Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
INTRODUCTION TO MASS COMMUNICATION
FOR DIPLOMA AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS APUKE DESTINY OBERIRI (DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION, TARABA STATE UNIVERSITY) © 2016
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
DEDICATION This book Introduction to Mass Communication: Made Simple is dedicated to God Almighty, who is the great giver of the life that flows in my veins and who is also the grand architect of the rhythm that governs and sounds of the architecture of my DNA.
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book could not have been possible without the contributions received from kind and honesthearted friends and distinguished individuals. My heartfelt gratitude and pleasure goes to Dr. Joseph Lucas for the advice, comments, corrections and suggestions he gave me at all time, he is a mentor indeed. I also wish to acknowledge my Head of Department Dr. Dauda I. Ishaya for his relentless efforts towards my growth academically. My profound gratitude goes to my colleagues Mal. Jebril Gori, Mrs. Fatima Vakkai, Mr. Nusodah Wanapia, Mr. John Moses Maikomo, Mal. Adamu Mohammed, Mr. Simon Tordue, Mr. Kwase Dogari, Mr. Abubakar Jibril and others which because of lack of space I could not mention their names you all have indeed been so wonderful. My acknowledgement also goes to all my undergraduate course mates especially Mr. Matudi Emmanuel who is my class mentor, Miss. Iya Shamaki, Miss. Danjuma Ndonima Uhwe, Mr. Elijah Eric (Fish), , Mal Umar Ahmed, Mal. Salihu, Mrs. Nkechi Nwezi, Mr. Obinna Samuel, Miss Agabi Joshua, Miss Hannu Zarakoda, Miss Lilian Ambi, Miss Pembi and others who I could not mention their names. My respect and appreciation goes to all Mass Communication students both Degree and Diploma Taraba State University I love you all. Finally I salute my father and mother Mr and Late Mrs Johnson Iyendo for their encouragement, fatherly and motherly advice and care.
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
TABLE CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNICATION AND MASS COMMUNICATION………………………………………………………..……1 What is Communication…………………………………………………………………….....1 Forms of Communication…………………………………………………………..………….2 Verbal Communication………………………………………………………………………….2 Non- verbal communication……………………………………………………………………..2 Written Communication…………………………………………………………………………3 Visual communication……………………………………………………………………….…..3 Electronic Communication………………………………………………………………….…...4 Chemical communication………………………………………………………………………..4 Nature of Communication……………………………………………………………………..4 Vertical Communication…………………………………………………………………….…..4 Horizontal communication……………………………………………………………………....4 Types Of Communication……………………………………………………………………...5 Intrapersonal Communication…………………………………………………………………....5 Inter Personal Communication…………………………………………………………….…….5 Group Communication………………………………………………………….…………….…6 Public Communication………………………………………………………………….…….…6 The Communication Process………………………………………………………………...….7 What Is Mass Communication………………………………………………………..…..……9 Characteristics of Mass Communication……………………………………………….…..….10 Nature of Mass Communication Audience………………………………………..…………..13
CHAPTER TWO COMMUNICATION MODELS………………………….………………………………….….15 Aristotle's Model…………………………………………………………………………………15 Lasswell's Model…………………………………………………………………………………16 The Shannon and Weaver Model (1948-49)……………………………………………………..17 The De Fleur Model (1958)……………………………………………...………………………19 Schramm's Model…………………………………………………………………………..……20 Schramm’s Model of Mass communication……………………………………………………..21 Dance Helical Model of Communication………………………………………………………..22 Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication……………………………………………………….23
CHAPTER THREE MASS COMMUNICATION THEORIES……………………………..………………….…….25
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
Characteristics/Attributes of Theory……………………………..………………………...……26 Why Study Theories……………..……………………………………………………..………..26 Normative Theories………………………………………………….…………………………26 Authoritarian Media Theory……………………………………………………………………..27 Soviet–Communist Media Theory……………………………………………………………….27 Libertarian (Free Press) Media Theory………………………………………………………….28 Social Responsibility Media Theory…………………………………………………………….29 Democratic-Participant Media Theory…………………………………………………………..30 Development Media Theory……………………………………………………………………..30 Mass Society Theories (All-Powerful Media Effect)…………………………………………33 Hypodermic Needle/ Magic Bullet Theory……………………………………………………..33 Lasswell’s Propaganda Theory……………………………………. ………………..………….34 Lippman’s Theory of Public Opinion Formation………………………………………………34 Social-Scientific Theories (Limited Effects Theories)……………………………………….35 The Post Stimuli-Response theory……………………………………………………………...35 Two step flow theory……………………………………………………………………………36 Dissonance Theory (Selective Processes)………………………………………………………37 Theories of Media, Culture and Society……………………………………………………...39 Agenda-setting theory……………………………………………………………………….….39 Main Streaming/Synchronisation Theory………………………………………………………40 The Knowledge Gap Theory……………………………………………………………………41 Spiral of Silence Theory………………………………………………………………………..42 Media Systems Dependence Theory……………………………………………………………43 Active Audience Theories……………………………………………………………..………44 Uses and gratifications theory……………………………………..……………………………44 Media Violence Theories: Children and Effects…………………………………………….46 Catharsis theory…………………………………………………………………………………46 Aggressive Cues Theory……………………………………………………………….……….47 Social Learning (Social Cognitive) Theory………………………………………………..……47
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
Reinforcement Theory……………………………………………………………………….….48 Linkage Theory…………………………………………………………………………….……48
CHAPTER FOUR FUNCTIONS OF MASS COMMUNICATION………………………………………….…49 Surveillance Function………………………………………………………………….…….49 Correlation Function……………………………………………………………………..…..50 Entertainment Function……………………………………………………………………...50 Cultural Transmission………………………………………………………………….……51 Status Conferral………………………………………………………………………….….51 Enforcement of Norms and Cultural Values………………………………………….….…52 Negative Functions of Mass Communication……………………………………….…...…..53
CHAPTER FIVE COMMUNICATION MEDIA……………………………………………………….....…..54 Print Media: Books, Newspaper, Magazine and Outdoor…………………………….…..…54 The Printing Revolution……………………………………………………………….…….54 Books…………………………………………………………………………………….….55 Development of Books……………………………………………………………………..55 Newspaper……………………………………………………………………………….….56 Functions of Newspapers………………………………………………………………..…56 Magazines……………………………………………………………………………….…..58 The Growth of Magazines………………………………………………………….………59 Outdoor media……………………………………………………………….………...…….60 The Broadcast Media: Radio and Television………………………………………….…..60 Radio Today……………………………………………………………………….….………60 Characteristics of Radio…………………………………………………………………..….61 How Radio Broadcasting Works………………………………………….…….……………62 Electric Waves to Radio Waves……………………………………………………………....62 Transmitting Radio Waves…………………………………………………….………..…….62
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
Types of Broadcast Waves ………………………………………………….……………....63 AM Waves…………………………………………………………………….….……….…..63 FM Waves…………………………………………………………………….…..……….…..63 The Growth of Radio in Nigeria…………………………………………………..…................66 Ownership and Control of Radio………………………………………………………..….….66 Features of Radio……………………………………………………………………….….…..67 The Regulation of Radio………………………………………………………………….……67 Regulations of Radio in Nigeria……………………………………….………………………67 Television today………………………………………………………………………...…..…68 The New Media……………………………………………………………………….…...….70 The Internet……………………………………………………………………………...….…70 Online Newspaper………………………………………………………………………….….71 Online Magazine…………………………………………………………………………….…73 Mobile……………………………………………………………………………………..…...73 Other Media..............................................................................................................................74 Film………………………………………………………………………….…………........…74 .
CHAPTER SIX ADJUNCTS OF THE MASS MEDIA………………………………………………………...75 News Agencies…………………………………………………………………….…….…….75 Types of News Agencies……………………………………………………………….………76
CHAPTER SEVEN PUBLIC RELATIONS AND ADVERTISING………………………………....…….…….79 Public Relations:……………………………………………………………………………….79 Public Relations Activities………………………………………………………………….….80 Differences between Public Relations and Propaganda……………………………………….81 Advertising…………………………………………………………………………..…………82 Functions of Advertising…………………………………………………………………….....83 Differences between Advert and Public Relations………………………..…………………...84 Differences between Advertisement and Propaganda ……………………..………………….85
CHAPTER EIGHT EFFECTS OF THE MASS MEDIA ON THE SOCIETY……………………………………..86 Definitions of Media Effect…………………………………………………………………….86
CHAPTER NINE
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
THEORIES OF MEDIA EFFECTS…………………………………………………….…..….90 The Mass Media Effect Debate………………………………………….………………….…..90 Issues in Mass Media Effect …………………………………………………………………..92 Violence…………………………………………………………………………………….…...92 Drugs and Alcohol……………………………………………………………………………..92 Political Campaign and Rating…………………………………………………………………93 Limited Effects Paradigm………………………………………………………………….….93 Powerful Effects Paradigm……………………………………………………………………94 Uses and gratifications concept……………………………………………….………..….…..95
CHAPTER TEN LAWS REGULATING MEDIA PRACTICES IN NIGERIA……………………………...….103 Repressive Laws…………………………………………………………………...…………...103 The Law of Privacy……………………………………………………………………………..105 Laws of Defamation……………………………………………………………………………107 Types of Defamation……………………………………………………………………..…….108 Law of Sedition………………………………………………………………………………....108 Copyright Law………………………………………………………..……………………...…109 The Official Secret Act…………………………………………………..……………………..110 Contempt of Court……………………………………………………………………………...111
CHAPTER ELEVEN ETHICAL ISSUES IN MEDIA PRACTICE……………………….………………………….113 Sycophancy……………………………………………………………………………………..113 Character Assassination………………………………………………………………………..113 Pressure…………………………………………………………………………………..…….113 Afghanistanism…………………………………………………………………………………114 Bribery…………………………………………………………………………………………114 Sensationalism…………………………………………………………………………………114 Moonlighting………………………………………………………..…………………………114
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
Brown Envelope Syndrome………………………………………………………….………..114 Cocktail Journalism……………………………………………………………………………115 Cartel Journalism……………………………………………………………………………….115 Disguise Journalism…………………………………………………………………………….115 Self-Censorship……………………………………………………..………………………….115
CHAPTER TWELVE PRESS FREEDOM IN NIGERIA……………………….………………………….………….116
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
CHAPTER ONE UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNICATION AND MASS COMMUNICATION
Communication is a concept that means different things to different people because it touches different aspect of human life (Beavens, 2009). Communication is a common phenomenon that cuts across the daily activities of human being. As food and water are very important to man’s survival so is communication. It is always a unique feature that differentiates the living from the dead. Different communication experts and different scholars have defined communication from different perspective. We should note that the diverse views given by these experts only but attest to the complex nature and vastness of this field of study. We shall, however, consider some few ones given in order to have a peep into what this allimportant concept is all about. What is Communication? Yule, (2005), define communication as any act by which one person gives to or receives, from another person, information about that person’s needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistics or non-linguistics forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes. (Folarin, 2003). Define Communication as any means by which a thought is transferred from one person to another. (Baran 20004:4) In its simplest form, however, define Communication as the transmission of a message from a source to a receiver…or the process of creating shared meaning. Udall, (1979) defines communication as a means by which one person (or a group) shares and imparts information to another person (or group) so that both people (and groups) can clearly understand one another. Another definition from Eyre, (1983) states that communication is not just the giving of information, but it is the giving of understandable information, receiving and understanding the message. Communication is the transferring of a message from one party to another party so that it can be understood and acted upon. Hybels, & Weaver (2001) stress that in communication, information is encoded and imparted by sender to a receiver via a channel/medium. The receiver then decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. Communication requires that all parties involved in that process have an area of communicative communality (common
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
background). There are auditory means such as speaking, singing and sometimes tone of voice, and nonverbal, physical means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye contact, by using writing and soon. Defleur (1994) adds that communication is the process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create shared understanding. This process requires vast repertoire skills in intrapersonal and interpersonal processing, listening, observing, speaking questioning, analyzing and evaluating. It is through communication that collaboration and cooperation occur. Whatever definition is given regarding communication, we would understand that communication is generally a process of transferring information from one source to another. Communication processes are sign mediated interactions between, at least, two agents which share a repertoire of signs and semiotic rules. Communication is therefore generally defined as ‘the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing or signs�. It can be perceived as a two-way process which there is an exchange and progression of thoughts, feelings or ideas towards a mutually accepted goal or direction. Communication is divided into two main areas i.e. the personal and non-personal communication. Under the personal we have Intra-personal and Interpersonal while under the non-personal we have mass communication FORMS OF COMMUNICATION Beavens (2009) posits that human communication processes are generally divided into two major categories, these are: verbal communication and non- verbal communication. Verbal Communication This has to do with when communication is verbalized or spoken. It involves the acts of speech. Speech is a learned system of communication requiring the coordinated use of voice, articulation and language skills. Although other animals use voice for communicating single messages to other of their species. Yet only humans are able to produce true speech (as opposed to the skills in speech mimicry of such birds as parrots and mynae).
Non- verbal communication This is the process of communicating through sending and receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be transmitted through gesture, body language or posture. Facial expressions and eye contact, object communication such as clothing, hairstyles or even architecture, or even symbols. Non-verbal communication plays a key role in every person’s day- today life, from employment to romantic engagements.
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
Nonverbal communication can be achieved by the following: By expressions on our face .These include a smile, a nod, looking at the eyes of the other person, for listening or showing interest or narrowing of eyes or raising our eyebrows. By body movements. Think of signaling ‘bye’ when we leave or pointing fingers or what a cricket umpire does when he raises his finger to tell that a batsman is out. In games like cricket there are plenty of such nonverbal signals or think of Gandhiji’s three monkeys - speak no evil, see no evil, and hear no evil. Shaking hands is common all over the world. But the handshakes may convey different meanings. For example, you extend your hand to shake hands with someone and that person does not respond to you or just touches your palm or tightens the grip. This means that the person wants to keep away from you. Just touching your palm would mean that the person does not consider you as an equal. A warm right hand shake would mean expression of closeness or friendship. Written Communication written communication is writing the words which you want to communicate. Good written communication is essential for business purposes. Written communication is practiced in many different languages. E-mails, reports, articles and memos are some of the ways of using written communication in business. The written communication can be edited and amended many times before it is communicated to the second party to whom the communication is intended. This is one of the main advantages of using writing as the major means of communication in business activity. Written communication is used not only in business but also for informal communication purposes. Mobile SMS is an example of informal written communication. Visual communication As the name suggests is the type of communication that is done through visual aid. That is it solely relies on vision. It is the form of communication with visual effect. It is mainly about the conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can he read (writing) or looked up. It is primarily associated with two dimensional images, which includes signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, pictures, illustrations, colours and so on. It explains the idea that a visual message text has greater power to inform, educate or persuade a person. It is presenting information through visual form. Electronic Communication This relies on the electronic media and it is usually done through electronic gadgets like telephone (cell phones), electronic mail, cable television or satellite broadcasts or radios, fax machines, the internet and so on. Chemical communication
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
This type of communication relies on the organ of smell which is the nose. Such signals could be pleasant or unpleasant signals. For instance, a sweet aroma coming from the kitchen informs us that a delicious soup is being cooked. Equally, a foul or bad odour coming from the corners of our room informs us of either a dead rat or any other dead animal in the room. NATURE OF COMMUNICATION VERTICAL/HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION Communication could be vertical or horizontal in nature. Vertical Communication This refers to the flow of information from the top to the bottom. It also has to do with the flow of messages from the bottom to the top. In this manner, vertical communication has an upward and downward flow. The downward flow has to do with, for instance, how information moves from the Vice Chancellor of a school usually at the top to the cleaners at the bottom of the ladder and how the cleaners also pass their own information about things that bother them to the Vice chancellor. Horizontal communication This is the exchange of messages and ideas or feelings between two people of the same level or mates. For example, lecturers can share certain information about their work that may not necessarily be known to someone probably like the Vice Chancellor. The same thing can be applicable to management staff of the University who may share certain information among themselves which may not necessarily be passed on to the lecturers or other staff of the University who do not belong to that cadre. TYPES OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION Intrapersonal Communication Think of a person driving a scooter on a lonely road. He has put on a helmet on his head to protect himself but it is not properly buckled and tightened. He is riding at high speed and is reaching a narrow junction. A bull comes charging and in order to save himself he applies the brake and he falls down. The helmet flies off as it was not buckled properly. His spectacles also fall. The bull runs off for dear life. What does the scooterist do? Is he saying anything or is he communicating? Think for a while and read further. Well, he is. First he thanks God for saving him from major injuries. ‘Thank God’ he sighs. “Who has left this blessed bull to run around freely?” He probably may question himself saying, “I should have put on the helmet properly”. He may say many things aloud or tell himself. He in fact is questioning himself or is communicating with himself.
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
We all do it. Think of a situation when you spoke to yourself. You went and met somebody and said something silly. Don’t you tell yourself “I should not have said that…” or “I shouldn’t have behaved that way…” or “I made such a fool of myself…” All these are very common. We all do it as long as we live. In fact this is looking inward or looking at ourselves. This can also be accepting our faults and mistakes, and correcting them. Intrapersonal communication or communicating with oneself is essential for our growth as responsible members of the society. Intrapersonal communication is the first type of communication. Inter Personal Communication When you come face to face with someone and communicate with that person it is called interpersonal communication (Uyo, 1989). This happens in our daily life. In the morning you get up and meet your parents, brothers or sisters. You wish them or speak to them. When you go outside you meet your friends and talk to them. You go to a doctor and discuss your problems. If you want to book a railway ticket, you go to the booking counter and speak to the person sitting there. All these are examples of interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication is communication between persons or one to one communication.(Baran, 2002). Asemah (2009) adds that interpersonal communication has to do with interaction between two persons in such a way that there is transmission or exchange of ideas, opinions, thoughts, etc. between them. In this sense, the idea that have been conceived in the mind of one person are transmitted (verbalized) during the discourse, deliberately for the benefit and consumption of the receiver. Most of us indulge in interpersonal communication every day. Interpersonal communication being face to face generally takes place in an informal, friendly atmosphere. However, there are occasions when it is formal. For example, a police officer questioning a suspect or a lawyer examining a witness in a court. Let us list some formal and informal situations in which interpersonal communication takes place. FORMAL �Taking part in meetings or conferences �Sales counters �Job interviews INFORMAL �Private discussions with friends or family members �Corridor discussions �Conversation in canteens or restaurants Group Communication Let us think of a group of people meeting for a particular reason. It may be a group of residents of a street or students meeting a teacher or a student leader. In the first case
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
the group will be addressed by a leader or a chairman and then others, who are known to each other, may also participate in a discussion. Such situations in which a group of people, generally known to each other meet and talk to each other are common. This is called group Communication. Group communication may also involve the exchange of ideas, thoughts, etc, between three or more people who have come together for a particular goal or purpose. Public Communication Have you ever attended an election meeting of a political party? Or heard a religious or spiritual leader giving a discourse? Such meetings and discourses are part of our public life today. Generally there is a stage or a platform or the roof of a vehicle for such a speaker to stand and speak. A microphone and a loud speaker are essential for communication here (Destiny, 2013). Many people may be hundreds or even thousands can be seen waiting for the speaker to begin. When the leader speaks a large number of people will be listening. One person here is speaking to a large number of people. Such communication is called public communication. The speaker can see or identify only those who sit in the front rows. So messages are given not to just one or two persons but to many. Unlike interpersonal communication, here, the speaker cannot see the audience. So it generally lacks the personal touch. Of course there are public speakers who can build immediate rapport or personal touch with the listeners. But unlike in group communication, here, people may not know each other. Destiny (2013) defines Public communication as a situation where many people receive messages from one person. Asemah (2009) adds that public communication can take place when a speaker is invited to address a very large crowd. The skills of the person are very important here in this situation. We can think of a number of political and spiritual leaders as excellent communicators. Again, unlike group communication, to reach out to a large number of people, microphones and loud speakers may be used. The Communication Process/Elements of communication We can identify about seven elements that are involved in the communication process. They are: 1. Stimulus This is the need of desire that triggers off any form of communication. It is the impulse that triggers off the communication exchange. It takes place at the ideation stage of communication. It motivates, spurs a prospective sender into the urge to begin to relay or transmit a message. This enables the sender to react by initiating the communication process. For example if one is hungry he will request for food, and if he is thirsty he will request for a glass of wine or water. The rumbling of one’s stomach could indicate hunger and could make the person ask for food. The feeling of dryness of the throat and rumbling of the intestines are therefore, taken to be the stimuli in the example cited above that could give rise to some communication encounters (Asemah, 2009).
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
2. Source/encoder/sender The sender also known as the encoder decides on the message to be sent, the best/most effective way that it can be sent. All of this is done bearing the receiver in a The sender may want to ask him/herself questions like: What words will I use? Do I need signs or pictures? The sender is also defined as the person who begins the communication process. He is the one triggered by the stimulus and from him begins the communication activity. He is the initiator because he begins the communication process. As the encoder, he packages the message in a way that it can be communicated and as the sender when he passes across the message by himself. 3. Message This could be the idea, feelings, information, thought, opinion, knowledge or experience etc. that the source/sender wants to share.
4. Medium/Channel The medium is the immediate form which a message takes. For example, a message may be communicated in the form of a letter, in the form of an email or face to face in the form of a speech. Medium and channel are generally used interchangeably. But here, a distinction is made between the two. Medium could be regarded as the form adopted by the sender of the message to get it to the receiver. It could be oral or written form. The channel then is the pathway, route or conduit through which the message travels between the source and the receiver e.g. the channel of radio, television, newspaper, telephone etc. Channel provides a link that enables the source and the receiver to communicate. It may also be seen in terms of the five physical senses sight, sound, touch, taste and smell-through which messages can be sent, received, understood, interpreted and acted upon (Sambe, 2005). 5. Receiver The receiver or the decoder is responsible for extracting/decoding meaning from the message. The receiver is also responsible for providing feedback to the sender. In a word, it is his/her job to INTERPRET. (Destiny, 2013) He is the person to whom the message is sent. He is the target audience or the recipient of the message. All the source/sender’s effort to communicate is to inform or affect the attitude of the receiver. That is why communication must be receiver-centred. 6. Feedback
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
Feedback is important as it determines whether or not the decoder grasped the intended meaning and whether communication was successful (Destiny, 2013). Feedback implies to the response or reaction of the receiver to the message sent (Baran, 2002). Communication is incomplete without feedback. It confirms that the message is well received and understood. Feedback guides the source in communication process and helps him to know when to alter or modify his message if not properly received. A feedback is positive when it shows that the message has been well received and understood and it could be negative when it shows that the intended effect has not been achieved 7. Noise This is any factor that inhibits the conveyance of a message. That is, anything that gets in the way of the message being accurately received, interpreted and responded to. It is interference that keeps a message from being understood or accurately interpreted. It is a potent barrier to effective communication. Noise may be in different forms: I. Physical Noise: This comes from the environment and keeps the message from being heard or understood. It may be from loud conversations, side-talks at meetings, vehicular sounds, sounds from workmen’s tools etc. II. Psychological Noise: This comes from within as a result of poor mental attitude, depression, emotional stress or disability. III. Physiological Noise: Results from interference from the body in form of body discomforts, feeling of hunger, tiredness etc. IV. Linguistic Noise: This is from the source’s inability to use the language of communication accurately and appropriately. It may be a grammatical noise manifested in form of defects in the use of rules of grammar of a language, and faulty sentence structure. It may be semantic as in the wrong use of words or use of unfamiliar words, misspelling, etc. And it could also be phonological manifested in incorrect pronunciation. WHAT IS MASS COMMUNICATION? Mass communication came about as a result of the process of human Communication. It became necessary that humans would exchange messages through verbal and written symbols (Uyeh 2007). As man began to improve in technology, efficiency in communication improved. It became possible for a single communicator to audiences with the same message of the same or at about the same time.
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
Today, we are able to communicate to a mass audience without interacting with its members on a face to face basis. Today we resort to the use of a mass medium in order to reach an audience. Thus, mass communication can be defined as the process which messages are communicated through a mass medium. These include radio, television, magazines, newspaper e.t.c these are capable of reaching millions of readers and listeners/viewers at about the same time (Uyeh, 2007). To Wilson (1993) mass communication is a process whereby professional communicators use technological devices to share messages over some distance to influence a large audience. Mass Communication represents the creation and sending of a homogeneous message to a large heterogeneous audience through the media. Mass communication studies the uses and effects of the media by many as opposed to the study of human interaction as in other communication contexts (Berko, (1989). Stanley Baran defines Mass Communication as the process of creating shared meaning between the mass media and their audience. Also, John Bittner defines Mass Communication as messages communicated through a mass medium to a large number of people. One needs to underscore the underlying fact that what is common in every definition of mass communication anywhere in the world is that it is communicated through a mass medium. In other words, for any message to be regarded as being mass communicated, it must be disseminated through a mass medium like Radio, Television, Newspaper and Magazine. Mass Communication can also be defined as a device by which a group of people working together transmits information to a large heterogeneous and anonymous audience simultaneously. It is a process by which information originates from the source to the receiver, having been thoroughly filtered and transmitted through a channel (Sambe, 2005:29). Mass Communication is a means of disseminating information or message to large, anonymous, and scattered heterogeneous masses of receivers who may be far removed from the message sources through the use of sophisticated equipment. In other words, communication is the sending of message through a mass medium to a large number of people. Characteristics of Mass Communication There are a lot of features of mass communication, below are some features derived from encyclopedia. 1. Wide and Vast Area Mass communication covers wide and vast area to operate, for example, It covers a country and the whole world too. World is becoming smaller due to operation of mass
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
communication. 2. Heterogeneous Audience Audience of mass communication are not only large in numbers but also are different in terms of age, sex, religion, race, culture etc. 3. Distance between Source and Destination Receivers of mass communication are detached and separated from the original source or sender by a long distance. 4. No Question of Discrimination Although the receivers of mass communication are subject to heterogeneity but there is no discrimination regarding distribution and delivery of message. There is equal opportunity for all. 5. Professional Communication The sender of mass communication are professional communicators. They use various mass communication channels to attain their purposes. 6. Absence of Feedback It is not as like as two way communication system. Absence of features in mass communication which make it unique and give a shape from other shorts of communication. Feedback is essential to make effective communication. Here in mass communication feedback like other sorts of communication is absent. There may be sometimes poor response from the receiver. 7. Intermediary Channels In mass communication, various intermediary channels are used to transmit message to the receiver. Such channels are radio, television, or newspapers etc. 8. Public Message Message of such communication are made available to public. The person who has the ability to bear the cost of respective medium such as newspaper, radio, television, cinema etc. can receive the message. 9. Use of Machine Such communication has dependency to the use of technology or machinery. At least one or more than one machine is used in the purpose of mass communication to produce and transmit public message. 10.Self-defined Audience The audiences of mass communication are independent in respect of receiving message. They have the freedom to choose what paper to read, what movie to see,
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
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what program to watch and which voice to listen. 11. Use of Specialist To make mass communication effective various specialists are there to perform such as news team, Film Company, machine operators, cinematographer, an editor etc. 12. Rapid Means of Communication Mass communication is defined to be rapid means of communication. It spreads quickly to the mass audience through reproduction and distribution.
Other features of mass communication include: 1. Presence of Gatekeepers 2. Limited Sensory Channels 3 Impersonal Vs. Personal Communication Presence of Gatekeepers In mass communication, sent messages do not reach the audience in raw form. Messages are usually ‘treated’. The implication of this is that there is usually no guarantee that what the message receivers get is exactly the message sent by the source (Berko, 1989). In mass media organizations, the gatekeepers are usually the reporters, sub-editors, editors, producers, writers, etc. The concept of gatekeeper was first coined by Kurt Lewin who describes gatekeepers as individuals or groups of persons who govern the travels of news items in the communication channels. Gatekeepers could also be defined as any person or formally organized group directly involved in relaying or transferring information from one individual to another through a mass medium. A gatekeeper can be a film producer who cuts a scene from the original script, a network censor who deletes a scene from a prime – time show because it is perceived as being too sexually explicit, a director who determines what segment of film to use in a documentary, a newspaper executive who determines the topic for an editorial, or any other individual in the processing or control of messages disseminated through mass media (Bittner 1989:12). In actual sense, a gatekeeper does three major functions: 1. Limiting the information through editing before dissemination. 2. Expanding the amount of information by injecting additional views or angles. 3. Reorganizing or reinterpreting the information gathered before disseminating it.
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
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Limited Sensory Channels This feature has to do with the fact that mass medium limits the number of sensory channels upon which audience can draw. In other words, mass communication only enables one to use his or her sense of sight and hearing since one can only see the visual picture and hear the voice of the speaker on the broadcast station. This is unlike in a face- to- face communication where the audience can shake hands or hug the politicians and as such, have no limitation to the sensory channels. Impersonal and Personal Communication Unlike in face – to – face communication where communication is personal, participants in mass communication are usually strangers and, hence messages are more impersonal. NATURE OF MASS COMMUNICATION AUDIENCE By nature, mass communication audience has four peculiar features. They are: a) Large b) Heterogeneous c) Anonymous d) Simultaneous
Large The large nature of the audience of mass communication makes it very difficult to address mass communication messages to specific audience or group of people (Adidi, 1987). This presupposes the fact that messages that mass communication process must be directed to very many people, like the ones sent through mass media of radio, TV, newspapers etc. Uyo, (1989) adds that messages meant for very few people or specific individuals are not regarded as mass communication. For example GSM conversation between two or more people (as in conference call) or telegrams do not belong to the mass communication family, a letter from a son to his father is not under mass communication, this is because such messages could be regarded as either one-to-one or one-to two as against mass communication which is one-to-many.
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Heterogeneous By heterogeneous, we mean mass communication messages cannot be segregated (Adidi, 1987). It cannot be directed towards certain people without others hearing it. Every human being, irrespective of age, creed, sex, wealth and affluence get the messages at the same time. Biblically speaking, mass communication message is not a respecter of any man. It does not have regard for positions, and class. It is for all. Anonymity Messages sent in mass communication are not to be received by a named receiver. It is addressed to whom it may concern. In other words, he who receives the messages is not known to the sender. It is assumed that messages in mass communication are sent to nobody, everybody and somebody. Simultaneity This holds that messages of mass communication are at the disposal of the audience at the same time or simultaneously, or instantly. The word ‘disposal’ is used because, even though the message is available to one, the audience might decide not to expose himself to the message almost immediately, the audience might delay his exposure to such messages for different reasons. This message is often associated with the print media of mass communication like newspapers, magazines and books. A reader might decide not to read the pages of a book almost immediately. The same way someone who got the delivery of fresh news on a daily newspaper early in the morning might delay reading such news till bed time. Hence, the simultaneity in mass communication audience is mostly applicable to messages sent via the broadcast media, but the fact is that everybody is disposed to such message instantaneously. CONCLUSION The source is oftentimes referred to as the chief communicator because without it nothing is done in the communication process. The source is influenced by its communication skill, knowledge level, socio-cultural context and attitude. Equally, the medium is important. Marshall McLuhan argues that the medium is the message. A message of the same content and quality that passes through CNN and NTA will definitely have different meaning and impact on the audience. However, the choice of medium is determined by availability of the medium to the communicator, cost of using the medium, choice, and audience of the medium, credibility of the medium in terms of respect and integrity and adaptability to message being disseminated.
CHAPTER TWO
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COMMUNICATION MODELS
A model is a miniature, a highly selective representation of reality — a symbolic representation, designed to help us visualize the relationships among various elements of a structure, system or process; an object, event or act (Folarin, 2006). Communication models help us to visualize, analyze and discuss various complex processes and issues that would be otherwise difficult to explain. Even you as a budding communication scholar can construct your own models to help you understand some communication issues better or facilitate your explanation of them to others. The test of the appropriateness and efficiency of each model will consist in the extent to which it succeeds in advancing the reader’s understanding of the issue(s) in focus; that is the extent to which it succeeds in clarifying issues that they found confusing or puzzling before coming in contact with your proposed model. The models mentioned in this chapter are named after their originators. In this chapter, students shall see how the models could be used to understand the concept of communication better. Specifically, the models are categorized under the following: 1) Aristotle and Lasswell Models 2) Shannon and Weaver’s Model (3) The De Fleur Model (1958) (4) Schramm (5) HUB Model ARISTOTLE'S MODEL Aristotle proposed a model of communication suitable for public speaking. He put the speaker at the center of the communication process. The speaker prepares a message for an intended audience. The message is intended to have an effect- influence the audience. The audience is seen to be passive and ready to be influenced by the speaker's message. To put it in other words, according to Aristotle a speaker sends a message to an audience and the audience is affected by the message received.
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Fig 1 Aristotle Model Note, he points out that the person at the end of the communication process holds the key to whether or not communication takes place. LASSWELL'S MODEL Harold Lasswell (1948), in proposing a convenient way to describe communication, came out with the model which was expressed in terms of the basic elements of the communication process. According to Lasswell, communication occurs when: · A source sends a message · Through a medium · To a receiver · producing some effect Lasswell proposed a verbal model to describe the process through which communication works. The model requires answer to the following questions: · Who · Says what · In which channel · To whom · With what effect?
Fig 2: Lass wells Model The point in Lass well’s comment is that there must be an "effect" if communication takes place. If we have communicated, we've "motivated" or produced an effect. It is also interesting to note that Lasswell's version of the communication process mentions four parts —Who, What, Channel, Whom. Three of the four parallel parts mentioned by Aristotle — speaker (who), subject (what), person addressed (whom). Only channel has been added.
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THE SHANNON AND WEAVER MODEL (1948-49) Claude Shannon was a telephone transmission engineer, and his interest was not in mass communication as such but in the understanding and improvement of telephone communication. He was concerned to show what happened to “information bits” as they “travel” from the source to the receiver. In the process, he isolated the key elements of the communication process, i.e. the source, message, transmitter, channel, receiver and destination (Folarin, 2006). His colleague, Warren Weaver, later added the element of feedback, the absence of which was identified as a weakness of the initial Shannon model (Asemah, 2011). Another weakness, from the point of view of human communication, was that the theory decidedly excluded “meaning”, which is a cardinal consideration in human communication but which could befuddle Shannon’s engineering treatise. However, the key elements of the communication process as identified by Shannon provided a bearing for all later graphic communication models. These elements may be explained as follows:(i) The Communication Chain: All communications are composed of chains or systems; and a system or chain is no stronger than its weakest element or link. (ii) The Information/Communication Source: The entity (individual, group or organization) that originates the message. Otherwise called encoder, originator, etc. (iii) The Message: The information itself, which may be verbal or nonverbal, visual, auditory, tactual or olfactory. (iv) The Transmitter: The person, establishment (or equipment) that encodes and transmits the message on behalf of the source (the transmitter may itself be the source). (v) The Channel: The avenue through which the message is transmitted to the receiver. It may be electrical, mechanical or human. It is often used interchangeably with “medium”. (vi) The Receiver: The entity (individual, group, organization) at which the message is targeted; otherwise called decoder, audience, etc. (vii) The Destination: The central “nervous system” (e.g. the human brain) where the message is processed for final use. (viii) Noise: Anything added to the information signal but not intended by the information source, and therefore causing distortion in the message. (Shannon, 1949). Shannon recognized only “channel noise” but later studies interpolated “semantic noise” which arises from verbal mismanagement; and “psychological noise”, resulting from the current state of the mind of the participants. (ix) Feedback: The signal relayed from the receiver back to the source about the accuracy of reception of the message. Shannon also added the concepts of: (x) Channel Capacity: (a) A channel’s absolute ability to transmit the output of an information source (i.e. whether it is able to do so at all). (b) The amount of information a channel can transmit per unit time. For example, it is known that the eye can resolve and transmit far more information than the brain can process and store within a given time. (xi) Redundancy: The part of the message, which is not determined by free choice of the sender (i.e. which is not “entropy”, “randomness”, or “uncertainty” in the information
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theory sense). Redundancy is superfluous because, without it, the message would be essentially complete (In mass communication terms, consider the redundancy involved in prime-time news — the “headlines”, the “main news”, then the “major points”). (xii) The Idea of Correspondence: Systems, including communication systems, can be corresponding or non-corresponding. For example, a written code and a telegraphic code (like the spoken verbal code and electronic code) are non-corresponding. For example, a written code and a telegraphic code (like the spoken verbal code and electronic code) are non-corresponding, so one has to be re-coded or “trans coded” into the other for purposes of transmission and reception. In information theory terms, communication takes place when two corresponding systems, coupled together through one or more non-corresponding systems, assume identical states as a result of signal transfer along a chain (Schramm: 1954).
Fig. 3: The Shannon and Weaver Model
THE DE FLEUR MODEL (1958) This is a generalized model, which seeks to explain various forms of communication in one graphic construct ((Black, Bryant & Thompson 1998). The author acknowledges his debt to previous models. In addition, the model has taken over some ideas from the work of the “father” of Cybernetics, Nobert Weiner (1948), on self-generating and self-maintaining systems. What raises DeFleur’s model to a superior level of conceptualization is its depiction of the cyclical (or helical) nature of the communication process. This underscores the interchangeability of the source/encoder and receiver/decoder roles. De Fleur also recognizes that “noise” can emanate from any of the key elements and not just from the channel or the source.
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Fig. 4 Defleur Model of Mass communication
SCHRAMM'S MODEL This model made a clear case for delayed feedbacks in mass communication (Schramm, 1954).
Fig5 Schramme Model of communicationI Wilbur Schramm, a well-known communications theorist, developed a straightforward communications model. In Schramm's model he notes, as did Aristotle, that communication always requires three elements — the source, the message and the destination. Ideally, the source encodes a message and transmits it to its destination via some channel, where the message is received and decoded. However, taking the sociological aspects involved in communication into consideration, Schramm points out that for understanding to take place between the source and the destination, they must have something in common. If the source's and destination's fields of experience overlap, communication can take place. If there is no overlap or only a small area in
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common, communication is difficult, if not impossible (Barnlund, 2008).Schramm also formulated a model that explains what is called feedback in communication.
Fig6 schramm's model of mass communication 2 The figure above depicts in graphical manner the particular aspects of the mass communication process. This model is different from other models of mass communication in that while the original model has ‘message’, the mass communication model offers ‘many identical messages.’ Besides, the model specifies ‘feedback’. The feedback is represented by an arrow line pointing the encoder, interpreter and decoder which represent delayed inferential feedback. (Baran2002) In schramm's model of mass communication, there is a decoder, interpreter and encoder who sends message to a heterogeneous audience that receives the message simultaneously. It could be said that this model captures the scenario of what mass communication is all about. The sender is the media organizations either radio, television or print while the receiver are the media organizations audiences that are scattered. It should be noted that in this model feedback is delayed.
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DANCE HELICAL MODEL OF COMMUNICATION In 1967, Frank Dance proposed the communication model called Dance’s Helix Model for a better communication process. The name helical comes from “Helix” which means an object having a three-dimensional shape like that of a wire wound uniformly around a cylinder or cone. He shows communication as a dynamic and non-linear process. Dance’s model emphasized the difficulties of communication. Frank Dance uses the form of a Helix to describe communication process. He developed this theory based on a simple helix which gets bigger and bigger as it moves or grows. The main characteristic of helical model of communication is that it is evolutionary.
Fig. 7: Dance Helical Model Crag, (1999) posits that Frank Dance explains the communication process based on this Helix structure and compares it with communication. In the Helix structure, the bottom or starting is very small then it’s gradually moves upward in a back and forth circular motion which form the bigger circle in the top and it’s still moves further. The whole process takes some time to reach. As like helix, the communication process starts very slowly and defined small circle. Communicators share information only with small portion of themselves to their relationships. Its gradually develops into next level but which will take some time to reach and expanding its boundaries to the next level. Later the communicators commit more and share more portions themselves.
Example When a child is born the only means of communication is crying, he/she cries for everything like hunger, pain, cold etc.. As the child grows the means of communication become wider and broader. He learns to makes noises then he learns language to
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obtain attention and to fulfill his needs. As a Helix the process of communication in this case started from crying and later it developed into a complex and compound means. The Helical model of communication is largely dependent on its past. A child learns to pronounce a word in his elementary classes and throughout his life he uses that word in the same way he learnt. Just like that we used to react to certain things in a certain way in our childhood and such reactions and habits lasts with us forever. The communication evolves in the beginning in some simple forms then the same process of communication develops based on the past activities. It develops further with modifications. BERLO’S SMCR MODEL OF COMMUNICATION In 1960, David Berlo expanded Shannon and Weaver’s,Steven Munyao (1949) linear model of communication and created the SMCR Model of Communication. The SourceMessage-Channel-Receiver Model of communication separated the model into clear parts and has been expanded upon by other scholars (Miller, 2005). SMCR modelentails the Source, message, channel, and receiver. Source is the creator of the messages. Message is a translation of idea to a symbolic code. Channel is a medium that bring the message. And the receiver is the target of communication. According to this model, source and receiver is influenced by those factors: skill of communication, attitude, knowledge, social system and culture. Message is expanded based on element, structure, content, treatment, and code. The channel is about sensory (Berlo, 1960). The positive thing about this model is, this model could be applied to mass communication, public, interpersonal, and written communication. This model is also heuristic. But, this model is also having weakness. This model thinks that communication is a static phenomenon. There is no feedback. And nonverbal communication is considered as unimportant thing (Crag, 1999).
Fig 8: Barlos’s SMCR Model of Communication CONCLUSION Communication models are designed to better explain communication theories and concepts. Models are communication tools that illustrate communication behaviour.
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They range from the very simple to the very complex. The underlying ideas represented by these models are not anything new or hard to understand. They are simply the common sense realities of communication revealed in a diagram (Black, Bryant & Thompson 1998:22)
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CHAPTER THREE MASS COMMUNICATION THEORIES
Theory is a group of ideas meant to explain certain topics, such as a single or collection of fact(s), event(s), or phenomena. Typically, a theory is developed through the use of contemplative and rational forms of abstract and generalized thinking. Furthermore, a theory is often based on general principles that are independent of the thing being explained. Depending on the context, the results might for example include generalized explanations of how nature works. The word has its roots in ancient Greek, but in modern use it has taken on several different related meanings. A theory is not the same as a hypothesis. A theory provides an explanatory framework for some observation and from the assumptions of the explanation follows a number of possible hypotheses that can be tested in order to provide support for, or challenge, the theory. Someone who develops theories is called a theorist (Zima, 2007). Theory is a conceptual representation or explanation of phenomenon. They are stories about how and why events occur. (Crag, 1999).defines theory as a way of explaining the ordering and occurrence of various events. It can also be defined as a set of systematic generalizations based on scientific observation and leading to further empirical observation. (Miller, 2005).There have been very many definitions of theory, none of them sacrosanct. As with many other concepts that cut across nearly all disciplines, there is a tendency for interested scholars to define theory and illustrate it with particular reference to their own disciplines. However, some of the extant definitions are more generally applicable than others. We shall take a brief look here at some of those more general definitions. According to social psychologist, Kurt (1958), a theory is a way of explaining the ordering and recurrence of various events in the ecosphere. Philosopher Abraham Kaplan (1964) sees theory as a way of making sense out of a disturbing situation. The well-known contemporary communication scholar, Wilbur Schramm (1963) describes theory as a “crap-detector� which enables us to separate scientific statements from unscientific ones. While McQuail (1983), in similar vein, states that a theory consists of a set of ideas of varying status and origin, which seek to explain or interpret a given phenomenon. The foregoing is a representative listing of definitions of theory by a cross-section of scholars in the communication and cognate fields. Collins English Dictionary summarises theory as follows: 1. A system of rules, procedures, and assumptions used to produce a result 2. Abstract knowledge or reasoning 3. A speculative or conjectural view or idea: I have a theory about that. 4. An ideal or hypothetical situation (esp in the phrase in theory)
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5. A set of hypotheses related by logical or mathematical arguments to explain and predict a wide variety of connected phenomena in general terms: the theory of relativity. 6. A nontechnical name for hypothesis1 (Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003) Characteristics/Attributes of Theory From the list of definitions above and others like them, we can extract the following attributes or characteristics of a theory: (i) A theory is a systematic and logical statement of a general nature. (ii) Such a systematic and logical statement implies substantial intellectual rigour. (iii) A theory is at once dynamic and “dated”: dynamic in the sense that it is subject to modification (or rarely, change) in the light of new facts; “dated” in the sense that it is usually a step behind reality in the light of other events taking place while the theory is being formulated. (iv) A theory has an ascertainable origin — where and by who formulated/ proposed. (v) A theory is based on scientific observation coupled with logical reasoning. (vi) A theory usually leads to further empirical observation or research. You will see later that the relationship between theory and research is a circular one. (vii) A theory is a means to an end (“… a way of explaining the ordering and occurrence of various events” — Kurt Lewin; and “… a way of making sense out of a disturbing situation” — Abraham Kaplan), not an end in itself. Why Study Theories? Theories help to manage realities. (Folarin, 2006)says that theories enableus to put facts in perspective, and to predict what will happen, evenbefore the events we are theorizing about get completed. According toDestiny (2012), a theory enables us to make sense out of a disturbing situation.e.g. Detectives (Police) always formulate a theory to unravel a case, saymurder case. We also study theories in order to derive intellectualsatisfaction.
NORMATIVE THEORIES Normative Theory seeks to locate media structure and performance within the milieu in which it operates. According to Siebert, Peterson and Schramm (1956, 1960), the press tends to assume the form and coloration of the environment within which it operates. Thus, normative theory tries to explain the ways in which social structure and impinge on mass media structure and performance, and highlights the consequences of nonconvergence between societal communication principles and mass communication practice. An individual normative theory may be a logical package of generalizations regarding mass communication and the environment, or it may be a product of deliberate “communication engineering”, aimed at enhancing media performance for the benefit of the sustaining environment. Sometimes, it is a product of a combination of both processes — as in the case of the Social Responsibility Media Theory. The six normative theories currently recognized in their literature are Authoritarian Media Theory, Soviet-Communist Media Theory, Libertarian (or Free Press) Media Theory,
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Social Responsibility Media Theory, Democratic–Participant Media Theory, and Development Media Theory.
Authoritarian Media Theory Authoritarian Media Theory is generally recognized as the oldest of the press theories, and it dates from the 16th century. It derived from the philosophy of absolutism, in which “recognition of the truth” was entrusted to only a small number of elites or ‘sages’, able to exercise leadership in a kind of top-down approach (Destiny 2012). Whether the ownership was private or public, authoritarian media existed to service the government of the day, and were forbidden to criticize it or its functionaries. The term “authoritarian”, according to McQuail (1987: 111), aptly defines press arrangements in societies where the media first began — monarchies in which the press was subordinated to state power and the interests of a ruling elite. This was notably true of 16 thcentury England. But it can equally appropriately be employed to describe much of what happens today in countries where the press is owned and/or directly controlled by government, and those segments of the press (if any) that are not under government’s direct control are apparently expected by the ruling elite to at least maintain neutrality, even in the face of bad governance. This view, according to Siebert et al (op. cit.), set the original pattern for most of the national press systems of the world, and still persists in some. The instruments of authoritarian control of the media in contemporary times are many and varied, and they are employed in various combinations by different authoritarian governments. They include repressive legislation, heavy taxation, direct or subtle state control of staffing of media establishments and of essential production inputs such as newsprint, and even such objectionable measures such as prior censorship, and punitive suspension of publication. The fundamental assumption of the authoritarian system is that the government is infallible. Media professionals are therefore not allowed to have any independence within the media organization. Also foreign media are subordinate to the established authority, in that all imported media products are controlled by the state. Authoritarian media still operate today in countries where the press is largely owned or controlled by government (mostly repressive government). Soviet–Communist Media Theory This specific normative theory was a derivative of Authoritarian Media Theory transplanted to the Soviet–Communist sphere. There is the difference, however, that while Authoritarian Media theory served to maintain the status quo, Soviet–Communist Media theory was aimed at promoting development, as understood and prosecuted by the Communist–Socialist party (or “Workers’ Party”) (Baran, 2003). According to the theory, the main task of the press was to promote the socialist system and maintain the sovereignty of the proletariat via the Communist party. In any case, the media were under direct state control and managed as an arm of government. Outside government, they could only be used by loyal and orthodox party members (Folarin, 2006). It will be observed that while the Soviet–Communist Media theory sought to use the media to support development and change towards the attainment of the communist state, it was
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like the Authoritarian Media theory in subjecting the press to direct state control (Destiny 2012). Soviet–Communist Media Theory emerged from the complete reorganization of the Russian press following the 1917 revolution, jointly deriving from Authoritarian Media Theory on the one hand, and on the other hand from the principles enunciated by Marx and Engels and the application rules worked out by Stalin. The theory (while it lasted) provided a model for most of the media in countries under the sphere of influence of the then Soviet Union (e.g. Tanzania in Africa). Contemporary concern about Soviet-Communist Media Theory had to do with the fact that the theory, rather than facilitate the emergence of a classless society, merely substituted the tyranny of the aristocracy and other power elites with the tyranny of the proletariat. As Apuke (2012) summed up the situation: … the main mission of the media in any socialist community is to curb people and hinder them from vital information about the opportunities of a better and an unimpeded life. Libertarian (Free Press) Media Theory Libertarian thought emerged out of the authoritarian theory, when some social movements, including Protestant Reformation, demanded greater freedom for individuals over their own lives and thoughts. It prescribes that an individual should be free to publish what he or she likes and to hold and express opinions freely. It sees the press as a free ‘market place’ of ideas- that all ideas should be put before the public, and the public will choose the best from that ‘market place’ (Milton Self-righting principles). Libertarian theory does not advocate media immunity to the rule of law but asserts that people should be seen as rational beings able to distinguish between good and bad, truth and falsehood- which renders prior censorship of media unnecessary (Baran, 2003). As a matter of fact, in the libertarian system, attacks on the government's policies are fully accepted and even encouraged. Moreover, there should be no restrictions on import or export of media messages across the national frontiers. Moreover, journalists and media professionals ought to have full autonomy within the media organization. It also advocates that the press be seen as partner in progress with the government in the search for truth, rather than a tool in the hands of government (Severin, 1987). It is hard to find intact examples of libertarian media systems in today's world. Though the clearest expression of free press theory is found in the First Amendment of the American Constitution which states “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech or of the press”, but the U S media system has tendencies of authoritarianism as well. Social Responsibility Media Theory Social Responsibility Media Theory owes its origin to the Hutchins Commission on Freedom of the Press, set up in the United States of America in1947 to re-examine the
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concept of press freedom as enunciated in the Libertarian (Free Press) Media Theory. This was because the so-called “free market place of ideas” had failed to guarantee press freedom and to yield the expected benefits to society. Rather, the commercial development of the press and unforeseen developments in media technology had tended to limit access to the media for individuals and groups, and to concentrate media power in the hands of a few businessmen and media professionals who had the means to setup media empires. These developments with the attendant lowering of standards in public taste encouraged by the prevailing libertarian psyches made Americans think that the media had to be kept to certain social standards while at the same time ensuring that press freedom as guaranteed by the constitution was preserved. In general, socially acceptable press behavior was to be anchored on self-regulation, but if the press would not voluntarily behave properly, then there must be definite social structures to ensure that it does behave in compliance with recognized social standards. This theory states that the media can be used by anyone who has an idea to express but they are forbidden to invade private rights or disrupt social structures. It emphasizes the freedom of the press and places responsibility on the media practitioners to abide by certain social standards. It opposes media regulation but believes that the press is automatically controlled by community opinion, consumer protest and professional ethics. It calls on the media to be responsible for fostering productive and creative “Great Communities” (Baran and Davis 2003:109), and that media should do this by prioritizing cultural pluralism- by becoming the voice of all the people – not just elite groups or groups that had dominated national, regional or local culture in the past. It also points out that the media, in carrying out their obligations, must adhere to the highest ethical standards. Theory basic principles, summarized by McQuail (1987), include: To serve the political system by making information, discussion and consideration of public affairs generally accessible. To inform the public to enable it to take self-determined action. To protect the rights of the individual by acting as watchdog over the government. To serve the economic system; for instance by bringing together buyers and sellers through the medium of advertising. To provide “good” entertainment, whatever “good” may mean in the culture at any point in time. To preserve financial autonomy in order not to become dependent on special interests and influences. Democratic-Participant Media Theory
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This theory advocates media support for cultural pluralism at a grassroots level. The media are to be used to stimulate and empower pluralistic groups ( McQuail 1983). It calls for development of innovative “small” media that can be directly controlled by group members. In other words, the existing bureaucracy, commercialization and professional hegemony in media system should be broken down to allow or guarantee easy media access to all potential users and consumers. The theory reflects disappointment with Libertarian and Social Responsibility theories for failing to deliver social benefits expected of them. It condemns the commercialization and monopolization of private owned media and the concentration and bureaucratization of government owned media. It also criticizes the public media for being too elitist, too susceptible to the whims and caprices of the government, too rigid and too slavish to professional ideals at the expense of social responsibility. It therefore calls for greater attention of the media to the needs, interests and aspirations of the receiver in a political society. It calls for pluralism in the place of monopolization, decentralization and localization in place of centralism. Also that media conglomerates be replaced or mixed with small-scale media enterprises. It also calls for “horizontal” in place of top-down communication to ensure feedback and complete communication circuit. However it holds that the mass media have become too socially important to be left in the hands of professionals. Development Media Theory Development media theory advocates media support for an existing political regime and its efforts to bring about national economic development. It argues that until a nation is well established and its economic development well underway, media must be supportive rather than critical of government. Journalists must not tear apart government efforts to promote development but, rather, assist government in implementing such policies. The duty of the press practicing this theory is to promote development. It also emphasizes grassroots participation. The major tenets of development media theory as summed up by McQ uail (1987: 121) are as follows: (i) Media must accept and carry out positive development tasks in line with nationally established policy. (ii) Freedom of the media should be open to economic priorities and development needs of the society. (iii) Media should give priority in their content to the national culture andlanguage(s). (iv) Media should give priority in news and information to links with other developing countries, which are close geographically, culturally or politically. (v) Journalists and other media workers have responsibilities as well as freedom in their information gathering and dissemination tasks. (vi) In the interest of development ends, the state has a right to intervene in, or restrict, media operation; and devices of censorship, subsidy and direct control can be justified. McQuail and other scholars like him certainly deserve credit for their penetrating insight, especially into what appears to be the common line of thinking among leaders of
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developing countries. But, certainly, the expression of these principles or tenets can do with some fine-tuning, so as to make them more useful (by expressing them in clearer developmental terms) and at the same time in terms acceptable to all conscientious journalists, as working guidelines. As things are now, practically all the principles or tenets have been couched in more or less “confrontational” terms, this time with the journalists (including broadcasters) rather than government at the receiving end. They are therefore likely to be met with resentment by journalists with respectable selfperceptions. It has to be remembered that in spite of the normative truism that “the press always takes on the form and coloration of the social and political structures within which it operates,” there are certain journalistic values and conventions which are cherished by media professionals in most parts of the world, and which therefore impinge on their manner of operation and on their self-perceptions. Moreover, a substantial number of leading journalists in developing countries have been trained in one western industrialized country or the other, and have tended to imbibe the journalistic cultures of those countries. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that these journalists (and those who train or work with them) see themselves as operating with “libertarian” and “social responsibility “principles, which were, in any case, the main principles inculcated in them prior to the advent of “development journalism”. Finally, as we noted earlier, the principles of development journalism should not be seen as robbing development press of its traditional freedom or shielding it from the traditional ideals of social responsibility as they are known in the West. Thus, principle number one above could be modified or reframed so as to also take cognizance of the media’s traditional policies or goals. The same thing goes for the second principle which is more or less a clear reference to the “development functions” of national integration, socio-economic modernization, promotion of literacy, and cultural creativity. (See Katz and Weddell: 1974, Awe: 1978, Weddell: 1979). The principle could also become more acceptable if stated in such clear terms rather than the blanket terms in which it has been stated. As for the third principle, Kunczick (1988: 49) has rightly observed: “McQuail failed to see the problem of internal colonialism, i.e. the smashing of local and/or regional cultures and languages”. There can beno objection to the intention of principle number four except to mention thatwhile geographically close countries can be easily identified, identifying culturally or politically “close” countries may not be as easy as it sounds. As Kunczick (ibid) also rightly notes, the fifth principle is much too vague to be useful as a working guideline, while the justification pleaded in support of censorship and direct control in principle number six is inappropriate to a planned development process. In sum, one would suggest a fine-tuning of the principles or tenets of Development Media Theory along the following lines: (i) Media should accept and carry out positive development tasks in line with nationally established policy (or in line with national ideology),without prejudice to their traditional functions of information, education, and entertainment of the public.
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(ii) Media should also accept and help in carrying out the special development tasks of national integration, socio-economic modernization, promotion of literacy, and cultural creativity. (iii) (a) “National” media should give priority in their content to the national macro culture in so far as this can be abstracted from the national milieu, then to regional cultures and then to local cultures, all in a descending order of priority. (b) “Regional” media are of course normally expected to accord priority to regional cultures (and languages), while (c) “Local” media give priority to local culture(s) and language(s). (iv) Media should carefully identify and give due attention in their foreign news to links with other countries with similar socio-cultural orientations and/or political and economic aspirations. (v) In order to safeguard the ideals of press freedom, journalists and other media workers should at all times faithfully fulfill their obligations and stoutly defend their rights in the course of their information gathering and dissemination tasks. (vi) The state with its systems has a duty to see to it that media or journalists presumed to have contravened any national law(s) in the course of their information gathering and dissemination tasks can conveniently face prosecution expecting a fair and speedy trial. Take it or leave it, Development Media Theory has already provided a bearing for the concepts of development communication and development journalism, which you may find with slightly different names and explanations in different contexts. And the concepts appear to be making varying degrees of headway in operationalization and implementation in the different zones of the developing world. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the theory become “user-friendly”(with all the implications of that computer jargon), so that the large number of journalists and media establishments who currently appear to be “innocent” of any knowledge of the theory with its derivatives (development communication and development journalism) may be brought into the mainstream.
MASS SOCIETY THEORIES (ALL-POWERFUL MEDIA EFFECT) These are perspectives that stress the influential but often negative role of the media. They believe that the media are corrupting influences that undermine the social order and that average people are defenseless against their influence. These theories emerged in the second half of the19th Century when mass circulation of newspapers and magazines,movies, talkies, and radio came to prominence. It was a time of urbanization and industrialization spread; which in conjunction with the media altered the society’s patterns of life. The theories are treated below:
Hypodermic Needle/ Magic Bullet Theory The hypodermic needle model (also known as the hypodermic-syringe model, transmission-belt model, or magic bullet theory) is a model of communications suggesting that an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the
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receiver. The model is rooted in 1930s behaviorism and is largely considered obsolete today. The "Magic Bullet" or "Hypodermic Needle Theory" of direct influence effects was not as widely accepted by scholars as many books on mass communication indicate (Wikipedia). The magic bullet theory was not based on empirical findings from research but rather on assumptions of the time about human nature. People were assumed to be "uniformly controlled by their biologically based 'instincts' and that they react more or less uniformly to whatever 'stimuli' came along" (Lowery & De Fleur, 1995, p. 400). The "Magic Bullet" theory graphically assumes that the media's message is a bullet fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head" (Berger 1995). Similarly, the "Hypodermic Needle Model" uses the same idea of the "shooting" paradigm. It suggests that the media injects its messages straight into the passive audience (Croteau, Hoynes 1997). This passive audience is immediately affected by these messages. The public essentially cannot escape from the media's influence, and is therefore considered a "sitting duck" (Croteau, Hoynes 1997). Both models suggest that the public is vulnerable to the messages shot at them because of the limited communication tools and the studies of the media's effects on the masses at the time (Davis, Baron 1981).
Lasswell’s Propaganda Theory During the troubled decade of the 1930s, one of the first communication theorists, Harold Lasswell, proposed a theory that attempted to explain disturbing events of the times. Lasswell argued that the worldwide economic depression and political strife had made people particularly vulnerable to propaganda conveyed by the mass media. He posited thatthe power of propaganda was not so much the result of the substance or appeal of specific messages but, rather, the result of the vulnerable state of mind of average people. Unlike the Magic Bullet Theory's prediction of rapid and powerful persuasive effects of the mass media, this Propaganda Theory said that mediated propaganda conditioned the audience slowly over time. Propaganda works through projection of master symbols, emotion charged images (for example, a national flag). Lasswell's depiction of the working mechanism of propaganda was especially prescient in Germany. The National Social Party (Nazis) under Adolph Hitler took control of the German government in 1933 and launched a systematic campaign of propaganda to win popular support for its policies. Joseph Goebbels Propaganda Ministry produced propaganda films to promote the party's militarism and anti-Semitism. A network of carefully-crafted Nazi master symbols included the swastika, the "Zeig-Heil" gesture, German ascendancy from a mythical Aryan race, and a fictitious Jewish conspiracy. Reinforced by terrorist tactics of the secret police, the propaganda helped to firm a Nazi grip on the highly educated German people. The Propaganda Theory ascribed great persuasive power to technocratic elite. Influential newspaper columnist Walter Lippmann, author of the first book on public opinion (1922), thought that propaganda so threatened democracy that the mass media
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must be censored to protect the public from their powerful influences. Later theorists decided that people are not so gullible and that the 1930s was a unique era.
Lippman’s Theory of Public Opinion Formation The theory stressed the inability of average people to make sense of their world and make rational decisions about their actions (McQuail 1989). Eric Alterman quoted and summarized Lippman’s position that average citizen can be compared to a deaf spectator sitting in the back row. He does not know what is happening, why it is happening, what ought to happen. “He lives in a world he cannot see, does not understand and is unable to direct.”…No one expects a steelworker to understand physics, so why should he be expected to understand politics? Lippman did not believe in the Libertarian assumptions of the rational audience; he thus advocated the placement of control of information gathering and distribution in the hands of a benevolent technocracy- a scientist elite- that could be trusted to use scientific methods to sort fact from fiction and make good decisions about who should receive various messages.
SOCIAL-SCIENTIFIC THEORIES (LIMITED EFFECTS THEORIES) Social scientific theories are generalizations derived from systematic observation and objective analysis of mass media variables, by employing methods associated with empirical research in the social sciences. Methods such as experimentation, field surveys, content analysis, focus group etc. are used. The social scientific approach to investigating the effects of the media led to the emergence of limited effects theories. The theories include the following:
The Post Stimuli-Response theory • The Individual Differences Perspective The basic assumption here (predicated on empirical evidence) is that members of a given social category (determined by age, sex, location, socio-economic status, etc.) will seek out similar communication messages, which they will also respond to more or less similarly, other things being equal. Thus the kinds of movies, music and broadcast programmes sought after by teenagers and adolescents are certain to be different from those preferred by their parents while different election candidates and campaigns may appeal to different social categories. It has also been shown that men and women may differ widely in their TV programme preferences. While the Individual Differences perspective derived from general psychology, social categories perspective derived, as we have seen, from research in general sociology. • The Social Category Perspective It assumes that members of a given social category will respond to media stimuli in more or less uniform ways. In other words, people with similar backgrounds {e.g. age,
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gender, and income level, religious affiliations} will have similar reactions to that exposure. • The Social Relations Perspective It posits that people’s reaction to media messages is modified by their informal social relationships with significant others like relations, friends, social groups etc.
The Two-Step Flow Theory The two-step flow theory says that most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media. So according to this theory, ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population.The theory is based on a 1940s study on social influence that states that media effects are indirectly established through the personal influence of opinion leaders. The majority of people receives much of their information and is influenced by the media secondhand, through the personal influence of opinion leaders. The Multistep Flow theory says that most people form their opinions based on opinion leaders that influence the media. Opinion leaders are those initially exposed to specific media content, and who interpret it based on their own opinion. They then begin to infiltrate these opinions through the general public who become "opinion followers" (Baran, 2006). These "opinion leaders" gain their influence through more elite media as opposed to mainstream mass media (Katz 1955). In this process, social influence is created and adjusted by the ideals and opinions of each specific "elite media" group, and by these media group's opposing ideals and opinions and in combination with popular mass media sources. Therefore, the leading influence in these opinions is primarily a social persuasion (Staubhaar, 2009). The Theory hypothesizes that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population. It was first introduced by sociologistPaul Lazarsfeldet al. in 1944 (Paul et-al 1944) and elaborated by Elihu Katz and Lazarsfeld in 1955 and subsequent publications. According to Lazarsfeld and Katz, mass media information is channeled to the "masses" through opinion leadership. The people with most access to media, and having a more literate understanding of media content, explain and diffuse the content to others.
Opinion leader Individuals in contact with opinion leaders
Fig 9 The two step flow theory
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Based on the two-step flow hypothesis, the term “personal influence” came to illustrate the process intervening between the media’s direct message and the audience’s reaction to that message. Opinion leaders tend to be similar to those they influence— based on personality, interests, demographics, or socio-economic factors. These leaders tend to influence others to change their attitudes and behaviors. The two-step theory refined the ability to predict how media messages influence audience behavior and explains why certain media campaigns do not alter audiences’ attitudes. This hypothesis provided a basis for the multi-step flow theory of mass communication.
Criticisms of the Two step flow theory The original two-step flow hypothesis—that ideas flow from the media to opinion leaders and then to less active sections of the population—has been criticized and negated by myriad consequent studies. Findings from Deutschmann and Danielson assert, “we would urge that the Katz-Lazarsfeld two-stage flow hypothesis, as a description of the initial information process, be applied to mass communication with caution”. They find substantial evidence that initial mass media information flows directly to people on the whole and is not relayed by opinion leaders. Furthermore, the two-step hypothesis does not adequately describe the flow of learning. Everett Rogers’ “Diffusion of Innovations” cites one study in which two-thirds of respondents accredited their awareness to the mass media rather than face-to-face communication. Similarly, critics argue that most of Lazarsfeld’s findings pertain to learning factors involved with general media habits rather than the learning of particular information. Both findings suggest a greater prevalence of a one-step flow of communication. However, Lazarsfeld’s two-step hypothesis is an adequate description to understand the media’s influence on belief and behavior. Troldahl finds that media exposure is a first step to introduce discussion, at which point opinion leaders initiate the second-step flow. These findings also realize opinion leader’s decisive role in the balance theory, which suggests that people are motivated to keep consistency among their current beliefs and opinions. If a person is exposed to new observations that are inconsistent with present beliefs, he or she is thrown into imbalance. This person will then seek advice from their opinion leader, to provide them with additional cognitions to bring them back into balance (Troldahl, 2001)
Dissonance Theory (Selective Processes) The selective exposure theory is a concept in media and communication research that refers to individuals’ tendency to favor information that reinforces pre-existing views while avoiding contradictory information. In this theory people tend to select specific aspects of exposed information based on their perspective, beliefs, attitudes and decisions. People can determine the information exposed to them and select favorable evidence, while ignoring the unfavorable. This theory has been explored using the cognitive dissonance theory, which suggests information consumers strive for results of cognitive equilibrium. In order to attain this equilibrium, individuals may either reinterpret the information they are exposed to or select information that are consonant with their view. The premise of selective exposure relies on the assumption that information-seeking behavior continues even after an individual has taken a stance on an issue. Previous information-seeking behavior will be colored by various factors of the issue that is activated during the decision-making process(Frey, 1986).Thus, selective exposure
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operates by reinforcing beliefs rather than exposing individuals to a diverse array of viewpoints, which is considered an important aspect of a functioning democracy( Chaffee, et-al 2001). There are several factors that persuade one's when making decisions. Physical characteristics, age, and more explain one's personal attributes that hold power when one participants in selective exposure. Furthermore, because information and resources are critical to learning, people decide to stray away from new information because it often conflicts with their own beliefs. Selective exposure influences and engages family, friends, co-workers, and doctors. Media forms such as the internet, television and paper sources are also highly influenced (Sweeny et- al 2010).Selective exposure has been displayed in various contexts such as selfserving situations and situations where people hold prejudices regarding out-groups, particular opinions, and personal and group-related issues (Kastenmüller et-al 2010). Joseph Klapper (1960) asserts that mass communication does not directly influence people, but just reinforces people’s predispositions. Mass communications play a role as a mediator in persuasive communication. The following are Klapper's five mediating factors and conditions to affect people:
Predispositions and the related processes of selective exposure, selective perception, and selective retention.
The groups, and the norms of groups, to which the audience members belong.
Interpersonal dissemination of the content of communication
The exercise of opinion leadership
The nature of mass media in a free enterprise society (Klapper, 1960)
Three basic concepts:
Selective exposure – people keep away from communication of opposite hue.
Selective perception – If people are confronting unsympathetic material, they do not perceive it, or make it fit for their existing opinion.
Selective retention – Furthermore, they just simply forget the unsympathetic material.
Groups and group norms work as mediators. For example, one can be strongly disinclined to change to the Democratic Party if their family has voted Republican for a long time. In this case, the person’s predisposition to the political party is already set, so they don't perceive information about Democratic Party or change voting behavior because of mass communication. Klapper’s third assumption is inter-personal dissemination of mass communication. If someone is already exposed by close friends, which creates predisposition toward something, it will lead to an increase in exposure to mass communication and eventually reinforce the existing opinion. An opinion leader is also a crucial factor to form one's predisposition and can lead someone to be exposed
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by mass communication. The nature of commercial mass media also leads people to select certain types of media contents.
THEORIES OF MEDIA, CULTURE AND SOCIETY The theories under consideration here offer cogent and insightful analyses of the role of the media in both culture and society. These theories argue that the structure and content of our media system both reflect and create our overall social structure and our culture. They include the following:
Agenda-setting theory Agenda-setting theory describes the "ability [of the news media] to influence the salience of topics on the public agenda." (McCombs 2002). That is, if a news item is covered frequently and prominently the audience will regard the issue as more important. Agenda-setting theory was formally developed by Dr. Max McCombs and Dr. Donald Shaw in a study on the 1968 presidential election. In the 1968 "Chapel Hill study," McCombs and Shaw demonstrated a strong correlation (r > .9) between what 100 residents of Chapel Hill, North Carolina thought was the most important election issue and what the local and national news media reported was the most important issue(McCombs 1972). By comparing the salience of issues in news content with the public's perceptions of the most important election issue, McCombs and Shaw were able to determine the degree to which the media determines public opinion. Since the 1968 study, published in a 1972 edition of Public Opinion Quarterly, more than 400 studies have been published on the agenda-setting function of the mass media, and the theory continues to be regarded as relevant ( McCombs 2005). Agenda-setting is the creation of public awareness and concern of salient issues by the news media. Two basic assumptions underlie most research on agenda-setting: 1.
the press and the media do not reflect reality; they filter and shape it;
2.
Media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues.
One of the most critical aspects in the concept of an agenda-setting role of mass communication is the time frame for this phenomenon. In addition, different media have different agenda-setting potential. Agenda setting occurs through a cognitive process known as "accessibility" (Iyengar, 1987). Iyengar, (1990) further suggested that accessibility implies that the more frequently and prominently the news media cover an issue, the more instances of that issue become accessible in audience's memories. When respondents are asked what the most important problem facing the country is, they answer with the most accessible news issue in memory, which is typically the issue the news media focused on the most. Rogers & Dearing (1988) opines that the agenda-setting effect is not the result of receiving one or a few messages but is due to the aggregate impact of a very large number of messages, each of which has a different content but all of which deal with the same general issue .Mass-media coverage in general and agenda-setting in
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particular also has a powerful impact on what individuals think that other people are thinking, and hence they tend to allocate more importance to issues that have been extensively covered by mass media(Rogers &Dearing, 1988). Rogers and Dearing (1988) identify three types of agenda setting: (1) Public agenda setting, in which the public's agenda is the dependent variable (the traditional hypothesis) (2) Media agenda setting, in which the media's agenda is treated as the dependent variable (aka agenda building) (3) Policy agenda setting, in which elite policy makers' agendas are treated as the dependent variable (aka political agenda setting)
Criticisms 1) Agenda setting is an inherently causal theory, but few studies establish the hypothesized temporal order (the media should set the public's agenda). 2) The measurement of the dependent variable was originally conceptualized as the public's perceived issue "salience," but subsequent studies have conceptualized the dependent variable as awareness, attention, or concern, leading to differing outcomes. 3) Studies tend to aggregate media content categories and public responses into very broad categories, resulting in inflated correlation coefficients (Rogers & Dearing, 1988).
Main Streaming/Synchronisation Theory This theory explains the process, especially for heavier viewers, by which television’s symbols monopolize and dominate other sources of information and ideas about the world. There are two aspects to mainstreaming: Message Analysis: involves detailed content analysis of selected media content {especially television programming} to assess recurring and consistent presentation of images, themes, value, and portrayals. Cultivation Analysis: observation of the effects of the messages. The assumption here is that television creates a worldview that, although possibly inaccurate, becomes the reality because people believe it is to be so. In other words, the more time people spend watching television, the more their world views will be like those spread by television. You may like to examine the presentation of violence on television; is there as much violence in reality as the presentation is on television? What of the roles assigned to sex {gender} on television: are men presented as dynamic and aggressive while women are portrayed as passive and domestic? What of strike
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actions in Nigeria, how has the media presented it? Who is the winner or loser between government and labour? On the international scene, Africa is presented as a region of war, chaos, famine and HIV- is it actually true?
The Knowledge Gap Theory In this theory knowledge is treated as any other commodity which is not distributed equally throughout the society and the people at the top of the ladder has more easy access to it. The theory establishes that the media systematically inform some segments of the population; especially those in higher socio-economic groups, better than they inform others. Therefore, the differences between the better informed and the less informed groups tend to grow and become bigger and bigger. In other words, as the media output increases, rather than balancing the differences between the information rich and the information poor, it enlarges the differences, because those at the higher socio-economic levels acquire information much faster and much more easily than those at the lower levels. However, the theory also states the possibility of the gap being narrowed. This may happen if the information rich become ‘sated’, that is they have got enough and do not seek for or need more, while the information poor continue to search till they catch up with the information rich. A Formal Summary of the Knowledge Gap Hypothesis Given the preceding information, Hwang (2009) posits that the knowledge gap hypothesis can be expressed using the following set of related propositions: 1. People in a society exhibit great psychological diversity due to their psychological makeup, learned experiences, social relationships, and social category memberships. 2. Despite these differences, people with more education tend to have better developed cognitive and communication skills, broader social spheres with more and more diverse social contacts, and a greater amount of stored information than their counterparts with less education. 3. People with greater education also tend express interest in, and expose themselves to, a broader range of topics, including serious topics like public affairs, science, and health news. 4. Therefore, as the infusion of mass media information into a social system increases, segments of the population with higher socioeconomic status tend to acquire this information at a faster rate than the lower status segments so that the gap in knowledge between these segments tends to increase rather than decrease.
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Spiral of Silence Theory Neumann (1974) introduced the “spiral of silence� as an attempt to explain in part how public opinion is formed. She wondered why the Germans supported wrong political positions that led to national defeat, humiliation and ruin in the 1930s-1940s. The phrase "spiral of silence" actually refers to how people tend to remain silent when they feel that their views are in the minority Glynn, et-al (1997). The theory is based on three premises: (1) people have a "quasi-statistical organ," a sixth-sense if you will, which allows them to know the prevailing public opinion, even without access to polls, (2) people have a fear of isolation and know what behaviors will increase their likelihood of being socially isolated, and (3) people are reticent to express their minority views, primarily out of fear of being isolated. The closer a person believes the opinion held is similar to the prevailing public opinion, the more they are willing to openly disclose that opinion in public (Glynn, & McLeod 1984). Then, if public sentiment changes, the person will recognize that the opinion is less in favor and will be less willing to express that opinion publicly (Noelle, 1984). As the perceived distance between public opinion and a person's personal opinion grows, the more unlikely the person is to express their opinion (Noelle, 1991). Conceptual Model
Fig 10 Source: Noelle-Neumann (1991). The theory describes the tendency for people holding views contrary to those dominant in the media to keep them to themselves for fear of rejection (Simpson, 1996). An opinion spreads from media to people and people are encouraged either to proclaim their views or to swallow them and keep quiet until, in spiraling process, the one view dominates the public scene and the other disappears from public awareness as its adherents became mute(Taylor, 1982). In other words, because of people’s fear of isolation or separation from those around them, they tend to keep their attitudes to themselves when they think they are in the minority (Kennamer, 1990).
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The point in the theory is that ideas, occurrences and persons exist in public awareness practically only if they are given sufficient publicity by the mass media, and only in the shapes that the media ascribe to them. So, people perceive issues as the media perceive them. And since society rewards conformity and punishes deviance, the fear of isolation constrains people to conform to shared judgment as guarded or judged by the mass media. Certain terms that have emerged in the process of exposition and discussion of this theory include: 1. Double Opinion Climate- the media opinion is different from public opinion 2. Silent Majority- Domination of minority opinion over majority 3. Pluralistic Ignorance – Feeling of belonging to minority whereas opposite is the case 4. Bandwagon- Tendency to belong because majority belongs 5. Snob- effect- Decrease in popularity of opinion because it is believed to be cheap. Media Systems Dependence Theory Media Dependency theory, was developed by Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin Defleur in 1976 (DeFleur et-all (1976).At its core, the basic dependency hypothesis states that the more a person depends on media to meet needs, the more important media will be in a person's life, and therefore the more effects media will have on a person.
Fig 11 Ball-Rokeach&DeFleur's (1976) MSDT conceptual model. The theory assumes that the more an individual depends on having his/her needs gratified by media use, the more important will be the role that media play in the person’s life; and therefore the more influence those media will have on that person. The basis of media influence lies in the relationship between the larger social system, the media’s role and audience relationships in that system, and audience relationship to the media. Effects occur, not because all-powerful media or omnipotent source wills that occurrence, but because the media operate in a given way in a given social system to meet a given audience wants and needs.
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Audience members determine the occurrence and shape of media effect and it is related to how the audience uses the media. Since we make use of the media to make sense of our world, we permit the media to shape our expectation. Thus, the greater the need and consequently the stronger the dependency, the greater the likelihood that the media and their messages will have an effect. Media will equally influence not everyone. Those who have greater needs and thus greater dependency on media will be influenced.
ACTIVE AUDIENCE THEORIES The preceding theories focused on the effects of the media on the audience. As new perspectives emerged, not only was the media regarded as having limited effect, attention was being drawn to what people do with media. Active audience or audiencecentred theories explain or focus on what people do with the media as opposed to source–dominated theories which focus on the effects of the media on people.
Uses and gratifications theory Uses and gratifications theory (UGT) is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. UGT is an audiencecentered approach to understanding mass communication (Severin and Tankard, 1997). Diverging from other media effect theories that question "what does media do to people?", UGT focuses on "what do people do with media?" (Katz, (1959). The driving question of UGT is: Why do people use media and what do they use them for? UGT discusses how users deliberately choose media that will satisfy given needs and allow one to enhance knowledge, relaxation, social interactions/companionship, diversion, or escape.(Tankard, 2000), (McQuail, 2010).It assumes that audience members are not passive consumers of media. Rather, the audience has power over their media consumption and assumes an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. Unlike other theoretical perspectives, UGT holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their desires and needs to achieve gratification. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other information sources for viewers' gratification (Katz, 1974). UGT has a heuristic value today because it gives communication scholars a "perspective through which a number of ideas and theories about media choice, consumption, and even impact can be viewed."(Baran, 2009). Unlike other theories concerning media consumption, UGT gives the consumer power to discern what media they consume, with the assumption that the consumer has a clear intent and use. This contradicts previous theories such as mass society theory, that states that people are helpless victims of mass media produced by large companies; and individual differences perspective, which states that intelligence and self-esteem largely drive an individual's media choice. West, and Turner, (2007) points out the following as the basic assumptions of Use and gratification theory:
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i. The audience is active and its media use is goal oriented ii. The initiative in linking need gratification to a specific medium choice rests with the audience member iii The media compete with other resources for need satisfaction iv. People have enough self-awareness of their media use, interests, and motives to be able to provide researchers with an accurate picture of that use. v. Value judgements of media content can only be assessed by the audience.
Fig 12 Use and Gratification From the above it could be seen that people use social media for different purposes such as pleasure, empowerment and to build self-confidence. The Uses and Gratification theory sees the audience as influencing the effect process because they selectively choose, attend to, perceive and retain the media messages. It focuses on the uses to which people put media and the gratifications they seek from that use.
MEDIA VIOLENCE THEORIES: CHILDREN AND EFFECTS We examine here some theories that summarized and offered useful insight into the media’s violence effects.
Catharsis theory Catharsis theory states that viewing violence is sufficient to purge or at least satisfy a person’s aggressive drive and, therefore, reduce the likelihood of aggressive behavior (Baron, 2006). In other words, viewing mediated aggression reduces people’s natural aggressive drives. Some attentions have been drawn to the weakness of this theory. When you watch couples engage in physical affection on the screen, does it reduce your sexual drive? Do media presentations of families devouring Indomie noodles purge you of your hunger
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drive? If viewing mediated sexual behavior does not reduce the sex drive and viewing media presentation of people dining does not reduce our hunger, why should we assume that seeing mediated violence can satisfy an aggressive drive? Thus, accumulated research clearly demonstrates a correlation between viewing violence and aggressive behavior- that is, heavy viewers behave more aggressively that light viewers.
Aggressive Cues Theory It believes that people who see mediated violence show higher levels of subsequent aggression. In other words, exposure to mass-mediated aggression increases people’s level of emotional and psychological stimulation which can in turn lead to aggressive behavior(Baron & Richardson 2004). It is also assumed that a person’s response to aggressive cues depends on whether he is experiencing frustration at the time of exposure to mass mediated violence. It also depends on whether the violence is presented as justified or not. That means if the violence is presented as unjustified, it can inhibit the actual expression of aggression through a sense of guilt.
Social Learning (Social Cognitive) Theory Social Cognitive Theory is a learning theory based on the ideas that people learn by observing others. These learned behaviours can be central to one’s personality. While social psychologists agree that environment in which one grows up contributes to behaviour, the individual person (and therefore cognition) is just as important (Bandura, 2001). People learn by observing others, with the environment, behavior, and cognition all as the chief factors in influencing development in a reciprocal triadic relationship. For example, each behavior witnessed can change a person's way of thinking (cognition). Similarly, the environment one is raised in may influence later behaviors, just as a father's mindset (also cognition) will determine the environment in which his children are raised (Robert et-al 1994). There are five core concepts associated with the SCT framework. These core concepts are observational learning/modeling, outcome expectations, self-efficacy, goal setting and self-regulation. It is important to note that learning can occur without a change in behavior. According to J.E. Ormrod's general principles of social learning, while a visible change in behavior is the most common proof of learning, it is not absolutely necessary. Social learning theorists say that because people can learn through observation alone, their learning may not necessarily be shown in their performance ( Bandura, 1988). Social learning theory encompasses both identification and imitation to explain how people learn through observation of others in their environment. Identification is a form of imitation
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in which copying a model, generalized beyond specific acts, springs from wanting to be and trying to be like the model with respect to some broader quality. In other words, it involves the tendency, especially by children, to identify with admired aggressive heroes and copy their behavior whenever a relevant situation arises. Imitation is the direct, mechanical reproduction of behavior.
Fig 13 Social learning Theory This theory assumes that people, children especially, tend to learn aggression from the mass media and to model their behavior after the ones displayed. When people observe media violence, they learn and imitate what is seen. The possibility of actualizing what is seen is enhanced when: 1. The subject expects to be rewarded for such behavior. 2. There is close similarity between the dramatized violence and real –life situation the subject subsequently encounters.
Reinforcement Theory It states that mass- mediated violence simply reinforce the existing aggressive inclinations that people bring to media exposure. It is not that the media make people to be violent but they simply reinforce people’s existing aggressive attitudes and behaviors.
Linkage Theory This theory states that children tends to perceive a link between mass mediated fantasy and concrete reality. Thus they assume a link between the two, and this tends to guide their behavior in situations encouraging or stimulating aggressive behavior.
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CHAPTER FOUR FUNCTIONS OF MASS COMMUNICATION
The function of mass communication in the society is enormous. This is evident in the different appellations or names the journalists are called. Names like watchdog, intellectual peeping toms, fourth estate of the realm and so on. The Press helps sanitize the society of all forms of corruption by scrutinizing the actions, policies, and performance of those who govern. The press, in its watchdog function, is the vital communicating link between the concerned citizen who wants to assess how those who are running things are doing and the evidence that can indicate the quality of their performance. The press checks the potential for inefficient, irresponsible, unethical, or even illegal behaviour on the part of those we trust as leaders. Below are the basic functions of the media: Surveillance Function This is otherwise known as news function of mass communication. It involves scouting the environment to bring the evidence essential for information [news] about major happenings in the society. The word ‘surveillance’ connotes a careful monitoring of something done in secret. The idea behind surveillance is to protect things or someone under watch from falling below public expectation or going astray. This surveillance concept is synonymous to ‘watchdog’ role of the press. As a watchdog, the media monitors societal ills and exposes them. These ills include corruption in any sector of the society, politics, education, church, organizations etc. By exposing corruption, the journalist is sanitizing the society and at the same time, putting public office holders on public scale which measurement is done by members of the public. By watchdog role, the journalist owes the public duty of digging out hidden deeds and untold/unheard dealings. For instance, it was the press that exposed the controversial award of N628 million for the renovation of the official quarters of the Nigeria first female Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Patricia Olubunmi Etteh and her deputy. The surveillance or watchdog function of the press enables the mass media to beam their searchlight on the three arms of government ,parastatals and the society at large. The surveillance function of the press is its basic responsibility. Any mass media worth its salt must constantly live up to its social responsibility role which is done through the watchdog approach. Sambe (2005), in underscoring the surveillance function of the press oncrime, cites cases:
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In 1986, two gangsters emerged from the crime scene in Nigeria, namely Lawrence Aniniand Monday Osunbor. The press, in living up to its responsibility as surveillance for society, kept on beaming searchlight on the activities of the duo until they were arrested with some of their collaborators, among them, an assistant superintendent of police, George Iyamu. The surveillance role of the press in tracking down another notorious armed robber, Shina Rambo in 1992 was equally cited. The media described his identity, which turned out to be useful to the police in tracking him down. Rambo was described as a daredevil kingpin, slim, dark and of average height, possessing two tribal marks one on each cheek characteristic of indigenes of Ondo town (Sambe 2005:42) Correlation Function The correlation function of mass communication is otherwise known as the opinion or editorial function of the press. This refers to the process of editorial selection, interpretation and prescription through which the mass media help their consumers to better understand the information brought to them. By the correlation function, the media provide the background social context and critical analyses necessary for that understanding. The press also helps to monitor public opinion, for example, through phone-in radio or television programmes. The correlation function is best illustrated in columns and editorial pages of news papers where the columnist may compare statements made by political office holders with conflicting statements made by other politicians or personal views on a matter. It may also be observed in broadcast commentaries and editorials in television documentaries designed to make viewers aware of an issue or supportive of aprescribed course of action (Sambe 2005:44) Entertainment Function One of the most popular functions of mass communication is entertainment. As a matter of fact, higher percentage of audience prefers entertainment to information. Those in this category include students, youths, teenagers, sport lovers, kids (cartoons). Except for very serious-minded individuals who tune the media for information, quite a number of people consume media products during their leisure time, and as such media as a tool of enjoyment and entertainment. By nature, entertainment is meant to ease tension and stress. It is synonymous to relaxation. Through home videos, film comedies, sports and cartoons, families can be glued to television for hours while catching their fun. Besides, viewers catch their fun through talk shows, advertisement (especially on Nollywood movies), live matches, television drama etc. The newspapers and magazines as well entertain through editorials and satirical cartoons.
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Cultural Transmission This function entails the passing on or the transfer of a nation’s (or society) social heritage from one generation to another. Sambe (2005) describes the cultural transmission function as the preservation of past heritage or culture from one ethnic group to another, one nation to another and from generation to generation for the purpose of promoting and even integrating culture. Okunna (1994 cited in Sambe 2005) holds that the mass media disseminate cultural and artistic products for the purpose of preserving the past heritage of the people; they also help in the development of culture by awakening and stimulating the creative and aesthetic abilities in individuals, thus leading to the production of artifacts. Mass media transmits culture by the way the programmes transmitted reflect the behavioural norms and standard practice in the society. If for instance, the contents of media messages emphasize morals and religious harmony as an acceptable way of survival in the society, then those who consume such contents are most likely to pattern their lives accordingly. Another way of transmitting local culture is the programme policy of most broadcast media organizations such that 70% will be for local content and 30% for foreign content. For instance, Radio Lagos(Tiwantinwa) promotes and transmits Yoruba culture mostly. This cultural transmission function brings us to examine the relationship between mass communication and culture. Status Conferral This function holds that the mass media confers higher status on individuals in the society through the frequency of reportage done on the individual. Whenever the press beams their reportage on an individual, he automatically acquires a status of public figure and the name of such individual becomes a household name. For instance, individuals like Lamidi Adedibu, Chris Uba, Chris Ngige, Ayodele Fayose, Gani Fawehimi, Wole Soyinka, etc became household names in Nigeria because of the high level of frequency of reportage given to them by the mass media. The status conferment concept is coined by Lazarsfield and Merton who posit that the more someone is featured in the media, the more one’s status is raised to prominence. The duo also wrote that mass media audiences apparently subscribe to a secular belief that if you really matter, you will be a focus of mass attention and if you are a focus of mass attention then you surely must matter. Apart from individuals who get higher status by virtue of the prominence given to them by the mass media, media men and women especially those who appear on screen the newscasters, reporters, hosts and hostesses of shows / programmes get themselves into public fame by virtue of their work. People get to see them every time and then make them their models.
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Actors and actresses in home videos are becoming celebrities because of their frequency in film acting and shows such as Jim Iyke, Genevieve, Omotola etc.. Enforcement of Norms and Cultural Values The mass media enforce the basic norms and values of the society through their reportage of cultural issues and events. It is through the media that people get to know how cultural festivals are being celebrated, how people dance and sing in the traditional way. These cultural products are exhibited through Television (documentary, news coverage); radio (folklore, storytelling); magazines and newspapers (pictures, write-up/ features). This function of the media was underscored by MacBride (1980) when he said that the media promote the dissemination of cultural and artistic products for the purpose of preserving the heritage of the past, as well as the development of culture by widening the individual’s horizon, awakening his imagination and stimulating his aesthetic needs, values and creativity. Akpan (1987) corroborates the enforcement of cultural values function of the media when he states that the transaction of social heritage from one generation to the next involves shaping of values, notions, traditions, customs etc. and passing them on from generations to generations. Also adding his weight is Emenyeonu (1992) when he supports the notion that through their coverage, the mass media help to promote heterogeneous cultural groups, thereby correcting any misconceptions and building a sense of pride in the citizens. Succinctly, the mass media help a great deal to interpret, define, analyze issues that border on peoples cultures (both past and present). The media through entertaining and educating programmes set agenda for the public as regard which cultural values they should accept or reject. They can also make citizens appreciate their indigenous values, norms, and cultural practices and embrace them. The norms of a society are almost always higher than the personal practices of the individuals within the society. For example, we publicly condemn what we privately condone. Negative Functions of Mass Communication Although this chapter focuses more on the positive functions of mass communication, meaning that mass communication performs more positive functions than negative ones, however attempt must be made to highlight the negative role mass communication plays in the society. Two negative roles of mass communication in the society is the propagation of violence and pornography. Researchers have proved that these two have caused negative behavioral tendencies and institute false values in the minds of the people especially children. More often than not, children who are exposed, to violent act in films and on
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television tend to act violently in their day-to-day affairs. In Nigeria, the exposure of school children to James Bond films and other related violent media products have made the children behave violently. In schools children take on their fellow students in fight similar to what they have watched in Bruce Lee and Hulk Hogan’s on television. Bittner (1951) corroborates There is a convergence of the fairly substantial experimental evidence for short-run causation of aggression among some children by viewing violence on the screen, and the much less certain evidence from field studies that extensive violence viewing precedes on the long-run manifestations of aggressive behaviour. Children in formation years therefore, view violence as an accepted way of life and can grow up to engage in it. Apart from violence, the mass media are used to expose people to illicit sex. Through blue films or adult films, the mass media corrupt the moral sanctity of the youths by increasing their desire to have sex even at a tender age. What is more worrisome is the growing number of websites devoted to sexual activities where people could watch sex films and pornographic pictures at a near zero cost. These websites recorded highest hit recently as school children beseech cyber cafe to access their sites. Other dysfunctions of the mass media are: cultural imperialism, and invasion of individual privacy (Sambe, 2005).
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CHAPTER FIVE COMMUNICATION MEDIA
The mass media are diversified media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication. The technology through which this communication takes place varies. Broadcast media such as radio, recorded music, film and television transmit their information electronically. Print media use a physical object such as a newspaper, book, pamphlet or comics, to distribute their information (Riesman et al 1950). Outdoor media is a form of mass media that comprises billboards, signs or placards placed inside and outside of commercial buildings, sports stadiums, shops and buses. Other outdoor media include flying billboards (signs in tow of airplanes), blimps, and skywriting (Manohar, 2011). Public speaking and event organizing can also be considered as forms of mass media (Oxford English Dictionary 2010). The digital media comprises both Internet and mobile mass communication. Internet media provides many mass media services, such as email, websites, blogs, and internet based radio and television. Many other mass media outlets have a presence on the web, by such things as having TV ads that link to a website, or distributing a QR Code in print or outdoor media to direct a mobile user to a website. In this way, they can utilize the easy accessibility that the Internet has, and the outreach that Internet affords, as information can easily be broadcast to many different regions of the world simultaneously and costefficiently. The organizations that control these technologies, such as television stations or publishing companies, are also known as the mass media PRINT MEDIA: BOOKS, NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINE AND OUTDOOR The Printing Revolution The advent of printing is the key to our modern consciousness, argued Marshall McLuhan. Printing was so important because it allowed mass communication. The Chinese were using wooden block presses as early as A.D 600 and had movable clay type byA.D1000.A simple movable metal type was even in use in Korea in the 13th century. These existed before 1446 when Gutenberg perfected his printing technology. Gutenberg was a goldsmith and metallurgist. He hit upon his idea of using metal type crafted from lead moulds in place of type made from wood or clay. The movable type was not only durable enough to print page after page but letters could be arranged and rearranged to make any message possible. And he was able to produce virtually identical copies. Also, Gutenberg, instead of using his invention to produce attractive artwork like the Korean metal mould printing, he used it to produce books for profit. He stressed quality over quantity; partly because of his reverence for the book he was printing- the Bible. He used the highest
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quality paper and ink and turned out far fewer volumes than he could have. The first Gutenberg Bible appeared in 1456. By the end of that century, 44 years later, printing operations existed in 12 Europeans countries, and the continent was flooded with 20 millions volumes of 7,000 titles in 35,000 different editions. With the discovery of the new world, most of the early settlers brought with them books that were oriented. However those early settlers did not find books central to their lives for a number of reasons. The first printing press arrived in North America in 1638, operated by a company called Cambridge press. Printing was limited to religious and government documents. The first book printed was The Whole Booke of Psalms, sometimes referred to as the Bay Psalm Book published in 1644. Publishing then required the permission of the colonial government before it could be done. Consequently, books continued to grow rapidly as printing technology improved. Books A book is a collection of sheets of paper, parchment or other material with a piece of text written on them, bound together along one edge within covers. A book is also a literary work or a main division of such a work. A book produced in electronic format is known as an e-book. Development of Books Development of books started with the invention of writing. Over 5,000 years ago, alphabets were developed independently in several places around the world. Ideogrammatic (picture-based) alphabets appeared in Egypt (as hieroglyphics), Sumerian (as cuneiform) and urban china. Ideogrammatic alphabets require a huge number of symbols to convey even the simplest idea. Their complex nature meant that only a very selected few, intellectual elites, could read or write. The Sumerians developed the cuneiform to meet their need of a more precise writing, other than faceto-face communication as those enjoyed in their international trade across the Europe, Africa and Asia. Sumerians cuneiform slowly expanded, using symbols to represent sounds rather than objects and ideas. Around 1800 B.C, these were the first elements of a syllable alphabet -an alphabet employing sequences of vowels and consonants, that is, words The syllable alphabet, aided by Semitic cultures, slowly developed, and eventually flowered in Greece around 800 B.C and was subsequently perfected. These alphabets of necessity were used for writing in trading, a development which helped their Greek city-states to thrive in business. However, a medium was necessary to carry this new form of communication. The Sumerians had used clay tablets, but the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans eventually employed Papyrus, rolls of sliced strips of reed pressed together. Around 100 B.C the Romans began using parchment, a writing material made from prepared animal skins and in A.D 105 mid level Chinese bureaucrat Ts’aiLun perfected a paper making process employing a mixture of pressed mulberry tree bark, water, rags and a sophisticated frame for drying and stretching the resulting sheet of paper. With
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the emergence of literacy-the ability to effectively and efficiently comprehend and use written symbols-the social and cultural rules and structures of preliterate times began to change. However, communication was still quite limited, because writers could reach only those few literates who held their hand written scrolls or letters. (NOUN Library) Newspaper A newspaper is a publication containing news and information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. It may be general or special interest, most often published daily or weekly. The first printed newspaper was published in 1605, and the form has thrived even in the face of competition from technologies such as radio and television. Recent developments on the Internet are posing major threats to its business model, however. Paid circulation is declining in most countries, and advertising revenue, which makes up the bulk of a newspaper's income, is shifting from print to online; some commentators, nevertheless, point out that historically new media such as radio and television did not entirely supplant existing (Ramey, 2007). Brief History of Newspaper In Renaissance Europe handwritten newsletters circulated privately among merchants, passing along information about everything from wars and economic conditions to social customs and "human interest" features. The first printed forerunners of the newspaper appeared in Germany in the late 1400's in the form of news pamphlets or broadsides, often highly sensationalized in content. Some of the most famous of these report the atrocities against Germans in Transylvania perpetrated by a sadistic veovod named Vlad Tsepes Drakul, who became the Count Dracula of later folklore. In the English-speaking world, the earliest predecessors of the newspaper were corantos, small news pamphlets produced only when some event worthy of notice occurred. The first successively published title was The Weekly Newsof 1622. It was followed in the 1640's and 1650's by a plethora of different titles in the similar news bookformat. The first true newspaper in English was the London Gazette of 1666. For a generation it was the only officially sanctioned newspaper, though many periodical titles were in print by the century's end. In England the press developed under the authoritarian atmosphere of the early seventeenth century. Corantos, one-page news sheets were printed in English in Holland in 1620. English men Nathaniel Butter, Thomas Archer and Nicholas Bourne eventually began printing their own occasional news sheet. They stopped publishing in 1641, the same year that regular, daily account of local news started appearing in other news sheets. These true forerunners of daily newspaper were called diurnals. In Italy as early as 59 B.C, there was a publication of daily events bulletins called ActaDiurna (Actions of the day). They were posted in a public place for all to read. The
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earliest forerunner of the modern newspaper can be credited to the Chinese, with the publication of Tsing Pao at about 500 A.D. As the technological advances of printing made their way across Europe, newspapers cropped up frequently. The first newspaper published in Germany was found in 1609 by Egenolph Emmel. As at 1633 there were at least 16 newspapers in Germany. In 1704, postmaster Jelm Campell joined with Bartholomew Green to publish a newspaper called the Boston News-Letter. By 1721, The News-letter received competition from the News England Courant published by James Franklin, the older brother of Benjamin Franklin. The Courant was popular and controversial; it distinguished itself and carried forth numerous editorial crusades against both church and state. By 1729, in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin took over a family newspaper, started by Samuel keimer and renamed it as the Pennsylvania Gazette and the Virginia Gazette. The latter proved especially important because of Virginia’s influence on American independence. In 1734, John Peter Zenger began publishing the New York Weekly to counter Bradford’s newspaper, the New York Gazette who mostly expressed the government line. Zenger’s criticism of the colonial government got him into trouble, and he was later arrested and charged with seditious libel –publishing false and defamatory statements against the government. He, fortunately, won the case thus establishing “Truth as a defense Against Libel”. His lawyer was Andrew Hamilton. After the American independence, the government of U.S had to determine for itself just how free a press it was willing to tolerate .In 1790, the congress adopted the first 10 amendments to the constitution, called The Bills of Rights. The first Amendment reads! Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press …
Functions of Newspapers Succinctly, newspaper helps to provide advantageous information on current affairs. Below are other advantages: 1. Newspapers help in doing genealogical searches for family and issues; 2 Newspapers alert people on upcoming events in sports, community activities (concerts, parades, etc.), and politics (gives one an edge when considering the total candidate for whom to vote); 3. Newspapers provide platform for speaking out on issues of public importance. This could make someone relevant in national discourse;
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4. It provides relaxation through cartoons, puzzles, jokes etc; 5. Newspapers help in locating job opportunities, searches on whatto buy and so on. Sambe (2005) highlights the following as functions of newspaper: 1. Newspapers inform readers objectively about what is happening in their community, country and the world; 2. Newspaper comments on the news in order to bring developmentinto focus; 3. Newspaper provides the means whereby persons who want to sellgoods and services can advertise their wares; 4. Newspaper campaigns for desirable civic projects and to helpeliminate undesirable conditions; 5. Newspaper gives readers a portion of entertainment; 6. Newspaper serves readers as a friendly counselor informationbureau, and champion of their rights. Magazines A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising and/or purchase by readers.Magazines are typically published weekly, biweekly, monthly, bimonthly or quarterly, with a date on the cover that is in advance of the date it is actually published. They are often printed in color on coated paper, and are bound with a soft cover(Ramey, 2007). Magazines fall into two broad categories: consumer magazines and business magazines. In practice, magazines are a subset of periodicals, distinct from those periodicals produced by scientific, artistic, academic or special interest publishers which are subscription-only, more expensive, narrowly limited in circulation, and often have little or no advertising (Fourie, 2008). Magazines can be classified as: 
General interest magazines (e.g. Frontline, India Today, The Week, The Sunday Times etc.)

Special interest magazines (women's, sports, business, scuba diving, etc.)
The Growth of Magazines The first magazine was believed to have been started in 1704 by Daniel Defoe. It was a weekly periodical called the Review. Defoe’s Review was distinguished from the
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Newspapers of the era because he published features materials in addition to news(Baran2002). Two publications – the Tattler and Spectator emerged out of the journalistic style of Defoe. Tattler was published in 1709 by Richard Steele while the Spectator came up in March 1711 by both Steele and Joseph Addison. The Spectator grew in London and was the first magazine to make a contribution to literature. In the United States of America, Andrew Bradford began publishing American magazine in 1741, followed by Benjamin’s General magazine. Between 1741 and 1794, 45 new magazines appeared. Entrepreneurial printers with the intention to attract educated, cultural, moneyed gentlemen copied the successful London magazine. Subsequently, other magazines emerged. Some are the Saturday Evening Post, 1821;Harpers 1850, and At1antic Monthly 1857. Some factors that fuelled the growth of magazines include cheaper printing and growing literacy as well as the spread of social movement such as abolitionism and labour reform. Magazines began to have mass circulation after the American Civil War. Apart from growth in literacy and availability of cheaper printing that were responsible, the arrival of Women magazine was also responsible. In addition were the Postal Act of 1879, which permitted mailing magazine at cheap rates and the spread of the rail road which carried people and publications westward from the east coast, as well as the reduction in the prices of magazines due to competiting price war. Of significance to this trend is the era of muckraking, which attracted large readership. However, the mass circulation was made possible by industrialization which provided people with leisure and more personal income. Following the end of World War II, deep alterations in American culture and, in particular, the advent of television changed the relationship between magazines and their audiences. Magazine could not match the reach of television despite its large circulation. Many of the mass circulated magazines closed up. Magazine therefore sought solace in specialization and a life style orientation (Sambe, 2005).
Outdoor media Outdoor media is a form of mass media which comprises billboards, signs, placards placed inside and outside of commercial buildings/objects like shops/buses, flying billboards (signs in tow of airplanes), blimps, and skywriting (Wilke, 2011).Many commercial advertisers use this form of mass media when advertising in sports stadiums. Tobacco and alcohol manufacturers used billboards and other outdoor media extensively. However, in 1998, the Master Settlement Agreement between the US and the tobacco industries prohibited the billboard advertising of cigarettes. In a 1994 Chicago-based study, Diana Hack Barth and her colleagues revealed how tobacco- and
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alcohol-based billboards were concentrated in poor neighborhoods. In other urban centers, alcohol and tobacco billboards were much more concentrated in AfricanAmerican neighborhoods than in white neighborhoods. ( "Mass Media". Retrieved November 28, 2011).
THE BROADCAST MEDIA: RADIO AND TELEVISION Radio Today Radio is an audio device of passing messages to a large audience. Radio involves the process by which messages are sent through electrical waves. In other words, sound could be sent and received through these waves, (Sambe, 2008:75). Further, according to Idebi (2008:1) the word Radio is defined as the process of sending and receiving messages through the air, using electromagnetic waves. It is also about the activity of broadcasting programmes for people to listen to the programmes being broadcast. Today, the radio is one of the most important means of communication. Through radio, people send spoken words, music, odes and other communication signals through the air to any part of the world. Radio broadcasts now feature music, news, discussion, interviews, description of sport events and advertising. People drive to their jobs listening to car radios and spend leisure hours hearing their favorite programs on radio. Radio also has a wide variety of news in addition to broadcasting airplane pilots, astronauts, construction workers, policemen, sailors and others who do many kinds of jobs use radio for quick communication. Scientists send radio waves into the sky to learn about weather. Telephone companies send messages by radio as well as telephone. Radio works by changing sounds or call signals into electromagnetic waves, also called the Putting a show on the Air: This involves jobs as script writing, announcing and controlling the broadcasting equipment. The radio station has staff that plans programme including the writing of new and other scripts. Characteristics of Radio As a medium of mass communication, radio carries the following characteristics. (1) Portability: Radio is a very portable device that can be carried about with ease. The portability of radio makes it possible for people to listen to it wherever they are. With the coming of ICT we now have radios that are as small as handsets. (2) It is a mass medium: Radio messages can reach people in different localities. Bittner (1989) says that the mass medium makes it possible for the message to reach beyond the immediate proximity of the sender. A mass medium has the ability to send message globally. (3) Transient messages: radio messages are perishable. They are constantly on the love. The audience cannot ask of a repeat of what was not clearly heard because,
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the messages are on a move. That is why most people say radio does not talk twice. (4) Audio medium: radio is a one sided medium that is it can only be heard and not be seen. This makes it a limited sensory; it only appeals to the sense of hearing. According to Asemah (2009) words are the only thing used to create pictures on the minds of the audience. Other things like sound can also be used to create mental picture on the mind of the listener. (5) Cheap: Radio set is affordable. We have radio sets that as cheap as N 300 naira. (6) It requires talent: Radio operation requires talents to operate. It needs the blending of different talents in order to function well. It is not one sided in operations. It requires the reporters, sound engineers, etc, to operate. (7) It is competitive: with the advent of many radio stations, it could be said that radio is a highly competitive business as it requires putting up catchy programmes in order to outshine other stations. (8) Requires technology: Radio requires technology (Hardware and Software) which are geared towards mass production and wide dissemination. (9) It is mobile: the mobility of radio makes it unique; it can be moved easily from one place to another without stress. (10)Public: The content of radio (messages) is handled and treated publicly. (11) Impersonal in Nature: The relationship between sender and receiver is impersonal. How Radio Broadcasting Works Radio programmes consists of speech, music or other sounds. These sounds are either live or prerecorded. Live sounds are broadcast at the same time they are produced and include words spoken by announcers. Pre-recorded sounds are not broadcast when first produced. They are stored on tapes and broadcast later. Almost all the music and most commercials/advertisements are prerecorded (Uyeh 2007). To know how radio broadcasting works, you must first understand what is sound. All sounds consist of vibration. An example is the sound of a person voice that consists of vibrating of the air that are caused by the person vibrating vocal cords. Sound travels through the air in the form of waves called sound waves. When the waves reach a person’s ear, the person hears the original sounds. During a radio broadcast, a microphone picks up speech and other live sounds that make up the programme. An electric current in the microphone, creates vibration in it that match the sound waves. Accordingly, these electric Waves are used to produce the radio waves that make up the broadcast. In the same way, the equipment in the radio station changes the prerecorded sounds of a programme into electric waves. Electric Waves to Radio Waves Electric waves that represent the sounds of a programme travel over wires to the control boards. The control board has many switches and dials. A technician controls the sounds sent to the board by varying the volume loudness of each sound. Sometimes,
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the technician may even blend sounds together. The electric waves move to the transmitter from the control board. Transmitting Radio Waves It is the transmitter that strengthens the incoming electric waves that represent the broadcast. The transmitter also produces another kind of electric waves called carrier waves. It combines the carrier waves with the electric waves from the radio studio. This combination becomes the radio signal that brings the program to radio. The transmitter sends the radio signal to the antenna. The antenna in turn, sends the signal out into the air as radio waves. Many stations locate their antenna or towers and in high or open places, above and away from tall buildings and other structures that might interfere with the radio waves. A lot of times, small stations locate their antenna on top of the station building or a nearby building.
Types of Broadcast Waves Depending on the way the carrier waves and signal are combined, a radio programme could be transmitted in one or two ways, these two kinds of radio transmission are Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Frequency Moderation (FM). In AM transmission, the amplitude i.e strength of the carrier waves varies to match changes in the electric waves coming from the radio studio. In the FM transmission, the amplitude of the carrier waves remains constant. However, the frequency of the wave i.e. the number of times they vibrate each second changes to match the electric waves sent from the studio. AM Waves With the AM, an antenna sends out ground waves and sky waves. Ground waves spread out horizontally from the transmitting antenna. These waves travel through the air along the earth’s surface and follow the curve of the earth for a slow distance. Sky waves spread up into the sky. When they reach the layer of the atmosphere called the ionosphere, they are reflected back to earth. Their reflection enables AM broadcasts to be received at great distances from the antenna. (Uyeh 2007). FM Waves The FM radio antenna sends out waves that travel in the same direction as AM Waves. The difference between AM and FM waves here is that the FM waves that go skyward are not reflected. What happens is that they pass through the atmosphere and go into space. The waves here that travel horizontally do so in what is called “line of sight�. This means they cannot be received further than the horizon as seen from the antenna. AM broadcasts are received at much operates distance than FM broadcasts. This is because AM signals bounce off the atmosphere and reach beyond the curve of the earth. Despite the fact that FM signals have a shorter range, they have an advantage over AM in that they are not affected by static as compared to FM programs. The FM transmission also produces a clearer reproduction of sound (Uyeh 2007).
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Radio Waves are a combination of two kinds of electric vibrations, aboveAudio - frequency waves represent voice and other sounds. Radio frequency waves “carry� audio waves after being combined with them in one of the ways shown at the right
AM and FM Waves. In amplitude modulation (AM), The height of The combined audio - and radio - frequency waves varies to match The shape of the audio waves, in frequency modulation (FM) the frequency of the combined waves changes to match The audio waves
The power of a transmitter can also affect and/or influence the distance a radio program can be broadcast. Some powerful AM stations have power of up to 50,000 watts,
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especially in the U.S. These stations can heard by listeners up to 1,600 kilometers away. Smaller stations operate at 250 watts. FM stations have a range from 100 to 100,000 watts and can broadcast from 24 kilometers to 105 kilometers respectively. Every radio station broadcasts on a different channel or an assigned frequency. These makes it impossible for the stations to interfere with one another broadcasts. Frequency is measured in units called kilohertz and megahertz. One kilohertz equals 1000 hertz i.e. vibrations per second and one megahertz equals 1,000,000 hertz. While the AM station broadcast on frequencies between 535 and 1,605 kilohertz, the FM broadcasts from 88 to 108 megahertz. Reception of Radio Programmes. It is interesting to note that radio waves are not heard, seen or even felt. However, radio receivers pick them up and turn them into sounds that make up radio programmes (Uyeh 2007). While some radios are equipped to receive only AM or FM signals, others are able to pick both. A listener can therefore simply flip a switch to select the AM or FM bands with their frequencies. There are also other radio receivers called multiband radios. These are able to pick AM, FM and other bands such as short wave, aircraft and marine radio communication. Most radio receivers operate or electric power from a wall outlet on battery. The main point of an electrically or battery powered radio are the antenna, the tuner, amplifier and the speaker. The Antenna: This is a length of wire or a metal rod that picks up radio waves. When radio stick the antenna, they produce very weak electric waves in it. An antenna receives radio waves from many stations simultaneously. To listen to a single program, the listener must tune the radio to the desired station. The Tuner: This is a part of the radio that makes it sensitive to particular frequencies or channels. A dial attached to the turner shows the frequencies or channels of the station that may be tuned in. For example, Plateau radio for broadcasts on 90.5 megahertz. Amplifiers: This component strengthens the programme signal selected by the tuner. Speaker this is the final link between the broadcast radio and the listener as it changes the electric signal back into the original programme sounds. The Growth of Radio in Nigeria The growth of radio in Nigeria has been a slow but interesting process. Radio was introduced in Nigeria as a wired system called radio distribution or radio re-diffusion by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In this process, wires were connected to
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loudspeakers installed in houses of subscribers. The wireless system was introduced by the BBC in 1930. The wired broadcasting services were commissioned in Lagos on December 1, 1935, and two relay stations were located at Ikoyi and the Glover Memorial Hall, both in Lagos. The main duty of the relay was to carry BBC programmes, with just one hour left for local programmes featuring news, entertainment as well as local announcements. Other stations were later opened at Ibadan in 1939, Kano 1944, and Kaduna, Enugu, Jos, Zaria, Abeokuta, Ijebu Ode, Port Harcourt and Calabar in the subsequent years. The colonial government then came up with a policy to carry out a survey on radio broadcasting in all the British colonies including Nigeria. A committee was set up headed by L. W. Turner of the BBC Engineering Department and F. A. W. Byron of the Telecommunications Department of the Crown Agents. The committee recommended a wireless system of broadcasting for the colony of Nigeria. According to Ladele (1979), cited in Sambe (2008:83), an old building on 32 Marina, close to the General Post Office, was renovated as temporary headquarters. In addition, the Kaduna and Enugu Radio Diffusion Services were restructured and converted to regional broadcasting houses. The Radio Diffusion Services (RDS) later became the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) and was basically concerned with satisfying the programme needs of its audience, with the traditional role of informing, educating and entertaining the audience members. The NBS put up a remarkable performance, especially during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Nigeria. The NBS upheld the role of impartiality; the colonial government on the other hand did not give all the Nigerian nationalists the opportunity to react to accusations leveled against them. Against this backdrop, the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation was established on April 1, 1957, to replace the NBS. The establishment of NBC marked the first public broadcasting corporation established in any British colonial territory. But not satisfied with the new arrangements, the Western Regional Government established its radio and television station in 1959. Eastern Nigeria followed in 1960 on the day Nigeria had its political independence from Britain. Northern Nigeria followed suit in 1962. Today, virtually all the states own and operate both radio and television stations. Ownership and Control of Radio There are two types of ownership and control of radio. These are: 1. Government Ownership and Control: Here, the government establishes, runs and operates the station. This happens at federal, regional or state levels. If it were possible for local governments in Nigeria to operate and run a station, there is likely to be no difference. Government control usually is the responsibility of the Ministry of Information. Government finances the system, that is, it pays staff emoluments and censors the programme materials when necessary. The censorship is meant to arrest the situation whereby negative news will be broadcast against the government. 2. Private Ownership and Control: Certain stations are owned by individuals and corporate organizations and institutions. Government can regulate the activities of such organizations to some extent as spelt out by the National Broadcasting Commission Act No. 35 of 1992, Subsection 9, Article 13. In such situations, the station generates its
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revenue by the sale of airtime, by carrying out advertisements, by endorsements or by getting donations from well-wishers. Features of Radio There are certain features that radio stations cannot be divorced from. According to Sambe (2008:5) they include the following: 1. Radio reports what is happening now or what has just happened as current. 2. It is always in search of new ideas and creativity because it has the ability to consume programme materials. 3. Radio signals are received in many places within the primary service and bordering areas at the same time, thus it overcomes air and other barriers. 4. Radio broadcasting is prone to interference from weather, local thunderstorms etc. 5. It is flexible in pre-erupting the schedule programmes and has freedom of time. 6. It is very effective in mobilizing people; hence it bypasses illiteracy and appeals to the individual person. According to Dominick (2002:75), radio personalizes the news. Unlike newspapers where a byline is the only thing that identifies the reporter, radio news has commentators and reporters with names, voices, distinctive delivery styles and personalities. Furthermore, radio helps to popularize different kinds of music. The Regulation of Radio The use of radio in every country is regulated. The reason for this is to maintain order among users or radio channels. With regulation, radio userscannot broadcast signals that would interfere with one another and consequently, making understanding of programs impossible. Some government use radio’s to promote their own ideas and policies (Uyeh op-cit). Regulations of Radio in Nigeria The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission regulates the use of radio in Nigeria. Among the chief reason for regulation is the need to maintain order among the users of radio channels. If there was no regulation, radio users would make broadcasts that would interfere with one another and therefore it impossible for programmes to be understood. Another reason for radio regulation is governments desire to promote their ideas and policies. The governments also try to prevent the broadcast of ideas that the leaders do not like. As mentioned above, the NBC regulates all communication by radio and television in Nigeria. The NBC assigns frequencies for various types of radio operations including broadcasting. The NBC also issues licenses to stations and other users of transmitting equipment. While the NBC does not censor radio programs, it can impose a fine or revoke the license of a station that violates broadcasting rules. The NBC also does not tell stations what programmes the public interest and to broadcast news and public affairs.
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As in Nigeria, many countries have both private and government Some of these countries include Britain, Canada,. In other countries such as North Korea and China, the government owns all the stations (Uyeh op cit).
Television Today: The Most Influential Medium Since the beginning of humanity as we know today, television is perhaps, the most important means of communication. Television brings pictures and sounds from around the world into billion homes. With television, people sit in the comfort of their homes and watch Presidents make speeches and visits countries. People see wars being fought and watch government leaders try to bring about peace. It is also through television that home viewers see and learn about people, places and things in the faraway lands. Television has demonstrated that it can even take us out of this world as we watch astronauts explore outer space (Uyeh 2007). Television brings its viewers a steady stream of programmes that are design to entertain. The TV programmes include action packed dramas, light comedies, soap operas, sporting events, cartoons, variety show films. Today television has become a major way of reaching people with advertising messages. Television stations carry millions of commercials daily and tens of billions of dollars are spent on television advertising. The word television is a hybrid word, created from both Greek and Latin. Tele- is Greek for "far", while -vision is from the Latin visio, meaning "vision" or "sight". It is often abbreviated as TV or the telly. The History of television technology can be divided along two lines: those developments that depended upon both mechanical and electronic principles and those which are purely electronic. From the latter descended all modern televisions, but these would not have been possible without discoveries and insights from the mechanical systems (Rodin, & Ibbotson, 2005). The operation basis for modern television could be traced to the development of the first workable device for generating electrical signals suitable for the transmission of a scene that people should see. Today's television system could be traced back to the discovery of the photoconductivity of the element selenium by Willoughby Smith in 1873, and the invention of a scanning disk in 1884 by a German student whose name was Paul Gottlieb Nipkow. Nipkow proposed and patented the first electromechanical television system in 1884. Nipkow's spinning disk design is credited with being the first television image rasterizer.
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Constantin Perskyi had coined the word television in a paper read to the International Electricity Congress at the International World Fair in Paris on August 25, 1900. Perskyi's paper reviewed the existing electromechanical technologies, mentioning the work of Nipkow and others. The photoconductivity of selenium and Nipkow's scanning disk were first joined for practical use in the electronic transmission of still pictures and photographs, and by the first decade of the 20th century halftone photographs were being transmitted by facsimile over telegraph and telephone lines as a newspaper service(Bitner, 1989). Developments in amplification tube technology later came in 1907. The first demonstration of the instantaneous transmission of still duotone images was by Georges Rignoux and A. Fournier in Paris in 1909, using a rotating mirror-drum as the scanner, and a matrix of 64 selenium cells as the receiver. This was advanced by Boris Rosing and his student Vladimir Kosma Zworykin in 1911, when they created a television system that used a mechanical mirror-drum scanner to transmit, in Zworykin's words, "very crude images" over wires to the electronic Braun tube (cathode ray tube) in the receiver. Moving images were not possible because, in the scanner, "the sensitivity was not enough and the selenium cell was very laggy".
THE NEW MEDIA This section introduces the students to the New Media, a new aspect of the mass media. The New Media The New Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as Internet brought to limelight the phenomenon of the new (online) media. The online media is otherwise known as the new media because it is a departure from the old or conventional media of radio, TV, newspaper and magazine. The internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) have been a significant part of journalism since at least 1994. Hall (2001:2)(as cited in Rodin) notes that Reuters routinely serves 2,700 pages ofdata every second of every day to a potential market of over 200 million regular Web users. Rudin et al assert that news and information is one of the main reasons people use the Internet, with one survey showing that40 per cent used the medium to give them more background on a story than had been available through press or broadcasting (Bitner, 1989).
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Since the Daily Telegraph made its content available online, being the first UK national newspaper that went online, people have become increasingly aware of the need to patronize online journalism and as such, Internet usage at home and at work is also expanding rapidly in the world over, especially in the developing world. According to a survey in2001, about 40 per cent of all household (in UK) had internet access –an increase of 4 million in just 12 months – and people were spending over 7 hours a week ‘surfing’ the Internet from home. Furthermore, most of those who had taken up the Internet had opted for an unlimited access scheme – which means they can stay online for as long as they want without incurring extra charges (oftel, 2001) The Internet Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked Web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web. Succinctly, Internet could be described by four major characteristics. They are: 1. Interactivity, that is, ICTs effective two – way communication. 2. Permanent availability, the new ICTs are available 24 hours a day. 3. Global reach; bridging the geographic distances. 4. Reduced costs for many; relative costs of communication have shrunk to a fraction of previous values. The Internet is a more interactive medium of mass media, and can be briefly described as "a network of networks". Specifically, it is the worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and governmental networks, which together carry various information and services, such as email, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web. Contrary to some common usage, the Internet and the World Wide Web are not synonymous: the Internet is the system of interconnected computer networks, linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections etc.; the Web is the contents, or the interconnected documents, linked by hyperlinks and URLs. The World Wide Web is accessible through the Internet, along with many other services including e-mail, file sharing and others.
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The Internet is quickly becoming the center of mass media. Everything is becoming accessible via the internet. Instead of picking up a newspaper, or watching the 10 o'clock news, people can log onto the internet to get the news they want, when they want it. For example, many workers listen to the radio through the Internet while sitting at their desk. Even the education system relies on the Internet. Teachers can contact the entire class by sending one e-mail. They may have web pages where students can get another copy of the class outline or assignments. Some classes have class blogs in which students are required to post weekly, with students graded on their contributions Online Newspaper The phenomenon and features of online newspaper are quite similar to that of webzine. Bittner (1989: 277) explains using a home computer and a modem to couple the telephone to the computer and by dialing the access number, the subscriber is linked with the database, which provides a ‘menu’ of available information, including the list of electronic newspaper. After selecting the newspaper, the subscriber searches an index of categories such as front page, sports, weather and leisure. From these categories, the subscriber selects a given story from coded headlines, and the story then appears in textual form on the video display terminal or home television set. In a similar manner, the financial implication of running online newspaper is burdensome because of the low commercial patronage. It must be pointed that the first newspaper to go online was the “Columbus Dispatch” on 1st July, 1980. It was powered by CompuServe. Another name for online newspaper is web newspaper. This is because it is newspaper that exists on the World Wide Web or Internet. Modern printed newspapers all over the world are developing and running web newspapers. Going online created more opportunities for newspapers for instance, it allows newspapers to effectively compete with broadcast journalism in presenting breaking news online in a timelier manner than printing allows. The credibility and strong brand recognition of well-established newspapers, and the close relationships they have with advertisers (particularly in the case of local newspapers), are also seen by many in the newspaper industry as strengthening their chances of survival. The movement away from the printing process can also help decrease costs. Not only do they allow for instant updating of news stories in text but also allow equal opportunities for access for disabled groups as well as adding more interesting features for the viewers to use leading to more interest and more advert opportunities ("Mass Media". Retrieved November 28, 2011) as distinctions between modes of communication become blurred, and as mass communication transforms itself every day with innovation, anyone who has a cell phone on a hike in the woods may now be in instant contact with news and events worldwide.
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Online newspapers are not precisely like blogs or forum sites; however, it is not unusual for newspaper reporters and editors to maintain blogs, or for newspapers to add forums to their websites, for easy response from readers. Online newspapers must abide by the same legalities as do their sister publications. Professional journalists have some advantages, as editors are normally aware of the potential for legal problems. The big difference over blog and forum sites as to online newspaper and news sites is that blog and forum sites are not media based websites. As bloggers and independent citizen-journalists become more prevalent on the web, the potential for an explosion in lawsuits looms as they are not regulated in the same way as it is down to the public and none professional reporters to post stories in most cases. Blog sites can contain misleading information that could be seen as libel, questions regarding negligence or actual malice, or suits regarding invasion. These problems of blog as well as privacy torts such as appropriation, intrusion, private facts and false light were brought up in November2006 when it hit national headlines in the UK.
Online Magazine Online magazine is also known as Webzines. This is the softcopy/online version of magazine. In the developed world, webzines have really been adopted, although they started with the production of online editions of their hard copies. Among them are Time and Mother Jones magazines which offer special interactive features not available to their hard copy readers (Obe2005). Production of exclusively online magazines (that is, online magazine that are only available in soft copy) was not in circulation. Until recently, purely online magazines like Slate, Salon and Onion came to being, available at http: //www.slate.com,www.salon.com, http: //www.theonion.com.Cult of the Dead Cow claims to have published the first e-zine, starting in 1984, with its e-zine still in production more than 20 years later. While this claim is hotly debated, e-zines certainly began in the BBS days of the 1980s. Phrack began publication in 1985 and, unlike Cult of the Dead Cow which publishes articles individually; Phrack published collections of articles in a manner more similar to a print magazine (Wikipedia). Nigeria has not witnessed a purely online news magazine. What we have at present is the online version of hard copy version of magazines (Reddick and King 2004) Examples are online version of TELL and The News magazines. One major challenge against online media (online magazines and newspapers) is the struggle to succeed financially such that print media organizations use the hard copy version to cushion the financial burden. Exclusively online magazines have yet to produce a profit, and many industry specialists think it will be a long time before they do. There are special hurdles specific to purely online magazines. First, because web users have become accustomed to free access of
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sites, webzines have yet to find a successful means of charging for subscriptions. Slate dropped its plan to do so when faced with a 1997 reader revolt, Salon has instituted a two-tier, both free and subscription, model. Second, as opposed to webzines produced by paper magazines, purely online magazines must generate original content, an expensive undertaking, yet they compose online for readers and advertisers as equals with webzines subsidized by paper magazines (Baron 2004:146) It must be pointed out that little or no commercial support is available to sustain purely online magazines. Advertisers still prefer paper version to online version. Of the estimated total annual U.S expenditure on advertising ($200 billion), only $154 million is spent on online magazine advertising (McNamara, 2000). Mobile Mobile phones were introduced in Japan in 1979 but became a mass media only in 1998 when the first downloadable ringing tones were introduced in Finland. Soon most forms of media content were introduced on mobile phones, tablets and other portable devices, and today the total value of media consumed on mobile vastly exceeds that of internet content, and was worth over 31 billion dollars in 2007 (source Informal). The mobile media content includes over 8 billion dollars’ worth of mobile music (ringing tones, ring back tones, true tones, MP3 files, karaoke, music videos, music streaming services etc.); over 5 billion dollars’ worth of mobile gaming; and various news, entertainment and advertising services. In Japan mobile phone books are so popular that five of the ten best-selling printed books were originally released as mobile phone books (Wikipedia). Similar to the internet, mobile is also an interactive media, but has far wider reach, with 3.3 billion mobile phone users at the end of 2007 to 1.3 billion internet users (source ITU). Like email on the internet, the top application on mobile is also a personal messaging service, but SMS text messaging is used by over 2.4 billion people. Practically all internet services and applications exist or have similar cousins on mobile, from search to multiplayer games to virtual worlds to blogs. Mobile has several unique benefits which many mobile media pundits claim make mobile a more powerful media than either TV or the internet, starting with mobile being permanently carried and always connected. Mobile has the best audience accuracy and is the only mass media with a built-in payment channel available to every user without any credit cards or PayPal accounts or even an age limit. Mobile is often called the 7th Mass Medium and either the fourth screen (if counting cinema, TV and PC screens) or the third screen (counting only TV and PC) OTHER MEDIA’S
Film 'Film' encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. The name comes from the photographic film (also called film stock), historically the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms
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exist—motion pictures (or just pictures and "picture"), the silver screen, photoplays, the cinema, picture shows, flicks—and commonly movies. Films are produced by recording people and objects with cameras, or by creating them using animation techniques and/or special effects. They comprise a series of individual frames, but when these images are shown rapidly in succession, the illusion of motion is given to the viewer. Flickering between frames is not seen due to an effect known as persistence of vision—whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Also of relevance is what causes the perception of motion; a psychological effect identified as beta movement. Film is considered by many to be an important art form; films entertain, educate, enlighten and inspire audiences. Any film can become a worldwide attraction, especially with the addition of dubbing or subtitles that translate the film message. Films are also artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them.
CHAPTER SIX ADJUNCTS OF THE MASS MEDIA
Adjuncts vof the Mass Media refer to additional sources through which the mass media get information. Simply put, they are the additions to the mass media. The most popular of these adjuncts are the news agencies (Baran 2006).k
News Agencies News Agency Journalism is the act of gathering and disseminating world news through the news agencies. These news agencies, which are equally referred to as “extenders”, specialize in the sourcing, processing and distributing of world news and information to other mass media organizations and non-media organizations who are referred to as subscribers. News Agencies are in different categories depending on their coverage and standards. \Below are some examples. Examples of News Agencies include: Associated Press AP United Press International UPI Reuters Agence France Presse AFP Telegrafrioie Agentsvo Sovietskoro Soiuza TASS News Agency of East Germany ADV News Agency of West Germany DPA
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News Agency of Yugoslavia TANJUG News Agency of Cuba Prensalatina News Agency of Egypt MENA News Agency of Japan Kjodo News Agency of Indonesia Antara News Agency of Spain EFE Iraqi New Agency INA Indian Press Trust IPT Pan African News Agency PANA Portuguese News Agency LUSA Ghana News Agency GNA Kenya News Agency KNA Non-Aligned News Pool NANP News Agency of Nigeria NAN Types of News Agencies News agencies as we know them today are of three types namely: 1. Transnational or World News Agencies 2. Continental or Regional News Agencies 3. National News agencies. These agencies are classified according to their levels of operations, areas of coverage and strength of service (NOUN Library) 1. THE TRANSNATIONAL/WORLD NEWS AGENCIES The transnational or world news agencies as the name implies, are the news agencies whose operations are on a world-wide scale. These types of agencies specialize in the gathering, processing and distribution of news on a global level. They maintain correspondents or reporters in almost all the major cities around the world. These correspondents or reporters and the advanced information technologies available to them, help the world news agencies to monitor the whole world like a village – a global village and report events and happenings the minute they happen irrespective of
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distance, time and magnitude of the events/happenings in question. The news agencies that fall under this type or category include: · Associated Press (AP) founded in 1948 and owned by newspapers in United States. · United Press International (UPI) also owned by newspapers in US and a conglomerate of media organizations. The agency was founded 10 year after the establishment of AP. · Reuters founded in the 19th century and owned by the British government · Agence France Presse (AFP) owned by the French government and founded in the early 19th century · Telegrafrioie Agentsvo Sovirtskovo Soiuza (TASS) founded around 1925 and owned by the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) 2. THE CONTINENTAL/REGIONAL NEWS AGENCIES The continental or Regional news agencies operate within their continents or regions. They have correspondents and subscribers in many countries of the world but their services and operations are not spread to every part of the globe. This is the major difference between the world news agencies and the regional news agencies. Whilst the world news agencies maintain correspondents and clients in all the major cities in the world, the regional news agencies only maintain correspondents and clients in their various regions or continents. Examples include: 1. The Non-Aligned News Pool (NANP) 2. Pan – African News Agency (PANA) 3. Indian Press Trust (IPT) 4. Tanjug of Yugoslavia 5. Kyodo of Japan. 3. THE NATIONAL NEWS AGENCIES This type of agency refers to news agencies of individual countries around the world. Almost every country in the world has one form of news agency or the other, e.g. the News Agency of Nigeria. It is this news agency that is referred to as national news agency of that country. However, it must be noted that news agencies like AP, UPI, Reuters and AFP owned by US (AP & UPI), Britain and France respectively do not fall under this category or classification because of their scale or level of operation which go beyond their individual counties. National news agencies only serve their individual countries while the AP, UPI, Reuters and AFP serve the world.
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Some good examples of national news agencies are: 1. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) owned by the Nigerian government. 2. Ghana News Agency (GNA) owned by the Ghanaian government 3. Kenya News Agency (KNA) owned by the Kenyan government 4. Iraqi News Agency (INA) owned by the Iraqi government 5. Middle East News Agency (MENA) owned by the Egyptian government
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CHAPTER SEVEN PUBLIC RELATIONS AND ADVERTISING Public Relations:
Public relations is often misunderstood and misused term that is generally thrown in the advertising category. While this is often the case, it is not true. According to Bobbit (2009),“Public relations is the management function that uses two-way communication to receive information from and give information to an organization’s various publics. By far the most succinct and most popular of public relations definitions is the one by the British Institute of Public Relations [IPR] which presents public relations as; --- the deliberate and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics. The American Public Relations Association, on its own part, once described public relations as: --- the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an organization with the public interest, and executes a programme of action to earn public understanding and acceptance. The International Public Relations Associations [IPRA], meeting in the Hague in May 1960, arrived at a definition of PR as: --- a management function of a continuing and planned character through which public and private organizations and institutions seek to win and retain the understanding, sympathy and support of those with whom they are or may be concerned, by evaluating public opinion about themselves, in order to correlate as far as possible their own policies and procedures to achieve by planned and widespread information more productive co-operation and more efficient fulfillment of their common interests. From these entire groups ‘Rex Harlow came up with certain glaring facts about the principal preoccupations and attributes of public relations. Some, of which are pointed by (Jefkins, 1980, Black, 1989)are: 1. Public Relations is preoccupied with establishing and maintaining mutual understanding and goodwill between an organization and its public, a government and its subjects, a ruler and the ruled, a statesman and his compatriots, etc. 2. Public Relations is largely a communication discipline or profession with its tentacles in various other branches of knowledge or, put simply, it is an interdisciplinary field.
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3. Public Relations is at once a science and an art. 4. Public Relations is primarily a management function, even though like other management functions-it has its technician operations. 5. Public Relations activities are planned and deliberate, not whimsical or fortuitous. 6. Public Relations activities are sustained or continuous, not adhocor tied to the expedient: in other words, they help to build a constant reservoir of goodwill which we can readily tap in times of need. 7. Public Relations is essentially proactive and predictive, though it is often compelled to be reactive and backward-looking. 8. Public Relations thrives on dialogue and persuasion but is antithetical to social monologue and whimsical. The following specifically clarify PR: 1. PR is deliberate – the activity is purposeful and intentional 2. PR is planned 3. PR is a process 4. In PR, corporate performance speaks louder than company’s voice 5. PR involves the mutual interests of an organizations and its public 6. PR is a management function 7. PR is two- way communication Public Relations Activities 1. Publicity – the practice of getting media coverage for the client. 2. Communication; PR involve communicating with target public and advising clients in their interaction with them. 3. Public Affairs: It includes interacting with officials and leaders of the various power centres with whom a client must deal 4. Government Relations: working with government agencies. E.g. lobbying-interacting to influence government regulations and agents. 5. Community Relations. It focuses on the communities in which theorganization exist 6. Minority Relations: targeting specific racial minorities. 7. Financial P.R: Involves communication between companies and theirshareholders, financial community and the public.
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8. Industrial Relations. Involves interaction with other companies in line of business, both competitors and supplier 9. Press Agency: Means attracting attention to the client, usually through planning or staging some activity. 10. Promotion: It involves creating support or goodwill for the client as opposed attention getting of press agency. 11. Media Relations: Maintaining good relationship with media professionals, as well as understanding their peculiarities. 12. Issue Management: Involves campaign to shape opinion on a specific issue. 13. Crises Management: Resolving organization crises. 14.Propaganda: The generation of more or less automatic responses to given symbols. 15. Advertising: The use of controlled communication to build an image or to motivate action.
Differences between Public Relations and Propaganda What's the difference between PR and Propaganda? Is there any difference at all? In today’s world, between the two, which communication model is more effective? This section will help you understand the battle for molding opinions and perceptions in the modern world. Propaganda is not new, its origins are said to be as old as human history notes. By definition, it is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist, (wikipedia.com) Propaganda is generally an appeal to emotion, not intellect. It shares some techniques with advertising and public relations though differently. Hitler a well-known propagandist had this to share to his stewards during the world war: “If you are going to tell a lie, don’t tell a little one because it will be recognized as a lie. Tell the biggest and most unthinkable lie. Keep on telling it and people will think it must be truth and believe it.” He went further and concluded: “The greaterthe lie the more effective it is as a weapon.” Public Relations on the other hand is a management tool used to create goodwill between an organization and its publics (both internal and external). Various communication instruments are adopted to further this interest. Media relations, stakeholder relations and crisis management to name a few, are part of public relations.
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Like propaganda PR is systematic, serves to achieve set goals and involves management of perceptions. Both models use various media platforms to reach different audiences. If what you are "spinning" has a solid basis in fact, you're doing PR. If not, it’s propaganda, plain and simple. For instance Taraba State University is a state owned institution and is located in Jalingo, that’s a fact; it is one of the newest institutions in Taraba State, that’s a fact. And it graduated its first set in 2014 that’s a fact. Sharing this information with various publics is not ‘propagandizing’ it is simply sharing facts. Just like stating that Delta state is in Southern part of Nigeria and is enrich in minerals. Propaganda thrives on misinformation. In the world where credibility sustains relationships propaganda is self-destructive. The media will shun Propagandists pretending to be PR Practitioners.
ADVERTISING Advertising: The word “advertising” is a unit of a sign system. It is a verbal symbol and so possesses the characteristics of a symbol that is, it represents an object or idea, with or without any direct physical, iconic or indexical relationship. So, depending on how one comes in contact with the term, advertising means what a person thinks and believes it is. However, the interpretation and understanding of what advertising means would basically be shaped by a number of factors such as the cultural realities of the society; the manner and extent to which the practice affects advertisers, practitioners and consumers; the functions of advertising itself; the organization, management and production of advertising, and the manner and extent of what practitioners do and do not. Advertising is derived from the latin word, ad vertere which means “to turn the mind toward”. What this means is that advertising in itself can only predispose, or tips the scales. Advertising does not and cannot sell anything. (Black et al 1998:296)
Simply put, advertising is a paid form of communicating a message by the use of various media. It is persuasive, informative, and designed to influence purchasing behavior or thought patterns. One important thing about this definition is that Advertising is paid and not free. It could also be defined as a one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled by the sponsor. Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, video games, the Internet. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines advertising as “any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor.” This presupposes the fact that advertising is openly and overtly subsidized information and persuasion, and its task is to present and promote far more than the merchandise (Doghudje,1985). Jefklins, (1982) adds one need to point out that
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advertising cannot impose or force people to accept its message. In other words, the effectiveness of any advertising is subject to audience receptive ability. Advertising is controlled, identifiable information and persuasion by means of mass communication. Unlike other media where the source is not the gatekeeper, the advertiser is the gatekeeper here. Whoever pays the bills to place the advertising in the edit exercises control over how those messages are to appear. When someone sends a public relations release to newspaper, the editors and reporters become the gatekeepers. They determine whether and how the message looks, what it says, when and where it will appear and who is likely to see it. In this sense, commercial advertising is more open and above board than public relations and much more so than its totalitarian counterpart, propaganda, in which more often than not persuasion is masked as news or its sources are perverted or hidden (Black et al 1998:296) Functions of Advertising Ajai (2005:54). Postulates that the primary function of advertisement is to help companies produce larger sales, less supply, and a possibility to introduce new products etc. It helps stores with faster turnover of old goods and it enables the use of media as an important source of funds for a normal business. It enables a more qualitative choice between products to consumers. And it also helps society in general because it promotes economic development, encourages competition in quality and so adjusts products to be equal on an international market. One important use of advertising is that it reduces the unit cost of a product. Another function of advertising is to increase sales volume of products and establish product distribution in a new locality. Advertising can also reduce production costs in a few industries by increasing the scales of operations. Increased demand created by advertising brings about a reduction of cost per unit as a consequence of the lower costs made possible by mass production process. Another function of advertising is that it enhances the quality of products. Advertisers are looking for unique feature and characteristics of a product, or the quality edge the product has over other products. This unique feature is what the advertiser would use to package the advertisement messages. Advertising compels ever-increasing qualitative superiority of product on the management of all companies. The advertiser with a product characteristic which can be stressed may achieve the steady patronage of customers who are won over to the product. This should result in stabilizing a share of the total market for the product.
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Differences between Advert and Public Relations Destiny (2013) in his article on the rise of public relations and Advertising in the third world sums up the following as the differences between public relations and advertising. It should be noted that there other differences but this are the few he pointed out. Advert Advert deals with making known the products of a company through persuasive means via various medias like radio, television, print etc. Advertisement is a one way trafficmessage from the manufacturer of a product to the targeted audience. Advert is directed and has a selected audience for instance Pampers are directed to children and not adults
Public Relations Public relations deals with Image making of accompany
Public relations is a two way traffic i.e the communication between a company and its host community, Vice Versa . Public relations is diversified as it deals with keeping a mutual relationship between and organization and its publics i.e community comprising everyone. Public relations deals with humans i.e. Advertisement deals with products and human relations, community relations etc. services Public relations aims at influencing and Advert is aimed at influencing purchasing bringing mutual consent of the host behavior or thought patterns. community Public relations is free Advertising is a paid form of communicating a message by the use of various media
Difference between Advertisement and Propaganda Although both may have similar ways of being implanted and used, advertisement and propaganda are different, especially on what they intend to persuade or convince. First of all, propaganda is the use of messages, which are usually false, twisted, exaggerated or modified, in order to receive support and persuade people to believe in a specific ideal or purpose (which are usually political or religious-based). On the other hand, advertisement focuses more on business, trying to make people buy and/or consume a specific product by using true (well, mostly) statements and facts. Propaganda is more of persuasive technique in communication, whereas advertisement is more used for commercial and sell-product reasons. The transmitting of a persuasive message in order to make someone interested in a specific product or brand and gradually buying it is found in advertising. Their base purpose in not entirely related to political or cultural points of view. They might use those ideals to make people purchase their merchandise, yet the true reason for it is to sell the most they can only.
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In contrast, propaganda is a type of communication that uses misleading statements and messages to make people believe and support a specific point of view, idea, culture or belief. It basically promotes the civilians to "buy" and "consume" the messenger's philosophy and way of thinking and seeing things. Advertisement makes the consumer believe that the buying of the company's product will make his/her life better and easier, even if it means exaggerating sometimes. Propaganda may use the same mass media techniques and ways of promoting but is used to create or change society's opinion and attitude towards a specific topic, person, place, etc. Also, while advertising is used by companies and businesses, propaganda is implanted by political, cultural and ethnic groups and organizations. They might differ in their kinds of purposes, but there is a delicate and thin division between them. Even though most businesses use advertising by utilizing certain images, some also use beliefs and public opinion to promote the purchasing of their product and vice versa (with propaganda). This is where the line between propaganda and advertising starts to become thinner. Companies use a specific ideology and point of view to create a reason, motivation or need in the consumers to buy their merchandise, while propaganda promotes people to implant and apply an idea or philosophy through ways completely connected to advertising. In other words, businesses use the fact that people want to better their lives, become successful or just follow a specific social culture to make people continue to purchase their brands. Likewise, propaganda is combined with advertisement-based messages and techniques in order to be more successful of implanting their specific purpose. Both are different, yet they intertwine and join together on occasions, breaking the barrier between them. Both also reach out to the audience's emotions, beliefs, desires and needs in order to achieve their intention and purpose (Destiny, 2013).
CHAPTER EIGHT EFFECTS OF THE MASS MEDIA ON THE SOCIETY Definitions of Media Effect
To better understand the concept of media effects, let us examine the definitions below: McQuail (1977) defines media effects as any of the consequences ofmass media operation, whether intended or not, that has effectiveness and the capacity to achieve given objectives. Black et al (1995) observes “the term media effects not only refer to the consequences or impacts of media use on individuals, society and culture; media effects also are rather well-defined area of scholarly inquiry that examines the impact of media�. Black summarizes certain rules or conventions about what must occur before something is considered to be true media effect. They are:
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1. The presumed cause (e.g. a person watches a lot of violence on television or in films) and the presumed effects (e.g. a person becomes more aggressive) most covary, change together, in some verifiable way; 2. The presumed cause (e.g. viewing violence) must precede in time the presumed effect (e.g. engaging in aggression); and 3. Rival causes and explanations for these other causes (e.g. living in a volatile environment) must be controlled for and/or eliminated. Media effects mean different things to many people. To some, it is just about the impact of the mass media message on the audience. Even at that, some communication academics believe that particular parts of the media message must be contextualized. In other words, some academics talk about media effects to mean the impact of particular content of the mass media message. For instance, the impact of watching pornography on audience brings rape tendency. In this case, it is the contents of the media message that produce the impact. To other academics, it is the medium through which the message passes through that matter. These academics are more concerned about the consequences of using a medium as a totality, relatively independent of the nature or content of its messages. They are particular about the effect that devoting a great deal of time to watching television might have on literacy by displacing time that otherwise might be spent on reading. In the same vein, some academics are concerned with the impact of particular media message conventions or public notions about a media message. For instance, the general convention is that video games maybe addictive for youngsters because they are so fast paced and use so many “orienting devices� that they may control children’s attention. Focusing on the specific context in which potential effect occur is another concern of effect by researchers which they termed media context effects. For instance, an assessment of the impact of settings and situations in which media are used, such as the impact on learning of watching Generally, media effect could be assessed at many different levels. They include at: 1. Individual level 2. Family level 3. Reference group 4. Community group 5. Societal group and
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6. Cultural group One needs to point out that different approaches to the assessment of the impact of the media can be used. At the individual level, for instance, scholars might be concerned with media effects on attitudes, beliefs or behaviors, or examination of media effects on perceptions of reality, on level of anxiety, on moral judgment, on predispositions to commit acrime, and on many other dimensions of the way we think, feel or act (Black et al 1995: 36). Black and his group also noted that “some scholars are more concerned with the shortterm or transitory effects of media; others strive to determine whether the media have more durable or long term effects. Sometimes, the positive, beneficial or pro social effects of media are examined, but more often, concerns are with the negative, detrimental oranti-social consequences of using media”. The authors noted further: “some people examine media effects simply for the purpose of better understanding the roles and consequences of media in the society. Others examine media effect in order to know how to utilize media more effectively to achieve specific goals. Still, others consider media impact in order to administer or regulate media or to better formulate public policy regarding media”. Those who tend to hold the mass media solely responsible are those who exaggerate the influence of media and center widespread public concern on negative media effects. This is because they thought that it was possible to study effects more objectively than media uses could be studied. They chose to focus their efforts on developing what they thought would be definitive, powerful ‘explanations for the consequences’ of media use. They didn’t see as much purpose or value in describing and cataloguing people’s subjective reasons’ for using media (Baran & Davies 2003: 258). The position of this chapter is that such effects research is one sided because media cannot serve their intended function unless people make certain uses of their content. Mass media can only transmit any information successfully, only if enough audience members are willing and able to make certain uses of the content. In other words, without the society, which responds or interacts with the mass media, the mass media cannot single-handedly alter the social process. The position here subscribes to the uses and gratifications approach and sharply contradicts that of the effects theories. One needs to point out, however, that rather than taking a one sided position, that is, ‘uses’ against ‘effects’, it is worthwhile to consider the new research directions which seek to harmonize the ‘uses and ‘effects ‘approaches. Windahl (1981) argued that a merger of ‘uses and gratification’ and the ‘effects’ traditions was overdue and proposed
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what he called a ‘uses and effects’ model that viewed the product of the use of media content as ‘conseffects’ (cited in Baran& Davies) 2003: 268)
Blumer (1979), while presenting his ideas on how the uses andgratifications effect approaches could be harmonized writes: How might propositions about media effects be generated from… gratifications? First, we may postulate that cognitive motivation will facilitate information gain... Second, media consumption for purposes of diversion and escape will favour audience acceptance of perceptions of social situations in line with portrayals frequently found in entertainment materials... Third, involvement in media materials for personal identity reasons is likely to promote reinforcement effects. In essence, while one could aligned oneself with one position against the other, it appeals to intellectual reasoning to pursue the new direction which Windhal refers to as ‘conseffects’. With these, orientations into the role of the media in the society would be harmonized.
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CHAPTER NINE THEORIES OF MEDIA EFFECTS
This chapter examines different traditions/paradigms that explain the effects of the media on people and the society. The chapter is subdivided as follows: 1. Media Effect Debate/issues 2. Limited effects tradition 3. Powerful Effect tradition 4. Uses and gratification concept 5. Cultural effects tradition The Mass Media Effect Debate Despite the obvious impactful nature of the mass media, at least to a lay man, there exist sharp arguments and counter arguments about the presence, strength and operation of effects. In other words, school of thoughts exists as regard to the limited or minimal effects of the mass media. The arguments and their counter arguments are presented below as organized by Stanley Baran, associate professor of communication (in Baran 2004: 416 – 417). 1. Media content has limited impact on audiences because it is only make- believe people; it isn’t real. Counter-arguments News is not make-believe (at least it’s not supposed to be) and as such people are supposed to take it seriously. Most film and television dramas are intentionally produced to seem real to viewers, with documentary-like production techniques such as hand held cameras and uneven lighting. Much contemporary television programmes like talk show and reality shows are expressly real. E.gGulder Ultimate Search. Advertising is supposed to tell the truth Before they develop the intellectual and critical capacity to know what is not real, children confront the world in all its splendor and vulgarity through television and what television effects researchers call the early winded. To kids, what they see is real.
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To enjoy what we consume, we willingly suspend disbelief that is, we willingly accept as real what is put before us. 2. Media content has limited impact on audiences because it is only play or just entertainment. Counter-arguments News is not play or entertainment Even if media content is only play, play is very important to the way we develop our knowledge of ourselves and our world. 3. If media have any effects at all they are not the media’s fault; media simply hold a mirror to society and reflect the status quo, showing us and our world as they already are. Counter-arguments Media hold a very selective mirror. The whole world in all its vastness and complexity cannot possibly be represented, so media practitioners must make choices. In other words, some things are over-represented in the media, others under-represented and still others disappear altogether. 4. If media have any effect at all it is only to reinforce pre-existing values and benefits. Family, church, school, and other socializing agents are much better. Counte-rarguments The traditional socializing agents have lost much of their power to influence in our complicated and fast-paced world. Moreover, reinforcing effects are not the same as having no effect. If the media can reinforce the good in our culture, media can just as easily reinforce the bad. ¡ If media have any effects at all they are only on the unimportant things in our lives, such as fads and fashion. Counter-argument Fads and fashion are not unimportant to us. The car we drive, the clothes we wear, and the ways we look help define us; they characterize us to others. In fact, it is central to our self definition and happiness. If media influence only the unimportant things in our lives, why are billions of dollars spent on media efforts to sway opinion about social issues such as universal health care, nuclear power and global warming. ISSUES IN MASS MEDIA EFFECT
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There is no way one can make a comprehensive study of media effects without channeling one’s discussion towards salient issues that border on media effects. The issues are: 1. Violence 2. Drugs and alcohol 3. Political campaign and rating Violence The main issue here is that media, especially TV, exposes people to violent acts which make them behave violently. In other words, there is a causal relationship between televised violence and anti-social behaviors. Baran asserts: “The prevailing view during the 1960s was that some media violence affected some people in some ways some of the time… for normal people, that is, those who were not predisposed violence – little media violence affected few people in few ways little of the time. Compelling arguments had however, been marshaled to exonerate the press from receiving all the blame for anti-social behaviors of television viewers. In the words of Klapper (1960) “mass communication does not ordinarily serve as a necessary and sufficient cause of audience effect but rather, functions through a nexus of mediating factor. Drugs and Alcohol The issue of drugs and alcohol is closely related to that of violence in that both blame the media for exposing people unnecessarily to drugs and alcohol. The U.S department of Health and Human services and National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism report that “the preponderance of evidence indicates that alcohol advertising stimulates higher consumption of alcohol by both adults and adolescents” and that “there is sufficient evidence to say that alcohol advertising is likely to be a contributing factor to overall consumption and other alcohol related problems in the long term”. In the same vein, the (American) National Institute on Media and the Family (2002) reports that: 1. By the time teenagers reach driving age, they will have seen 75000 alcohol ads 2. Beers ads are a strong predictor of adolescents’ knowledge, preference and loyalty to beer and of their intention to drink. 3. Young people report more positive feelings about drinking and their own likelihood to drink after watching alcohol commercials. 4. 56% of children in grades 5 through12 say that alcohol advertising encourages them to drink
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5. 10 million people ages 12 to 20 report drinking “in the last month” 6. 7 million are classified as “binge drinkers” 7. The average age of first alcohol use is 13.1 yrs old. Political Campaign and Rating One major issue under effects of political exercise is the fact that media have the power to influence the electorate on who to vote and not to vote for. In other words, the media can set agenda for the public as regards political directions. The popular presidential debate on NTA and AIT, especially during the 2007 general elections in Nigeria was the one in agreement with the notion that the candidates, through the media can be heard and listened to thereby underscoring the power of the media during electioneering campaigns. LIMITED EFFECTS PARADIGM Limited effects theories are of the view that the effects of media on the people are not total or too much but limited in proportion and weight. Paul Lazarsfeld was a very important researcher who contributed much to the development of Limited effects studies during his work at the Columbia Bureau of Applied Social Research. The most famous of the studies he conducted was that into voting behaviour carried out in the 1940s and which led him to develop the highly influential Two Step Flow Model of mass communication. As a result of his research, Lazarsfeld concluded that the media actually have quite limited effects on their audiences. This view of the media is common to many of the researchers in the US. Hovland, for example, whilst showing what variables can be altered to make a communication more or less effective, also places considerable emphasis on those factors, especially social factors such as group membership, which limit the persuasiveness of the message. Consequently, this view of the media is often referred to as the 'limited effects' paradigm or tradition. McQuail summarizes some of the main findings of the research which confirms this 'limited effects' view: 1. 'Persuasive mass communication is in general more likely to reinforce the existing opinions of its audience than it is to change its opinion' (from Klapper (1960)) 2. 'People tend to see and hear communications that are favorable or congenial to their predispositions' (from Berelson & Steiner (1964)) 3. 'People respond to persuasive communication in line with their predispositions and change or resist change accordingly' (from Berelson & Steiner (1964) POWERFUL EFFECTS PARADIGM
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Schramm (1982) points to three powerful effects which the media can exert: 1. The media can confer status on organizations, persons and policies. As Schramm suggests, we probably work on the assumption that if something really matters then it will be featured in the media; so, if it is featured in the media, it must really matter; 2. The media can enforce social norms to an extent. The media can reaffirm social norms by exposing deviation from the norms to public view - this connects with British research by Cohen into folk devils and moral panics; 3. The media can act as social narcotics; sometimes known as the narcotizing dysfunction, this means that because of the enormous amount of information in the media, media consumers tend not to be energised into social action, but rather drugged or narcotised into inaction. Media’s Harmful Effects: Violence and Delinquency The empiricist vein of effect research was funded to a large extent by major corporations concerned to investigate the influence of their advertising and public relations and by political parties which wished to devise the most effective campaigns. Another important impetus camefrom the government which responded to widespread public concern about media (especially film and then, later, television) portrayals of violence and their possible link with juvenile delinquency. The nature of the assumed links was then and continues to be unclear and confused. Klapper (1960) reduced the assumptions to six basic forms: mass media messages containing the portrayal of crimes and acts of violence can: · be generally damaging · be directly imitated · serve as a school of crime · in specific circumstances cause otherwise normal people to engage in criminal acts · devalue human life · serve as a safety valve for aggressive impulses In essence, it is these assumptions which continue to underlie public concern over the media's possible harmful effects, notably on children. This concern has been reflected in the government funding of research into media violence and delinquency, both here and abroad. It is alsoreflected in the very extensive legislation in the UK and in frequently stated media assumptions that violent media messages cause violence.
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Because it is a matter of such widespread concern, there is a separate section on research into violence. USES AND GRATIFICATIONS CONCEPT This concept believes that people don’t just expose themselves to media messages; they do that based on certain benefits they would derive. The theory was founded by Blumler and Katz’s. According to the duo, media users play an active role in choosing and using the media. Users take an active part in the communication process and are goal oriented in their media use. The theorists say that a media user seeks out a media source that best fulfills the needs of the user. Uses and gratifications assume that the user has alternate choices to satisfy their need. Blumler and Katz believe that there is not merely one way that the populace uses media. Instead, they believe there are as many reasons for using the media, as there are media users. According to the theory, media consumers have a free will to decide how they will use the media and how it will affect them. Blumler and Katz values are clearly seen by the fact that they believe that media consumers can choose the influence media has on them as well as the idea that users choose media alternatives merely as a means to an end. Uses and gratification is the optimist’s view of the media. The theory takes out the possibility that the media can have an unconscious influence over our lives and how we view the world. The idea that we simply use the media to satisfy a given need does not seem to fully recognize the power of the media in today’s society. Uses and gratification theory can be seen in cases such as personal music selection. We select music not only to fit a particular mood but also in attempts to show empowerment or other socially conscious motives. There are many different types of music and we choose from them to fulfill a particular need. In the fairly early days of effects research, it became apparent that the assumed 'hypodermic' effect was not borne out by detailed investigation. A number of factors appeared to operate to limit the effects of the mass media. Katz and Lazarsfeld, for example, pointed to the influence of group membership (see Two-step flow) and Hovland identified a variety of factors ranging from group membership to the audience's interest in the subject of the message As a result of this evidence, attention began to turn from the question of 'what the media do to the audience' to 'what the audience do with the media'. Herta Herzog was one of the earliest researchers in this area. She undertook (as part of Paul Lazarsfeld's massive programme of research) to investigate what gratifications radio listeners derived from daytime serials, quizzes and so on. Katz summarises the starting point of this kind of research quite neatly: ... even the most potent of the mass media content cannot ordinarily influence an individual who has 'no use' for itin the social and psychological context in which he lives. The 'uses'
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approach assumes that people's values, their interests, their associations, their social roles, are proponent, and that people selectively 'fashion' what they see and hear to these interests (Katz (1959) in McQuail (1971) Researchers on the uses and gratifications vein therefore see the audience as active. It is part of the received wisdom of media studies that audience members do indeed actively make conscious and motivated choices amongst the various media messages available. This is called the active audience concept. Benefits/Gratifications People Derive From the Media Katz, Gurevitch and Haas (1973) developed 35 needs taken from the social and psychological functions of the mass media and put them into five categories: · Cognitive needs, including acquiring information, knowledge and understanding; · Affective needs, including emotion, pleasure, feelings; · Personal integrative needs, including credibility, stability, status; · Social integrative needs, including interacting with family and friends; and · Tension release needs, including escape and diversion. Congruously, McQuail’s (1983) classification of the following common reasons for media use is worth noting: Information 1. Finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world 2. Seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices 3. Satisfying curiosity and general interest 4. Learning; self-education 5. Gaining a sense of security through knowledge Personal Identity 5. Finding reinforcement for personal values 6. Finding models of behavior 7. Identifying with valued others (in the media) 8. Gaining insight into oneself
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Integration and Social Interaction 1. Gaining insight into the circumstances of others; social empathy 2. Identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging 3. Finding a basis for conversation and social interaction 4. Having a substitute for real-life companionship 5. Helping to carry out social roles 6. Enabling one to connect with family, friends and society Entertainment 1. Escaping, or being diverted, from problems 2. Relaxing 3. Getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment 4. Filling time 5. Emotional release 6. Sexual arousal (p. 73) Basic Assumptions of the Theory Below are the basic assumptions of the theory as stated in a study of Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch in 1974. They provide a framework for understanding the correlation between media and audiences: 1. The audience is conceived as active, i.e., an important part of mass media use is assumed to be goal oriented ‌ patterns of media use are shaped by more or less definite expectations of what certain kinds of content have to offer the audience member. 2. In the mass communication process much initiative in liking need gratification and media choice lies with the audience member ‌ individual and public opinions have power vis-a-vis the seemingly all-powerful media. 3.The media compete with other sources of need satisfaction. The needs served by mass communication constitute but a segment of the wider range of human needs, and the degree to which they can be adequately met through mass media consumption certainly varies. 4.Methodologically speaking, many of the goals of mass media use can be derived from data supplied by individual audience members themselves- i.e., people are sufficiently self-aware to be able to report their interests and motives in particular cases, or at least
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to recognize them when confronted with them in an intelligible and familiar verbal formulation. 5.Value judgments about the cultural significance of mass communication should be suspended while audience orientations are explored on their own terms. (p. 15-17). OTHER KINDS OF MEDIA EFFECTS THEORIES The University of Oregon summarized other kinds of media effects theories and their basic description below: (as retrieved on Friday 17 th October 2007 from http://oregonstate.edu/ instruct/comm321/ gwalker/ effectsmedia.htm) 1. Cultivation Theory 1. Developed by George Gerbner 2. Central Claim: Persistent long term exposure to TV content has small but measurable effects on the perceptual worlds of audience members. 3. Heavy TV viewing creates an exaggerated belief in a “mean and scary world.” (Gerbner) Cultivation Effects Why do cultivation effects differ among subgroups? Two explanations are possible: Mainstreaming: Heavy viewers from different groups develop a similar outlook. Resonance: TV content “resonates” with real life experiences to amplify the cultivation effect in certain groups. What about TV Violence? 1. According to Gerbner, violence is TV’s principal message. 2. Although other media have violent content, television violence is the most significant. 3. In the 1970s, 2/3rds of prime-time programs contained violence or the threat of violence (Gerbner, 1980). 4. According to Gerbner, elderly, children, Latinos, African-Americans, women, and the less educated are most often the victims of TV violence. 5. TV places marginalized people in symbolic double jeopardy by simultaneously underrepresenting and over-victimizing them. 6. What about today? 2. Social Action Theory 1. Developed by Anderson and Meyer
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2. ”For most of the history of research in mass communication, content has been seen as a silver bullet shot from a media gun to penetrate a hapless audience" (Anderson & Meyer, p. 48). 3. Audiences are not hapless nor passive. 4. Media audiences participate actively in mediated communication; they construct meanings from the content they perceive. 5. Social action theory sees communication interaction in terms of actors’ intent, receivers' interpretations, and message content. 6. Meaning is not delivered in the communication process, rather it is constructed within it. 7. Each communication act generates at least three separate and potentially different sites of this construction. Meanings arise in 1. The intentions of the producer. 2. The conventions of the content. 3. The interpretations of the receiver. 3. Agenda-Setting Theory The Agenda: Not what to think, but what to think about. The Theorists: Maxwell McCombs & Donald Shaw. About the theory 1. It contrasts with the selective exposure hypothesis of cognitive dissonance, reaffirming the power of the press while maintaining individual freedom. 2. It aligns well with social judgment theory. 3. It contrasts with the selective exposure hypothesis of cognitive dissonance, reaffirming the power of the press while maintaining individual freedom. 4. It is consistent with a “use and gratification” approach to television viewers’ motives (and dependency theory). 5. It represents a back-to-basics approach to mass communication research, with a focus on election campaigns. 6. In political media, who sets the agenda? Agenda Setting: Who are the People most affected by the Media Agenda?
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1. Those susceptible have a high need for orientation or index of curiosity. 2. Need for orientation arises from high relevance and uncertainty. Agenda Setting: Which issues are boosted by Media Attention? 1. The media seem particularly effective in creating public interest in political candidates and campaign strategy. 2. Agenda-setting researchers now realize that the campaign itself is the primary issue. Agenda Setting: Do Priming and Framing Dictate what People Think? 1. Priming is “a psychological process whereby media emphasis on particular issues not only increases the salience of those issues, but also activates in people’s memories previously acquired information about those issues.” 2. Framing calls “attention to some aspects of reality while obscuring other elements, which might lead audiences to have different reactions” (McCombs & Shaw) 4. Media Dependency Theory 1. Developed by Ball-Rokeach and De Fleur 2. Key Idea: Audiences depend on media information to meet needs and reach goals. 3. Key Idea: Social institutions and media systems interact with audiences to create needs, interests, and motives in the person. The Degree of Dependence is influenced by 1. The number and centrality of information functions. Media functions include: · Entertainment · Monitoring government activities · Education · Social Cohesion 2. Social stability when social change and conflict are high; and established institutions, beliefs, and practices are challenged; people make new evaluations and choices. In such cases of instability, reliance on media may increase. CONCLUSION The media effects theories arose as products of researches done to ascertain what media do to people. Most of these theories have their roots in earlier theories with roots in Sociology and Psychology.
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The communication technology theories contend that the medium and not the message affect the audience. They believe that various media encourage and create in their audience, patterns of behaviours and views about the world. Katz, and Jay G. Blumler’s uses and gratification theory is prominent in the functional use of the media. One good development is that media theorists have since built on Katz's original formulation. In 1974, Katz,and Jay G. Blumler characterized uses and gratification theory as "the social and psychological origins of needs, which generate expectations of the mass media or other sources, which lead to differential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in other activities), resulting in need gratifications and other consequences, perhaps mostly unintended ones" (Severin& Tankard, 330)." Uses and gratifications theory was discussed as subset of the active audience perspectives. One major criticism of the theory as popularized by McQuail (1994) is that the approach has not provided much successful prediction or causal explanation of media choice and use.
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CHAPTER TEN LAWS REGULATING MEDIA PRACTICES IN NIGERIA Apuke (2014) cited Pember, (2003); laws does not have a universally accepted definition, but one definition is that law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior. Laws can be made by legislatures through legislation (resulting in statutes), the executive through decrees and regulations, or judges through binding precedents (normally in common law jurisdictions. Apuke (2014) Posits that Regulating or to regulate on the other hand may refer to the following: 1. A process of the promulgation, monitoring, and enforcement of rules, established
by primary and/or delegated legislation. 2. A written instrument containing rules having the force of law.
Regulation creates limits, constrains or right, creates or limits a duty, or allocates a responsibility. Regulation can take many forms: legal restrictions promulgated by a government authority, contractual obligations that bind many parties (for example, "insurance regulations" that arise out of contracts between insurers and their insured’s), self-regulation by an industry such as through a trade association, social regulation. This chapter analysis the laws regulating media practice in Nigeria. Tracing the laws that regulated and it’s still regulating media practice in Nigeria can be conceptualized in two fold; The Repressive laws and the (Universal law of Defamation, sedition, copyright law, Secret Act Law and the law of privacy). REPRESSIVE LAWS Repressive laws are laws enacted by various administrations at certain times to curb what in their view represents reckless and responsible behavior from the press (Apuke, 2014). One of the earliest such laws were: (1) The 1903 newspaper ordinance act which was enacted by the colonial masters compelling that N 1000 must be paid by anyone wishing to establish a newspaper in Nigeria. (2) The seditions offenses ordinance was enacted by the colonist in 1909 to check rising tide of nationalist criticism of colonial policies. Seditions actions in this case referred to any publication of any information likely to incite or cause people to srebel against government. The ordinance was a colonist attempt to check on the growing agitation for independence.
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In 1964 that is after the independence, rather than abrogate some of the repressive laws, government sustained them and went further to enact the 1964 Newspaper Amendment Act whose aims was to make both the writer and editor of a newspaper in which a libelous article was published, criminally liable for the publication. In 1976 General Murtala Mohammed was put under press pressure for having laid-off many civil servants on account of unsubstantiated allegations of corruption in efficiency and redundancy allegations of corruption, inefficiency and redundancy. As he called it a “purge” on the civil service, the press also wanted him to purge himself of certain allegations of corruption. Instead of coming clean the general slapped the “public officer protection against false accusation Decree on the press to prevent her from placing public officers under close scrutiny. The decree started “Any person who publish or reproduces in any form whether Written or otherwise, any statement, rumour or report, alleged Or intended to be understood as alleging that a public officer Has in any names engaged in corrupt practices or has in any Manner corruptly enriched himself or any other person, being a Statement, be guilty under this decree and liable on conviction To be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years without the option of fine.” In 1978 the Military regime under Gen. Obasanjo invoked the newspaper prohibition of circulation Decree of 1967 which empowered the head of state to ban from circulation any newspaper “whose continued existence is deemed to be detrimental to government” In 1984 under the Buhari/Idiagbon regime of the most dracoma laws ever in the history of the press and freedom of expression was promulgated. Like in the case of Murtala Mohammed, the agency of this degree is traceable (According to media scholers) to a feeling of insecurity on the part of Buhari. The decree read as follows: “Any person who publishes in a y form, whether written or otherwise any message, rumor being message, statement of report which is false in any material particular or which bring the Federal Military Government,state or public officer to reticulate or disrepute shall be guilty under the decree” Although Gen. Babangida later abolished the notorious Decree No 4 of 1984 it went ahead to replace it with Decree 19 which was an all-purpose barest minimum, the freedom of expression in the country during the transition period. The decree which was designed to facilitate the political transition programme of the military empowered the government to detain any person who does anything to sabotage the transition program. By the all-embracing nature of this decree, media criticism, meetings, crises, corrupt practices and almost anything can be construed as sabotage.
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THE LAW OF PRIVACY Privacy is defined as the claim of individuals, groups, or instructions, to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is communicated to others (Asemah, 2011). Asemah 2009 posits that the law of privacy seeks to prevent the media from invading people’s private lives. Every individual has the right to be left alone. This law prevents the journalist from probing too deep into people’s private lives. Section 37 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the right to privacy it states that “the privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondences, telephone conversations and telegraphic communication is hereby guaranteed and protected. When the reporter and editor talk about privacy, they speak of their right to print facts that they consider are not or should no longer be private. The most glamorous issues arise in connection with public officials. But the problems in newsrooms more often arise, in connection with private individuals who find themselves the potentials subject of public attention. The law of privacy is the law that strives to strike a balance between two ends - at one end we have the responsibility of the journalist to inform the public and at the other end the individual right to live are private. The law here protects individual privacy in order to allow persons to enjoy their private life, because the journalist in the course of digging up information to uncover facts exceeds bounds. It is a well-known fact that the more an individual attains a high rank, the more limited his privacy. That is why public figures and top government officials have limited privacy. Hence, the law recognizes those in high offices to have less privacy. The basic law of privacy invasion has been simply stated below: (a). Appropriation of an Individual's name or likeness to advertise another product or promote his business without the consent of the individual constitutes an invasion of privacy. (b) An uninvited entry into an individual home, or eaves dropping or prying, or trespassing to take pictures, can also constitute an invasion of privacy. (c). Publicity which places private aspects of an individual in a false light in the public eye creates a cause of action for invasion of privacy somewhat analogous to libel. (d). Where statements or depictions are humiliating but true (thereby precluding a libel suit) an actionable invasion of privacy may nevertheless be involved where the facts are entered .private (that is, not part of the public record or visible to public scrutiny) and if made public, would outrage the community's notions of decency. Based from the above basic laws of privacy, a person's privacy can be invaded when one of the following offences is committed by journalists: (i). Offence of Appropriation: - This means using someone's image without his consent, be it expressly or by implication, e.g. when you use somebody's picture without his consent. Advertisers face this problem. However, when such picture is obtained in public function, then he cannot sue. (ii). Offence of Placement in False Light: - This is when you attribute to someone else the views, which he does not hold. This happens also if you see somebody's picture
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wrongly. (iii). Offence of Physical Instruction: - This is also referred to as unreasonable instruction upon the privacy of a person's life. This can be referred to as trespass in legal term. (iv) Offence of Public Disclosure: - Bad publicity, given to the life of someone even though you have fact which is true, is an invasion of privacy. It is said that truth has no defence in this case. (v). Offence of Constitutionality of Source: - The disclosure of a source of information amount to breach of trust and privacy. (vi). Offence of Conspiracy: - When you agree to work with somebody to perform any, illegal act, then you will be charged with conspiracy e.g., when a journalist and a photographer illegally photograph someone's private life without his consent, then they have invaded his privacy through conspiracy. DEFENCES AVAILABLE TO JOURNALIST CHARGED FOR INVASION OF PRIVACY When a Journalist issued to a court of law for invasion of privacy; the court could accept the following pleas as part of proving one’s innocence. (a). The right of privacy is the right to be left alone e.g. if someone attracts public attention more invariably sacrifice most of his private life to the public. (b). Another defence is that, if someone consents or volunteers he cannot complain. This means when you grant the press interview, you should not turn around and sue for invading your private life i.e. in Latin terms means "volenti non fit injuria". (c). Defence of Public Interest: If you can claim to have disseminated an information based on public interest especially if the information concerns public interest and welfare, his case is not actionable by law. (d). Defence of Permanent publication: - This right of privacy can only be violated by permanent publication and not by words. This law does not accept rumours and hearsay. However, if a third party is involved, then you can prove your case when your privacy is invaded verbally. (e). Defence of Newsworthiness: - Public figures are newsworthy because they are always in a news item either in the print or electronic media, they cannot sue if their picture or their statement form a news item. LAWS OF DEFAMATION Defamation can be defined as the transmission to a third party, either orally or written, of information which tends to damage the reputation of another person. It is the publication of a statement, which exposes a person to hatred, ridicule, contempt and/or causes him to be shunned or avoided by right-thinking members of the society Jacdonmi, V (2008) In the case of Nigerian Television Authority vs Ebenezer Babatope (1996) 6 N.W.L-R (p. 440) 70 at 75, the court held that a defamatory statement is the statement which is published of and concerning a person and calculated to lower him in the estimation of right thinking person or cause him to be shunned, or avoided, contempt or ridicule or to convey an imputation on him disparaging or injurious to him in his office, profession,
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calling, trade or business. The phraseology right thinking members of the society involved above was equated in meaning to refer to reasonable and not unreasonable members of the society. Enemo, I (1998) Points out that; Defamation can be at once a civil as well as a criminal act. Criminal defamation is defined both in the criminal and penal codes. Section 373 of the criminal code defines defamation of the matter as matter likely to injure the reputation of any person in this profession or trade. Even a dead person can be defamed according to the law, provided that no prosecution for the publications of defamatory matter concerning a dead person shall be instituted without the consent of the Attorney General of the Federation or of the State. Chapter 23, of the Penal Code deals with Defamation sections 391 and 392. In section 392 of the Penal Code, "whoever defames another shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years or with fine or with both. Section 375 of Criminal Code provides that any person who publishes any defamatory matter is guilty and liable for imprisonment for one year, and any person who publishes any defamatory matters knowing it to be false is liable to imprisonment for two years. So it can be seen that this law curtails the excesses of the mass media in Nigeria as it implies that the press has no right to publish anything that will expose a person as the law entails that anything publish to dampen the image of a person in the estimation of the right thinking people is defamatory and it is punishable by the law. TYPES OF DEFAMATION Since defamation is about defamatory statement made of the plaintiff as understood by members of the society, it means the way and manner it is made; the extent of either coverage and consumption by the society; and the medium used to refer to the words complained of by the plaintiff can easily be adopted to characterize a particular defamation at stake. This will in turn yield the type or types of defamation abound in our jurisprudence. Sambe et-al (2004) asserts that We have two types of defamations: (a) Libel (b) Slander In law, libel can be defined as everything printed or written which reflects on the character of another, and is published without lawful justification or excuse is a libel, whatever the intention may have been. On the other hand, slander is a false and defamatory statement concerning a person made by word of mouth or in other transient form.
LAW OF SEDITION The law of sedition is another law that regulates the practices of mass media in Nigeria as the press has no right to publish any article or broadcast that will expose the government of the day i.e expose its corrupt practices in order not to insight the people against the government of the day. Eweluka, B (2004). Described sedition in the
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following words: “Sedition is a crime against society, nearly allied to that of treason and it frequently pre cases treason by a short interval… Is a comprehensive term and it embraces all those practices, whether by word, clust or writing are calculated to disturb the tranquility of the state and lead against person to endeavor to subvert the Government and the Laws of the ethic”. Under the Nigeria Criminal Law, sedition is define under section 50 (1) of the Criminal Code (applicable to southern 14, geris) defines a seditious publication as a publication having a seditious intention. And section 50 (2) defines seditious intention as an intention: (a). To bring in hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the person of the Head of the Federal Government, the Governor of a State, or the Government or Constitution of Nigeria or a State as by law established or against the administration of justice in Nigeria or, (b). To excite Nigerians to attempt to power the alteration, after wise than by lawfully means, or any other matter in Nigeria as by law established, or (c). To raise discontentment or disaffection among the inhabitants of Nigeria, or (d). To promote feelings or ill-will and hostility between different classes of the population of Nigeria. A computable provision can be found under section 416 of the Northern Nigeria Penal Code Law. The section provides: “Whoever by words, either spoken or reproduced by metical means or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise excites or attempts to excite facings of disaffection against the person of, her majesty, her heirs or successors or the person of the Governor-General or Constitution of the United Kingdom or Nigeria or any Nigeria there of or against the ministration of Justice in Nigeria or any regions thereof shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years or with fine or between both”. From the above statutory provisions, sedition can generally be defined as any statement as representation which has the intention to stir up treason, defame the person of the Head of State or Governor of a State or incited one section of the population against another. The objects of the law of sedition are, to induce and insurrection and stir up opposition to the Government and bring the administration of justice into contempt, and the very tendency of sedition is to incite the people to insurrection and rebellion. In a nutshell, it has the effect of: (i). Invigorating public disturbance (ii). Ignite civic/war (iii). Cast hatred or disaffection to the government (iv). Subvert obedience to the constitution when therefore any write-up or speech or any dehisce of communication, whether by sign, tapes, caricature, etc, that has the effect of promoting any of the above, such a write-up, notwithstanding the Constitution to sedition.
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COPYRIGHT LAW It is axiomatic that every laborer is entitled to reap the fruit of his labour. It follows that where someone has published a work-book, artistic, musical, film, etc. it is his exclusive right to continue to enjoy the benefits and he also has the exclusive right to preserve such a work from invasion from others. Copyright law is one of the legal issues a good journalist need to be aware of. In the words of Nwodu (2006:176), copyright law is the constitutional, rather than, privileged rights of an author or originator of a creative work to reap the benefits accruing to his work by exercising maximum authority or control over the reproduction, distribution and commercial use of his work for a specific period. From the foregoing, it can easily be understood that copyright law is that law which covers the originality of every form of creative work; that is, work created based on the creative and imaginative ability of an individual. The originator of such creative and intellectual work is conferred with the right to continue to reproduce, broadcast and sell his work. The law controls any literary work, its communication to the public, broadcasting it and the reproduction of it in any form. So it can be deduce that the copyright law regulates the media practices in Nigeria as it curtail the excesses of the mass media from covering or copying someone’s work talk more of broadcasting it. THE OFFICIAL SECRET ACT It is an axiomatic that there is no part of the work where you have one hundred percent press freedom. Even when the press seems to operate in the society where journalist seems to enjoy reasonable degree of freedom, such freedoms goes with limitations. The official secret act plays a vital role in curtailing media practices in Nigeria. Eweluka cited in Nwodu (2006:164) says that the official secret acts are legislations made by the government to prevent people who have custody of secrets or official documents such as policies, decisions, contracts and actions of government from recklessly divulging them to the public. Common conscience requires that the people should know government policies and activities without reservations but, government think otherwise Asemah (2009). The belief of the government is that, any government without secret is likely to perish, hence, the enactment of the Official Secret Act. Put more succinctly, Official Secret Act serves as a check against the publication of highly confidential information or documents that may weaken or limit the integrity of any government and by extension, threaten the security of the state. In pursuance of this secrecy, the Official Secret Act was enacted on the 13th of September, 1962. The Act is applicable throughout Nigeria and also binds citizens of Nigeria in disapora. The Act was however reviewed in 1990. The Act describes classified matters as any information not to be disclosed to the public and of which the disclosure to the public will be prejudicial to the security of the Nigeria. Thus, it is clearly marked out as a document that is not to be disclosed to the public and of which the disclosure to the public will jeopardize the security of the nation. Going by the official Secret Act, it is an offence:
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When a custodian of a classified matter (public officer) transmits or shares the classified matter with another person without the permission to do so. That is permission of the government. When someone gains access to obtain, reproduce and retain classified matters without the authority of government to do so. When public officer fails to comply with the directives to, on behalf of the government safeguards any classified matter which by virtue of his office is obtained by him or under his control. When one enters the vicinity of a protected place or photographing, sketching or making record of description of protected place or of anything situated therein. Ellias, Cited Nweka (2001:134), describes a protected place as: Naval, Military or Air force establishment in Nigeria used for or in connection with the production, storage or testing by or on behalf of government, of equipment designed or adopted fordefence purposes; and any area in Nigeria or elsewhere for atime being designated by an order made by the minister as being an area from which should be excluded in the interest of security of Nigeria.
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CONTEMPT OF COURT The law of contempt is predicated on the absolute necessity to provide an enabling environment for the courts and the legislature to perform their constitutional duties without hindrance. In Nigeria, the laws that pertain to contempt of court are the Criminal Code Act, the Penal Code Act and the Constitution itself. Section 133 of the Criminal Code states that any person who: 1.
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Within the premises in which any judicial proceeding is being heard or taken within the precincts of the same, shows disrespect in speech or manner, to or with reference to such proceedings, orany person before whom such proceeding is being heard or taken; or Having been called upon to give evidence in a judicial proceeding, fails to attend or, having attended refused within lawful excuse to answer a question or produce a document or prevaricates, or remains in the room in which such proceeding is being heard or taken after the witnesses have been ordered to leave such room; or Causes an obstruction or disturbance in the course of a judicial proceeding; or While a judicial proceeding is pending makes use of any speech or writing misrepresenting such proceeding, or capable of prejudicing any person in favour of or against any party to such proceeding, or calculated to lower the authority of any person before whom such proceeding is being heard or taken; or Publishes a report of the evidence taken in any judicial proceeding which has been directed to be held in private; or Attempts wrongfully to interfere with or influence a witness in a judicial proceeding either before or after he has given evidence in connection with such evidence; or
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Dismisses a servant because he has given evidence on behalf of a certain party to a judicial proceeding; or Retakes possession of land from any person who has recently obtained possession by a writ of court; or Commits any act of intentional disrespect to any judicial proceeding, or any person before whom such proceeding is being had or taken, is guilty of a simple offence, and liable to imprisonment for three months.
Definition of Contempt From the foregoing discussion, contempt of court can be defined as any act which is calculated to embarrass, hinder or obstruct court administration of justice, or which is calculated to lessen its authority or its dignity, committed by a person who does an act in willful contravention of its authority or dignity, or tending to impede or frustrate the administration of justice or by one who, being under the court’s authority as a party to a proceeding wilfully disobeys its lawful orders or fails to comply with an understanding which he has given (Asemah, 2009). Contempt of court can be in two ways: Contempt in the face of the court (facia curia) otherwise known as direct contempt; and Indirect contempt or ex facia curia. This is contempt committed outside the court, so to say.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN ETHICAL ISSUES IN MEDIA PRACTICE
Ethics is an inclusive term, meaning that it can be understood in a variety of ways. Ethics is associated with morality and deals with matters of right and wrong. Ethics can also be conceived as set of moral principles or values dealing with what are considered good or bad, right or wrong. In mass communication, media ethics refers to the code of conduct or set of rules and principles, which morally govern and guide the mass media and their personnel in the discharge of their functions. It ensures respect for authority, being fair to the audience, quality, equity, moral behavior and all that constitutes a good life are ethics-orient; and these traits touch on conscience and morality. The ability to judge and behave ethically or otherwise is the function of our conscience and morality. The ethical issues that affect the practice of journalism in Nigeria shall be the focus of this chapter . (Malemi 1999, Ewelukwa 2004, Okoye2008) in their books on media laws and ethics identifies them as follows: Sycophancy A sycophant is a “person who tries to win favor by flattering rich or powerful people”. Such excessive and insincere praise is a common ethical problem in journalism. The sycophant journalist flatters political leaders, wealthy citizens and owners of media houses who are employers and have formidable powers over journalists. This is more glaring in the political sphere. Majority of the mass media in Nigeria, as in other developing countries, is owned by the government and as aresult the media more often than. Character Assassination Closely related to sycophancy is the ethical problem of character assassination. By flattering favored prominent and powerful people, the sycophant journalist could indulge in vilifying the opponents of such people. When the press makes statements that damage a person’sreputation, the press is guilty of character assassination. Whereas there is no legal punishment for sycophancy, character assassination is both unethical and illegal; a journalist could face court action for defamation or damaging somebody’s reputation. Pressure Pressure is any force or influence, which causes a journalist to feel strongly compelled to act in a manner desirable to the source of such force or influence. This can be internal or external. Internal pressure emanates from within the organization in which the journalist works. The publishers of a newspaper, for instance, could pressurize an editor to write an editorial in a particular way, or even request the editor to publish a canned editorial written by the publisher or his surrogate. External pressure, on the other hand, comes
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from the wider community or society. These range from advertisers, politicians, or even friends and families of journalists can constitute sources of this type of pressure. Afghanistanism This remains a moral burden because it allows journalists to refuse to comment on issues happening in their vicinity while at the same time condemning the same issues in other countries. Imagine Nigerian editors writing critical editorials about the discredited Zimbabwe and Kenyan elections as rigged, manipulated and unacceptable when Nigerians barely heard anything about the flawed process that imposed Yar’Adua on the nation. Bribery In journalism, the ethical problem of materialism is manifested in the form of bribery and acceptance of gifts. Unfortunately, some journalists usually accept money and other non-monetary gifts before performing their normal duties of disseminating information. This might compromise the integrity of journalists and media organizations. Sensationalism When a newspaper or any other mass medium presents news in a way designed to arouse a quick and excited reaction, it is said to be guilty of sensationalism. This type of reaction is evoked when a newspaper, for instance, seizes on the most sordid disgusting aspect to play up in its news story. Some newspapers and soft sell magazines deliberately encourage this practice and thrive on it in Nigeria. Moonlighting To make ends meet, journalists sometimes take two jobs, by working for competing employers, moonlighting is the act of holding two different jobs simultaneously and being paid for both. This creates room for conflict of interest and divided loyalty, which constitute fertile grounds for unethical behaviour by journalists. Brown Envelope Syndrome It is not only reporters who receive money from news sources; sometimes, news sources receive money from the news media to give out exclusives. However, there is no doubt that money distorts both the news and the news judgment of reporters and editors. If you interview a politician and he gives you money, can you still maintain objectivity and be fair to his adversaries? Cocktail Journalism This refers to an unethical practice whereby journalists use information gotten from tipsy sources from cocktail parties to write stories. Cartel Journalism Cartel journalism is the formation of beat associations for protecting mutual interests. It is unethical insofar as it leads to the suppression and distortion of information. In fact, it is censorship, which is an impediment to press freedom. However, there is hardly any
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beat where reporters have not formed such associations in Nigeria. Wise counsel is that they can remain as welfare associations, not professional associations. Disguise Journalism Is it right to obtain political news in disguise? The rule is that a reporter should always introduce himself before he begins an interview. However, there are special occasions when he can break the rule. Many editors think if the story is important to the public; the reporter can obtain facts under cover. However, it does not end there. What of those who may lose their jobs for their innocent mistakes of talking to a reporter when they thought they were only discussing with a co-worker or person in need? As a rule, people deserve to know if their opinions will be published. Obtaining news under cover is certainly one issue that requires more discussion in today’s journalism. Self-Censorship This is a socially irresponsible and unprofessional act. It is a situation whereby a journalist believes that writing or publishing certain stories would be offensive to his or her employer or the government of the day and therefore refuses to write or publish the story, even without external pressure not to do so. (Extracted from National Open University)
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CHAPTER TWELVE PRESS FREEDOM IN NIGERIA Press freedom does not have a straight jacketed definition; it is the right of the mass media to communicate ideas, opinions and information. It has to do with the right of the media to criticize the political, economic and social institution of the country (Asemah, 2011). According to Onagoruwa (1985), Press freedom is the right of the press to publish without b being subjected to any form of intimidation, molestation or blackmail. To the above scholars press freedom connotes the liberty to publish news or information without formal or informal restraints. But does press freedom really exist in any part of the world? Press freedom exists in some part of the world but not 100%. Going by the aforementioned definition, How Free Is Nigerian Press? There are a lot of factors in Nigeria that impedes or militates against press freedom, in the course of this analysis I shall analyze some factors as follows: LEGAL PRESSURE: even though press freedom is granted in the constitution, there is no statutory backup in Nigeria. Journalist do not enjoy press freedom as the constitution counteract each other for instance section 39 of the 1999 Nigerian constitution qualifies and tactically curtails freedom of expression and of the press. Subsection two of section 39 places prior restraint on the ownership of the media for the exercise of freedom of speech particularly on the broadcast media. Chigbo, (2007) observes that section 39 subsections 3 validates and justifies any law made for the purpose of preventing disclosure of information received in strict confidence while in the service of the state in government. Section 45 of the constitution further limits the exercise of freedom of expression and the press. “This shows that even though press freedom is guaranteed in the constitution of Nigeria, it is only a mere say as there are techniques used by government in Nigeria to dodge what has been guaranteed in the constitution�. ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL PRESSURE: The economic and political pressure in Nigeria makes some newspapers or radio station most especially government owned to publish things in support of the government by so doing the definition of press freedom is defeated. SECRECY: Secrecy in Nigeria limits the right of the people to know, by hindering the press from having access to government sources and records. We have government agencies or officials evading journalist so that they cannot get information about government activities.
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DIRECT CENSORSHIP AND FORCE: The government uses forces, violence and harassment to restrict press freedom. There are many instances when Journalist were physically brutalized in an event to cover a report. We have instance of Dele Giwa who was killed via a letter bomb because he was expressing his view on public issues. SOME PRACTICAL EXAMPLES ON HOW PRESS FREEDOM IS IMPEDE IN NIGERIA Even under the somewhat less-oppressive current civilian government, journalists have continued to come under fire, be it from the government (as with the June 2006 arrest of Gbenga Aruleba and Rotimi Durojaiye of African Independent Television under charges of sedition) or from other popular establishments (such as the self-imposed exile of This day’s Isioma Daniel following the riots in Northern Nigeria over "sensitive comments" which she had made in an article regarding Muhammad and the 2002 Miss World pageant. In September 20, 2009 in Lagos BayoOhu a news editor for the guardian newspaper was shot by unidentified assassins as he answered a knock at the front door of his house in a northern suburb of Lagos The Passing into law the freedom of information act 2011 by president good luck Jonathan tend to provide hope for media professionals, but this hope is usually taken away when it comes to real practice. In November 2011, OlajideFashikun, editor of the National Accord Newspaper was arrested after alleging in a series of articles that there is corruption in the Nigeria Football Association (NFF). In October 2012, Boko Haram carried an attack on journalists who were trying to cover an aftermath of a bombing in Maiduguri. On January 20th 2012, unidentified gunmen shot EnencheAkogwu of Channels TV as he was trying to interview eyes witnesses of an attack carried out in Kano. It can be deduced that Nigerian press freedom is a paradox and only exist on paper i.e Constitution but not in practice.
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CONCLUSION There is no part of the world where you have 100% press freedom. This is because, there are external and internal bodies which often regulates press activities in Nigeria such as legal, economic, political, secrecy and direct censorship/force restrict the full performance of press in Nigeria. ABOUT THE BOOK This book Introduction to Mass Communication Made simple ushers students of mass Communication and Journalism into the discipline of mass communication and gives them a concise and appreciable understanding of the concept of mass communication and its position and role in the society. Every attempt is made here to balance the print and electronic dimensions of the discipline. Most of the course contents are packaged with the understanding that most of the readers are not professionals in the field of communication but rather beginners who are mostly first year undergraduates and are entirely new in the discipline. It should be noted that this book is only an Introduction to Mass communication and does not contain all the aspect in Mass Communication. Students can read the book along with other books on Mass Communication to get a wider view of what Mass Communication is all about. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mr. Apuke Destiny Oberiri is a graduate of Mass Communication Taraba State University, Jalingo where he graduated with a second class upper and the top of his class. He attended International Private School for his primary and secondary school education all in Mubi Adamawa State. He has flair for research in various fields in mass communication ranging from advertising, media studies and effects, news writing and reporting, as well as marketing and public relation. His other works are News Writing and Reporting Made Simple, Rules and Regulations Guiding Media Practices in Nigeria, Introduction to Sociology of mass communication which are all published online.
Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
2016
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