Nigeria Union of Journalists in these states, etc.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ON FINDINGS
Data Presentation and Analysis
Research question 1: To what extent do the external factors influence journalism practice in Nigeria?
To provide answer to the research question, item 1-10 of the second section of the instrument provided the required data.
The result in table 2 reveals that the mean scores of the various item scores expose the extent of external factors influence on journalism practice and they are appropriate and adequate. This implies that the mean scores are greater than the average point of 2.5 as the mean cut-off point. Hence, the external factors that influence journalism practice are adequate in all ramifications except item 7 which shows negative response to boost the legibility of the research.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
The aim of this study was to evaluate the ethical challenges and journalism practice in South-South in Nigeria which will serve the purpose of the public and practitioners.
However, a set of research instrument were used for data collection. Mean scores, percentage(s), standard deviation and Z-test were computed and used to answer four research questions and four research hypotheses to determine the extent of the significant relationship existing among the variables at 0.05 levels of significance.
Conclusion
There are evidence from the results and findings of the study that there are discrepancies existing in the actualization of the perfect practice of journalism due to the presence of poverty, and corruption in the region.
The study observed these discrepancies in the area of ethical challenges and non- professionalism, internal factors and journalism practice, external factors and journalism practice and gratification practice in Nigeria.
Since there are problems discovered in the process of evaluating this topic, media practitioners should understand the system in Nigeria in particular to enhance the total shift to proper professional practice and activities.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made:-
Expert services should be engaged in the evaluation of the journalism profession to handle most jobs in order to ensure that the profession is up to date on regular basis to meet the required standard of the society.
The regulatory bodies of the journalism profession should endeavour to see that the fundamental objectives and philosophies of the profession are clearly adhered to so as to avert non-professional conducts. This will aid the proper implementation of ethical principles to boost and maintain integrity of the profession.
The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) should establish an institution or degree programmes which should engage the service of experts in the evaluation and curriculum studies to constantly review the curriculum content of their programmes to ensure true and sound professionals that will contribute greatly toward economic development.
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