MEDIA IN DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY OF THE GUARDIAN AND VANGUARD NEWSPAPERS COVERAGE OF THE POWER SECTOR REFORM IN NIGERIA (FROM 1ST OCTOBER, 2013 – 31ST APRIL, 2014)

Thesis Overview

INTRODUCTION1.1 Background of the StudyThe media are the bridge between the government and the governed – as well as the mouthpiece of the society. The role of the media in development has been demonstrated by the current steep rise in the use of information technology worldwide. Even poor developing countries have embraced the technology of information dissemination among several other necessary factors, to develop. This development is consistent with the established position that the media helps to cause attitude change and to ensures socio-economic transformation.(Schramm, 1964; Lerner & Schramm, 1967; Agbaje, 1992; Ayee, 1997; Makoa, et al, 2000, cited in Jibo, 2003).Basically, the media are described as performing three functions or roles of informing, educating and entertainment. These are the conventional social functions the media renders to the public, this, is equally applicable in broader sense to national development. It could be said that through educating, informing and entertaining, the media makes members of the society, or the nation as well as the leadership, aware of the importance and need to undertake certain process or processes of national development. Attached to these three basic roles of media is another role of persuasion, where the media are seen as virile tools of applying persuasive effort to influence people’s actions in a particular direction. The mass media are therefore seen as strategic in providing the public with necessary information to achieve development or change goals. (Isa, 2007).The role of media in development lies in their capacity and capability to sensitize and mobilize resources and people through information dissemination. (Nwabueze, 2005, cited in Isa, 2007).In relation to this, Sogolo (1995) pointed that:“the role of information in national development is no longer a matter of dispute and can be argued that information is useful if properly disseminated”. Thus, in a plural and diverse society like Nigeria, the development of the nation would depend on the existence of a cordial relationship between leadership and followership, as well as between the elite and the people at the grassroots level.The role of the media in fostering this relationship and understanding needed for development in the society in the society cannot be overemphasized.In all this, the media have an important role to play, by taking into consideration the socio-cultural conditions under which they operate, but without losing sight of the universal commitments and objectives of the media profession. (Sogolo, 1995).Yishak (2012) asserts that for media coverage of any development policy to be effectively implemented and valid, it should take into consideration, the following attributes:Accuracy: By accuracy means information provided by a media organization must be reliable and have valid representation of reality of that particular development programme.Timeliness: Information concerning development must be timely so that the receiving end could benefit in decision making of those that the development is meant for.Completeness: Information on any development policy from the media should be complete and comprehensive for proper understanding of the public.In the absence of the above mentioned factors, the audience may have a distorted view and in the final analysis, the decision of the media audience would come into disarray. (Yishak 2012).Development involves political, economic and social transformation and these need the media’s input for positive integration. Development is a quantifiable change which entails changes in the structure of the economy, social, and political disposition of a society.