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ВЕСТН. МОСК. УН-ТА. СЕР. 10. ЖУРНАЛИСТИКА. 2019. № 2
Алекс Элохо Умуэрри, доктор философии, старший преподаватель кафедры массовой коммуникации, исполняющий обязанности заведующего кафедрой, Университет Бенсона Айдахоса, Бенин, Нигерия; e-mail: alexungng@yahoo.com
Жозефина Осатоханмвен Адейейе, преподаватель кафедры массовых коммуникаций, Университет Бенсона Айдахоса, Бенин, Нигерия; e-mail: alex-ungng@yahoo.com
ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ ГАЗЕТ И РАЗВИТИЯ ТЕОРИИ МЕДИА В РАЗВИВАЮЩЕМСЯ ОБЩЕСТВЕ
Концепция коммуникации как движущей силы общественного развития со всей необходимостью ставит вопрос об использовании газеты — как средства массовой информации — в общественно-экономическом становлении развивающихся стран Африки, в частности Нигерии. Активное развитие теории медиа в последние десятилетия поставило связанную с этим проблематику в центр общественного внимания. Использование средств массовой информации, возможность их адаптации для решения проблем общественного развития обсуждается владельцами СМИ и общественными деятелями, журналистами и учеными. Именно в этом аспекте рассматривается использование газет и теории СМИ в данной публикации. В статье содержится обзор нигерийских печатных СМИ; оценивается значимость газет как канала коммуникации; обсуждаются принципы развития медиатеории; исследуется важность журналистики как средства развития нигерийского общества. В качестве материала в статье исследуются две нигерийские национальные газеты — «Авангард» и «Гардиан», с точки зрения их публикаций о политике, культуре и языке как парадигме развития нигерийского государства. Один из выводов: газеты не ориентированы на такого рода развитие. В статье сформулированы некоторые рекомендации для журналистов: в средствах массовой информации должно уделяться больше внимания проблемам развития нигерийского общества.
Ключевые слова: коммуникация развития, газеты, теория развития СМИ, журналистика развития.
Alex Eloho Umuerri, PhD in Mass Communication, Acting Head of the Department of Mass Communication, Senior Lecturer, Benson Idahosa University, Benin, Nigeria; e-mail: alexungng@yahoo.com
Josephine Osatohanmwen Adeyeye, Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Benson Idahosa University, Benin, Nigeria; e-mail: jose4love200@yahoo.com
PERSPECTIVES FOR UTILIZATION OF NEWSPAPERS AND THE DEVELOPMENT MEDIA THEORY IN A DEVELOPING SOCIETY
While developing societies embrace the concept of development communication as a viable way of attracting development to their societies, it has become necessary to ask how newspapers (as part of the mass media) can be utilized in a developing African country such as Nigeria. This use of newspapers is viewed vis-a-vis the tenet of Development media theory. In fact, over the years theory building and application have become part of the press and society. Invariably, when theories are propounded, their use and adaptability become issues for discussion by owners, operators of media institutions, scholars and society. It is for this reason that the utilization of newspapers and Development media theory in Nigeria are examined. The paper therefore contains an overview of the Nigerian mass media landscape and print media in particular; considers development communication; evaluates the important nature of newspapers as a development communication channel; discusses the tenet of Development media theory; examines the use of development journalism as a concept which evolved from Development media theory and is useful for the developing Nigerian society; and investigates the place of two Nigerian national newspapers, Vanguard and Guardian, in development journalism in terms of stories on politics, culture and language as development paradigms within the Nigerian state. One of the conclusions is that the newspapers are not development-oriented in their coverage. The paper recommends that journalists in media institutions should pay more attention in their reports to these development areas in their future published works.
Key words: development communication, newspapers, Development media theory, development journalism.
DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2019.2951 Introduction
Newspapers in today's world are so important that their acceptance as an index for generating positive development in society no longer causes doubts. As part of the print mass media, the newspaper is one of the forerunners of press activities. When Johann Gutenberg introduced moveable type in Germany in 1440, barriers were erected against its use to influence public attitudes through a free flow of news and opinions.
In the English-speaking world, printers and writers struggled until 1700 to win the mere right to print. Furthermore, printers and writers fought and won a second right, the right to criticize and then a third right, the right to report. Anaeto, Solo-Anaeto, Tejumaiye (2009: 2) and Daramola (2003: 10—12) have delved a lot on this historical aspect of newspaper evolution.
Newspapers gradually became a popular means of communication. Different newspapers in the developed and developing societies are diverse in content build-up, outlook, color, texture, size, pagination and types. For instance, modern newspapers are made up of standard or broad sheets, consisting of eight columns while tabloid newspapers are made up of six columns. Furthermore, historical accounts recognize the all-important nature of newspapers as the first means of introducing enlightenment and education in Nigeria (Duyile, 1987; Daramola, 2003; Akinfeleye, Okoye; 2003). Therefore, the diverse contributions of newspapers to the development of the Nigerian society has become an ongoing issue of discourse for scholars in the mass communication subfield.
The Problem
The media of mass communication — newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the new electronic media — have always accelerated development in both advanced and developing societies. In addition, mass communication theories have helped to explain the coloration of the media globally, and in specific terms this study is interested in investigating how newspapers in Nigeria have contributed to the development process from the perspective of Development media theory. While Development media theory, according to McQuail (1987: 121), has six propositions, this study is interested in investigating how propositions one (1) and three (3) have been used by Nigerian newspapers in their coverage of political, cultural, and language issues. The problem therefore was to find out the context of political reporting in Guardian and Punch newspapers and also to discern the specific types of culture and languages in the same newspapers. Thus, a number of pertinent questions were visible. First, have Nigerian newspapers been promoting issues of politics in the Nigerian geographical space? Second, which types of cultures and languages, from both diverse affinities are the national newspapers promoting through their coverage?
Overview of the Nigerian Mass Media Landscape and Print Media
According to Olukotun (2018: 2) the mass media in Nigeria and much of Africa are best understood in the context of their pre-colonial rule in oral narratives and festivals, as well as their colonial and post colonial identities as enablers of authoritarian rule, at least until the democratic transitions of the 1990s. He notes further, for example, that broadcasting despite liberalization and the growth of a fragile private sector is largely state-owned. State radio and television tend to have national reach as opposed to most private broadcasters, who have limited reach, although this is offset by their capacity to connect to satellite broadcaster through DSTV, even as at 2016, and in spite of the approval, after a long struggle, of community radios, broadcasting is still tightly regulated while "the decision to grant a broadcasting license remains a subjective presidential privilege". Other constraints, according to Olukotun (2018) include high licensing fees, which restrict ownership to the wealthy, as well as restrictive clause in the broadcasting code, which limits editorial content and programming. Broadcast managers, who test the limit of regulation, have done so to their own regret as the shutdown of the Kano based freedom Radio in 2016 and the detention, for 78 hours, of the editors of the Channels Television in 2008 illustrate. The Nigerian media, as several observers have noted, operate within the free market, capitalist system and do not harbor left-leaning varieties as you find in some European countries.
In Nigeria, the print media can be traced historically. Umuerri (Um-uerri, Shoki, 2011: 29) has described the developing pattern of the press system in Nigeria as having evolved from the pioneering efforts of Reverend Henry Townsend with the publication of Iwe Irohin in 1897. The other publications which appeared at that time were Anglo-African,The Lagos Times, Gold Coast Advertiser, Lagos Observer, Weekly Record, The Africa Messenger, Daily Times, Nigeria Chronicle, Lagos Standard, Nigeria Pioneer, The Nigeria Spectator, The Lagos Daily News, and the Nigerian Daily Times. This period was marked by the need to communicate with the people, and newspapers made it a responsibility to point out grey areas in colonial administration as they affect the colonies and the people. The second was the period from 1937 to 1960, during which the seed of nationalism, sown in the last decades of the 19th century and nurtured in the first three decades of the 20th century, grew to maturity. A glimpse of the maiden edition of the West African Pilot, which appeared on November 22, 1937, will suffice:
The radicalism of the media as an anti-colonial and pro-The West African Pilot is a child of circumstance in the theatre of world's history. Nevertheless, this new organ of public opinion is dedicated to perform its task in concert with its contemporaries, in a spirit of humility and candor and co-operation... consistent with this policy, we shall not scrupple to focus, the spotlight of public opinion on any issue which affects the destiny of Africa, in the light of our sincere and honest connections.
In the print media, according to Olukotun (2018), especially in newspapers, there is a tradition of lively outspokenness, partly because it is private-sector led, partly because of the history of civil agitation dating back to colonial rule and also because Nigeria's ethnic and religious diversities make it difficult for dictatorship to operate, since ethnicity and religion can become rallying points of civil agitation among the excluded. There are official constraints and persecution to independent newspapers.
The subtle denial of advertising becomes important. Direct methods are also employed, for instance, in the fourth Republic. the shutdown of publications such as Weekly Insider in 2004, as well as the arrest of editors and the seizure of copies of independent newspapers such as those that occurred in June 2014 when the Nigerian Army carried out searches, leading to confiscation of copies of Leadership, The Nation, Daily Trust and The Punch. The ejection of the state house correspondent of the Punch, Olalekan Adetayo in 2017 over a story connected to the ill health of President Muhhamadu Buhari, followed the same trend.
A justification for this paper is that it will contribute to the body of knowledge in development journalism in terms of newspaper use and might be useful for media practitioners, scholars, researchers, students and consumers of mass-mediated communication information.
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are to determine and ascertain the context of newspapers' reporting of development issues on politics, culture and language. The understated objectives were therefore crafted to serve as guide in this study and these are to:
1. Determine the contexts of newspapers' coverage of development issues, in this sense, political issues.
2. Ascertain the coverage given by the Nigerian press on stories of culture and language.
Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated to provide answers to the objectives of contexts and types of coverage in the newspapers on politics, culture and language:
1. What is the context of coverage given to political stories in the Nigerian press?
2. Which types of culture and languages did the Nigerian press promote more during the period of study?
Clarification of concepts
The understated concepts are explained thus:
Development Communication
It is the planned use of the media (newspapers, magazines, radio and television) to highlight and promote development information in the areas of agriculture, health, politics, education, family planning, economy, housing and environment, culture and the like (Anaeto, Solo Anaeto, 2009: 35; Umuerri, 2014: 145).
Newspapers
Anaeto, Anaeto, Tejumaiye (2009: 5) says: Just as the name suggests, 'news' and 'paper', the newspaper is primarily a medium for disseminating news. It brings recent information to its audience and provides them with what is happening around them in their neighborhood, town, state, country and all over the world. Newspapers equally interpret events for the audience so that they can make informed and rational decisions.
A newspaper, according to Baker (1968), is "a medium of communication usually published daily or weekly, by which information features are circulated among the people". Newson and Wollert (1988: 74) posit that:
The newspaper is the medium of record. It's what you consult to find out the most information about everything that happened on a certain date in that community and surrounding area. Newspapers are valuable information sources.
Bittner (1989: 22) provides a definition from the premise of characteristics and from the position or views of Otto Groth, a German scholar, who in 1928 developed a set of five standards that are as follows: first, the newspaper must be published periodically at intervals not less than once a week; second, mechanical reproduction must be employed, third, anyone who can pay the price of admission must have access to the publication, in other words it must be available to everyone, not just a chosen few, thus no organization can have an exclusive right to read or obtain the publication; fourth, it must vary in content and include everything of public interest to everyone, not merely to small select groups; and finally, the publication must be timely with some continuity of organization.
The definitions of Anaeto, Anaeto, Tejumaiye (2009: 5—6), Baker (1968), Newson and Wollert (1988: 74) and Bittner (1989: 22), remain relevant in our conception of today's newspaper. This relevance can be seen, for example, from the perspective of newspapers published daily in Nigeria such as Guardian, Vanguard, Champion, Tribune, etc., weekly and also fortnightly newspapers. These and other periodicals carry information of varying types and degrees and of course they are easily accessible in the newsstand. However, Otto Groth's second standard which demands that mechanical reproduction must be employed has been improved upon with the introduction of alternative compugraphic machines for printing and the modern high technology printing presses that abound today. We can further add that a newspaper is one that is routinely published, either in standard/broad sheet form or in tabloid form to disseminate information, news and education with the objective to communicate and introduce discussions and strategies that would lead to development in society.
Development
Development is a term that implies positive changes in terms of physical and material structures, improved well-being of citizens,
positive changes in health, agriculture, education, economy, and transportation sectors of society. It is also the ability to disseminate information to rural settings that will be critical to transforming such areas and reintegrating them to the rest of the society.
Developing Society
The concept according to Ogai, in Uwakwe (Ogai, 2003: 35) is used to represent developing societies/countries that are characterized by the features explained below as we provide snippets of six from the ten characteristics given by the author as follows:
1. Demographic Features: All developing countries are highly populated. The causes of high population growth are high birth rate and declining death rate, reduced mortality and increased fertility.
2. High Rate of Unemployment: other important characteristics of underdeveloped countries are unemployment and disguised unemployment. The increasing rate of urbanization and education increases the rate of unemployment in developing countries. The educated unemployed fail to get jobs because of structured rigidities and the lack of manpower planning.
3. Lack of Patriotism: another significant feature of under-development is lack of patriotism in the citizens of the developing countries. As a result of lack of patriotism about 95 percent of the population in the underdeveloped countries work and operate in opposition to development efforts and processes in their country.
4. Ethnic and Tribal Sentiments: ethnic and tribal sentiment or rivalry, which is a combination of feelings and opinions by groups of people in a society, has very much hindered development in the less developed countries.
5. Monopoly Capitalism: this refers to an economic situation where there is absence of competition in the developing countries.
6. Monocultural Economy: the underdeveloped countries tend to depend principally on one mineral or item for economic survival.
Civil Society
We are going to look at this concept from the perspective of John (1995). He says it is "a space in which social groups could exist and move, something which exemplified and would ensure softer, more tolerable conditions of existence".
Development Media Theory and Development Journalism
Development media theory is the fifth of six Normative media theories identified by McQuail (1987; 2010). The other theories are: Authoritarian media theory; Liberation theory; Social responsibility theory; Soviet media theory; and Democratic-participant media theory. McQuail (2010: 162) believes that Normative theories "refer to the ideas of right and responsibility that underlie these expectations of benefit from the media to individuals and society".
We turn our attention to the tenet of Development media theory. The principles of the theory according to McQuail (1987: 121) are as follows:
1. The media should accept and carry out positive development tasks in line with nationally established policy;
2. Freedom of the media should be open to restriction according to economic priorities and development needs of the society;
3. Media should give priority in their content to the national culture and language;
4. Media should give priority in news and information to links with other developing countries that are
close geographically, culturally or politically.
5. Journalists and other media workers have responsibilities as well as freedom in their information gathering and dissemination tasks.
6. In the interest of development ends, the state has the right to intervene in, or restrict media operations and devices of censorship; subsidies and direct control can be justified.
It is now useful to briefly explain the origin of Development media theory. Development media theory is an expression of gross under-development in society, especially in developing countries of the world as an offshoot of the four theories of the press espoused by Siebert, Peterson and Schramm (1956).Therefore, the debilitating conditions of poverty, overwhelming health challenges, economic woes, inadequate housing, transportation inadequacies, etc. are enough to theorize on. This is why McQuail (2010: 176) maintains that a more positive version of media theory is needed which focuses on national and developmental goals as well as the need for autonomy and solidarity with other nations in a similar situation. The situation above can be linked to most developing countries, especially African societies, Nigeria included. We also need to have a peep into the use of Development media theory.
Interestingly, this media theory has led to the concept of development journalism, which took root in most developing countries and even in developed societies. We are therefore going to examine the contexts of Development media theory in the light of the evolvement of development journalism. Folarin (2005: 57) noted that from Development media theory we have the concept of development journalism, which emerged around the mid-1960s as a descriptive term for a type of journalism which demands that "news reporting be constructive and geared towards development ends". For Soola (2003: 159) Development journalism is a pragmatic, skillful, dialectal, composite and purposive process — product coverage of socially desirable programs and projects, designed to enhance the living conditions of the people. It must provide a bi-directional flow of information between rural and urban sectors of the economy, speak and write the language of the people and cover, among other things, such development areas as economy, environment, health, agriculture, population, growth, food shelter, unemployment, poverty, inequality, human rights (including those of women and children) while, at the same time, seeking to eradicate the culture of foreign domination and dependency.
Furthermore, we add that development journalism is the reporting of desirable events in the areas of education, health, agriculture, science and technology, politics, population growth, community life, to generate discussions on them, with a view to leading to purposive action for development on the part of the people and government.
Folarin (2005: 57) identified two forms of development journalism and these are: Investigative development journalism and Benevolent-Authoritarian development journalism. The first focuses on the critical questioning and evaluation of the usefulness of development projects and the efficiency of control by the authorities concerned. It critically examines public complaints of misgovernment and probes allegations of corruption, both of which may stand in the way of development. The focus of the second is on selective handling of information, which is justified in the developing countries that are crisis-ridden. Holding on to the most authoritarian tenets of Development media theory, proponents of this theory are prepared to assign to the national news agencies the function of censorship in addition to their normal function of news distribution.
Theoretical Synthesis
From the guidelines by McQuail (1987) we can infer the following: all mass communication tools, including newspapers, must be mobilized by the central government to aid in the great task of nation building, fighting illiteracy and poverty, building political consciousness and assisting in economic development. Implicit here is the social responsibility view that the government must step in and provide an adequate press service when the private sector is unable to do so; newspapers should support authorities. Thirdly, information (or truth) thus becomes the property of the state. Information is a scarce national resource and must be utilized to further the national goals. Also implied but not often articulated is the view that individual rights of expression and other civil liberties are somewhat irrelevant in the face of overwhelming problems of poverty, disease, illiteracy and ethnicity that face many of these nations; and lastly, this concept implies the press, which is monitored and utilized by society for development purposes.
Therefore, one of the popular phrases of the theory is that the world needs a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) to address the imbalance in Western International Media and others.
It will be helpful to provide answers to a question that arises from Development media theory that this work will resolve. On the first principle of Development media theory by McQuail (1987: 121), "Media should accept and carry out positive development tasks in line with nationally established policy", a question that this work sought to address is: what is the context of coverage of development stories, in this sense, political items?
Secondly, on proposition three: Media should give priority in their content to the national culture and language. The question is: which types of culture and languages did the Nigerian press promote more during the period of the study?
The basis for this question in Nigeria derives its power, for instance, from the 1999 Nigerian Constitution. Its Chapter 11 on fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy (Subsection 22) states that "the press, and other agencies of the media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives.and uphold the responsibility of the Government to the people".
Newspapers Role and Factors Inhibiting Its Effective Utilization
For Development Purposes
Newspapers perform different roles. Some of these roles are to inform, educate, entertain, mobilize, serve surveillance function, that of a crusader of public rights, that of supporting government policies and actions, etc. Sparks (2000: 286) pointed out that "newspapers have a detailed knowledge of their locality that is not immediately available to other organizations. In terms of editorial copy, newspapers have long adopted a strategy of "zoning", which in essence is an attempt to get closer to the immediate interests of defined communities by means of producing editions that are narrowly focused on particular places.
We also need to pay close attention to the newspapers' role vis-a-vis the media's role as a development tool (Schramm, 1964; Habte, 1983; Pool, 1963). It then seems pertinent to ask a question which, on the face of it, may appear trivial but which, in fact, is crucial to the entire discussion. The question is: What are the likely factors that would inhabit effective utilization of newspapers for development purposes?
These factors must be recognized by newspaper owners and practitioners for effective utilization and application of Development media theory. They are explained below.
1. Poverty: Low levels of monetary and financial sophistication characterize people of developing societies. With this, people find it difficult to get their produce to cities to sell because of lack of good motorable roads. They cannot sell their products to get money to buy newspapers. This will be an obstacle to the actualization of the Development media theory if newspapers are to serve as agents of information for change in society.
2. Illiteracy: People of developing societies, most of whom live in rural areas, are those for whom newspaper messages are meant. On the other hand, about 95% of all illiterate people in the world are from rural Third World countries. These people cannot read or write in local or foreign languages. This illiteracy rate discourages the establishment of newspapers.
3. Lack of Infrastructural Facilities: Most people of developing societies lack the basic goods of life, which is why living is constantly unbearable for them. These people may trek many miles in search of water. The roads are nothing better than footpaths, they have no electricity and where it exists, it is as if it does not. Basic infrastructural
facilities such as roads and transport systems are in an abysmal state of development. All this limits the circulation of newspapers in the country.
4. Poor Access to Newspapers/Channel of Communication: If communication is the transmission of messages from one person to another and so is through the mass media, then access to newspapers becomes an absolute necessity for effective communication among people in different parts of the country. The inaccessibility of newspapers despite the potential power of newspapers is an inhibiting factor.
5. Lack of Training: Journalists may lack training and experience. Some may feel they are of different class and more educated than rural people; they often intimidate villagers, who tend to reject whatever programs development agents bring to them. In this situation, it might be said, the journalist as a change agent has failed to develop the need for the change and failed to establish rapport, empathy and change relationship with the people of the community. Adequate training will help journalists to make provision for feedback facilities that will enable him or her to realize that villagers are generally suspicious of government-sponsored projects because of their past experiences of such projects. Such training strategy can be established through training in both social science research method and rural communication for newspapers.
6. Tribal Isolationism: This is when owners of newspapers and their workers are tribalistic both in news reporting and employment. It may also mean excommunication of persons or a group of persons on account of tribal sentiment.
Methodology
The research method employed in the study is content analysis, which is a method of studying and analyzing communication content in a systematic, objective and quantitative manner for the purpose of measuring variables (Wimmer, Dominic, 2010: 125). This method allows for classification of materials under objective criteria that render them susceptible to statistical description.
Sample size and sampling procedure:
Two Nigerian national newspapers, Guardian and Vanguard, were purposively selected for this study. These newspapers have fully established their global presence on the Internet. For instance, each of the newspapers has a web portal, which attracts readers. Thus, the newspapers have earned the reputation of national newspapers that can be read in all parts of the world. In all, a total of 62 issues of the
newspapers were selected for the analysis, which covered the period July 1st—31st, 2018. To select the sampled days, the study adopted a composite week approach. Wimmer and Dominick (Wimmer, Dominick, 2003: 148) explain that research has demonstrated that a composite week sampling technique is superior to both random sample and a consecutive day sample when dealing with newspaper content. The first Monday in July, 2018 was selected. Thereafter, Tuesday of the second week was chosen, Wednesday of the third week and Thursday of the fourth week in July, 2018. This process was used for the two selected newspapers, and thus gave us a total of 8 days and 7 issues of the selected newspapers analyzed. The July 10th issue of Vanguard was not available for analysis.
Table 1
Selected days for July, 2018 in the newspapers
SN Days Guardian Vanguard Total №
1 Monday 2nd 2nd 2
2 Tuesday 10th (NIL) 1
3 Wednesday 18 18th 2
4 Thursday 26 26th 2
TOTAL 4 3 7
One copy of the two selected newspapers was used on each of these days.
Unit of Analysis: The unit of analysis "is the thing that is actually counted. It is the smallest elements of content analysis, but it is also one of the most important" (Wimmer, Dominick, 2000: 143). For this study, the units of analysis are: new stories, feature articles, editorials and opinion articles. New stories are hard news published in the newspaper. Editorials express the position of the newspaper and provide explanations and reasons for the given position. Feature articles are written on political culture and languages and are often accompanied by good pictorial displays. These are created by journalists, commissioned writers or newspaper readers; details are clearly spelt out in these articles with various references to personalities and events. Opinion articles are written by individuals or journalists expressing their personal opinions on the issues.
Context of Articles
1. Positive Context: All forms of coverage that have positive attributes of politics in Nigeria.
2. Negative Context: All forms of coverage that specifically oppose or have negative attributes of politics in Nigeria.
3. Neutral Context: All forms of coverage that neither support nor oppose politics in Nigeria. The research tool was content categories and coding sheets were used to gather data systematically and objectively from the national newspapers.
Method of Data Analysis: The data gathered from this study were presented using frequency counts and simple percentages distribution.
Findings
Research Question One: What is the context of coverage given to political stories in the Nigerian press?
The results of the investigation are presented below:
Table 2
Coverage and Context of Political stories coverage in Vanguard
SN Types of Coverages № Context of Coverages №/% Total Percentage
1 News Stories 17 Positive Neutral Negative 7/41,17 2/11,76 8/47,05 85%
2 Features 1 Positive 5%
3 Opinion Articles 2 Positive 10%
4 Editorials NIL NIL NIL 0%
TOTAL 20 100%
The result showed that most of the political events were covered using news stories and most of these were negative, forty-seven percent (n=8). Also, opinion articles were all positive and made ten percent (n=2), while features were also positive and made five percent (n=1). A further investigation was to find out the newspapers' coverage for July 18th, 2018.
July 18th 2018 Coverage and Context of Vanguard on Politics
SN Types of Coverage № Context of Coverage №/% Total Percentage
1 News Stories 24 Positive Neutral Negative 14/58,33 Nil 10/41,66 82,75%
2 Features 1 Positive (I) 3,44%
3 Opinion 4 positive 13,79%
4 Editorial NIL NIL 0
TOTAL 29 100
Again, news stories dominated; in Vanguard for the period of study, however, most of these were positive. In addition, there was a need to find out the newspapers' coverage of political stories for the next selected day.
Table 4
July 26th Coverage and Context on Politics
SN Types of Coverage № Context of Articles №/% Percentage
1 News Stories 24 Positive Neutral Negative 9/37,5 6/25,0 9/37,5 88,8%
2 Feature Stories 1 Negative - 3,70%
3 Opinion Stories 2 Negative Neutral 1/50,00 1/50,00 7,40%
4 Editorials NIL NIL NIL NIL
TOTAL 27 100%
The table shows that news stories took the lead with eighty eight percent (n=24), with the negative and positive stories accounting for thirty seven percent each (n=9).
Total Context of Stories in Vanguard July, 2018
№ Context of Stories in Vanguard Frequency Percentage
1 Positive 34 44,73
2 Neutral 10 13,15
3 Negative 32 42,10
TOTAL 76 100
The table above shows that Vanguard had more positive stories/ coverage of thirty four percent (n=34) as against neutral coverage of thirteen percent (n=10). A further investigation was aimed at finding out the Guardian newspaper's coverage for the study period as presented in Table 6 below
Table 6
Context of Coverage in Guardian of July 2nd, 2018
SN Types of Coverages № Context of Coverages №/% Percentage
1 News Stories 7 Positive Neutral Negative 2/28,57 1/14,28 4/57,14 77,77%
2 Features 1 Neutral 11,11%
3 Opinion 1 Positive 11,11%
4 Editorials NIL NIL
TOTAL 9 100%
The results above indicated the dominance of negative stories, fifty seven percent (n=4), over the other contexts of coverage.
Guardian July 10th, 2018. Coverage of Political Stories
SN Types of Coverages № Context of Coverages №/% Percentage
1 News Stories 6 Positive Neutral Negative 5/83,33 NIL 1/16,66 75,88%
2 Features 2 Neutral 25,00%
3 Opinion NIL Positive -
4 Editorial NIL -
TOTAL 8 100%
The result showed that most of the news stories were positive, eighty three percent (n=5).
Table 8
Context of coverage in Guardian July 18th, 2018
№ Types of Coverages № Context of Articles №/% Percentage
1 News Stories 5 Positive Neutral Negative 1/20,00 NIL 4/80,00 71,42
2 Feature Stories 2 Positive 28,57
3 Opinion Stories NIL NIL -
4 Editorials NIL NIL -
TOTAL 7 7
Eighty percent (n=4) of negative stories were news stories in the newspaper. Further investigations are presented below:
Context of Coverage in Guardian July 26th, 2018
№ Types of Coverages № Context of Articles №/% Percentage
1 News Stories 7 Positive Neutral Negative 1/14,28 1/14,28 5/71,42 100%
2 Feature Stories NIL NIL
3 Opinion Stories NIL NIL
4 Editorials NIL NIL
TOTAL 7
The result showed that seventy one percent (n=5) of the news stories, which was the highest figure, were negative.
Table 10
Guardian July 2018 Total Distribution of Coverages Under Context Categories
№ Context of Articles Frequency %
1 Positive 12 38,70
2 Neutral 3 9,67
3 Negative 16 51,61
TOTAL 31 100%
The results from the table showed that most of the stories, fifty one percent (n=31), were negative.
Comparison of Context in Newspapers Coverage in Vanguard & Guardian for July 2018
№ Context of Articles Vanguard Guardian Total № Total, %
1 Positive 34 12 46 43,00
2 Neutral 10 3 13 12,14
3 Negative 32 16 48 44,86
TOTAL 76 31 107 100
The table shows that the stories with negative context prevailed, forty four percent (n = 48).
Research Question Two: Which types of culture and language did the Nigerian press promote more during the period of study? The investigation revealed the following, as shown below.
Table 12
Culture and Language elements in the selected newspapers
№ Forms of Coverage Vanguard №/% Guardian №/% №/% %
1 Culture 3/50 3/50 6 100
2 Language - - -
TOTAL 3 3 6 100
The result showed that the number of culture stories was equal and each newspaper published fifty percent making a total of one hundred percent (n=6). There was not a single publication on language for the period under investigation.
Discussion
On political stories, the results showed that the context of stories published in the national Nigerian newspapers was largely negative. This result shows that the newspapers in their orientation were more negative
in their coverage of political stories than positive. This result does not sustain proposition 1 of the development media theory which posits that "media should accept and carry out positive development tasks in line with nationally established policy". Therefore, the result of studying two of the leading national newspapers in Nigeria, Guardian and Vanguard, indicates that the national press is not pro-development enough on political stories.
As regards research question two, it is obvious that Nigerian newspapers pay little or no attention to the issues of culture and language as found out from the investigation in the two newspapers. In fact, it is abysmal to observe that none of the two papers carried even a single story on language, while cultural issues were given scant attention.
Conclusion
Newspapers have a crucial role to play in development journalism, partly because it is a medium that appeals to our sense of sight in printed form, thus it is usually a collector's item that can be kept and used for future purposes. From all that has been said it may be inferred that the newspaper as a potent tool must be used to reflect the concept of Development media theory from the perspective of development journalism. In other words, the two Nigerian newspapers used for this study should do more to engage in political issues of a positive orientation, so that this will impact positively the Nigerian society and therefore lead people to be more involved in the political process. On this score, the editors of the newspapers have a bounden duty to ensure that there is a refocus of context in the coverage of political stories from the negative to positive bias by both newspapers. Secondly, the Nigerian national press should deliberately concentrate on issues of people's culture and language in order to sustain these, so as to sustain and promote people's endearing values, traditions and customs. In this guise, reporters should deliberately make concerted efforts to liaise with the locals in order to be able to have adequate information on culture and language issues for editors to publish in national newspapers.
Notes
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) Lagos: Federal Government of Nigeria.
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Поступила в редакцию 21.08.2018
