The Mass Media Ownership Policies and Ethical Problems of Akwa Ibom Journalist
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the level of knowledge of Akwa ibom journalists of the various mass media laws and ethics
- To determine whether the knowledge of Akwa Ibom journalists of the various mass media laws and ethics influences journalism practice in the country
- To ascertain the relationship between mass media ownership policies and problem of Akwa ibom state journalism
- To ascertain the Media ownership factor influences editorial policy of a private medium.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
MEDIA OWNERSHIP PATTERNS
The ownership of the mass media namely; electronic, print and the new media in Nigeria has different historical origins. Presently however, the electronic and print media in Nigeria appear to have arrived at a similar pattern of ownership. A look at their existing ownership pattern will reveal that there is dual ownership i.e. public ownership or government ownership, as well as private ownership of both the print and electronic media. This ownership pattern therefore involves the ownership of the print and electronic media by private individuals and/or private institutions. There is also the emerging ownership of the electronic media by institutions known as community broadcasting. What is interesting however for some inexplicable reasons is that in some instances the ownership of some media outfits in Nigeria is shrouded in secrecy. Frankly speaking, media ownership in Nigeria is not diaphanous in most cases this is because most precise owners of some media organizations are not always known to the public and, in many cases, the professional journalists serving as directors of such media companies are seen as fronts for unknown investors. Under the National Broadcasting Commission Act, religious bodies and political parties are specifically precluded from owning broadcast media. Foreign ownership of broadcast media is also restricted, resulting in very little foreign investment in the Nigerian media
PROBLEMS OF MEDIA CONTROL
At one time or another in the history of most countries, media and information control has been a source of problem for governments around the world. Generally, according to Omu (2000), the problem of media control is associated with owners’ interests and punitive laws that make it difficult for the media to perform its statutory functions without let or hindrance. These laws most often include laws of libel, sedition, defamation, official secrets, and national security. In Nigeria three types of government (colonial, civilian and military) had been in power at one time or the other in the country and all three types of government have implemented policies that restrained freedom of the press in Nigeria. To achieve control, media outfits have been deliberately denied advertising revenue, while journalists have been killed, maimed, harassed, detained, jailed, and repressive laws and decrees enacted to cow the media.
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 the mass media ownership policies and ethical problems of Akwa ibom journalist
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 the mass media ownership policies and ethical problems of Akwa ibom journalist. 200 members of Akwa Ibom State NUJ was 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.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133(one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the mass media ownership policies and ethical problems of Akwa Ibom Journalist
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 the mass media ownership policies and ethical problems of Akwa Ibom Journalist
Summary
This study was on the mass media ownership policies and ethical problems of Akwa Ibom Journalist. Four objectives were raised which included: to ascertain the level of knowledge of Akwa ibom journalists of the various mass media laws and ethics, to determine whether the knowledge of Akwa Ibom journalists of the various mass media laws and ethics influences journalism practice in the country, to ascertain the relationship between mass media ownership policies and problem of Akwa ibom state journalism and to ascertain the Media ownership factor influences editorial policy of a private medium. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 members of NUJ Akwa Ibom state chapter. 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 chairmen, secretaries, PRO and members was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The legal and ethical stance of the media establishment and journalist’s level of adherence to media laws and ethics constitute one of the bases of assessing media professionalism. Audience members have a way of assessing journalism practice and passing judgement on the performance of journalists, even though the audience members may not be media professionals. This judgement in turn affects the credibility of such media establishments. The major yard stick for this judgement is the level at which the media professionals adhere to the applicable media laws and ethics in their practice. This then establishes the importance of the social judgement theory to this work
Recommendation
Mass media establishments should endeavour to employ only formally trained journalists to work as journalists.
Refresher courses on media law and ethics should be organised from time to time by media establishments for media professionals.
Journalism training institutions should increase the number of ethics-based courses in their curricula in order to inculcate the culture of media ethics in future media professionals. This would plausibly reduce instances of journalists’ non-adherence to media law and ethics.
Media establishments should endeavour to establish legal departments to serve as a platform for some media workers, who are trained lawyers, to render media law services that would curb some incidents of breach of media laws and ethics.
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