Search Results (5)

This experimental study models an approach for de-westernizing communication theory by exploring exemplification within a Global South context. Incorporating local knowledge from Nigerian journalists on their motivations for using exemplars in poverty reporting and their anticipated audience outcomes, the study identifies and tests constructs that align with previous experimental studies on exemplification—such as perception of issue significance, awareness of social responsibility to address a social issue, and emotional connection with exemplified group—and those that diverge from previous scholarship—such as trust in media and trust in government. The study also identifies the mediating influence of identification, true to Nigerian journalists’ expectations. By grounding theoretical explanations for exemplification effects on local knowledge from this context, this study challenges the assumption of the universality of exemplification theory, enriches the theory by making it more cumulative, and advances an argument for a more inclusive and just theorizing of exemplification phenomena. Full article

The Nigerian media have, over the years, moved back and forth via all manners of experience of leadership, from military to democratic, until they finally settled into the present democratic governance. Experience from previous regimes exposed them to the vagaries of power and how to cope with them. These traditional news media, newspapers/magazines, radio, and television, were then the major and authentic news sources for Nigerians. The coming of the internet with its social media handles threw the journalists of these media into confusion as the citizens have taken the reigns of news/information peddling from under them, turning them into agents of confirmation and authenticity of information. Ironically, these traditional media, television, radio, and print, have adjusted to online media streaming, thus liberating themselves from the vagaries of temporal and spatial limitedness. Deploying a survey method (opinion poll, OPL) and relying on a purposive sampling technique, the authors purposively selected WhatsApp group platforms (WGP) as the most suitable of the new/social media with access to all manners of news sources. These were used to interrogate how online media/information/news streaming has taken the audience away from traditional media by being on the ‘spot’ at all hours with their avalanche of “Breaking News”. The findings revealed that audiences currently resort to traditional media to confirm the authenticity of news and information carried online in a sort-of-when-in-doubt-watch-the television manner or listen to radio or read the newspapers/magazines. It concludes that online news streaming has become the coveted bride of present-day information and news seekers, albeit an unreliable one. Full article

This study examined the knowledge and use of the 2011 Freedom of Information Act among journalists in Nigeria. The hierarchy of influences model provided the theoretical lens, which guided the study. Through a survey of 313 Nigerian journalists, the study found that there was a high level of knowledge of the Act among Nigerian journalists. Nigerian journalists perceived the Act as a useful journalistic tool, and they often used it for such purposes as confirming facts, writing controversial topics and to gain insight into the inner working of government. The study showed that, in the use of the Act in journalistic duties, Nigerian journalists were confronted with the challenges of non-integration of the provisions of the Act in the operations of government agencies, adversarial disposition of government institutions towards journalists and the pervasive culture of secrecy. The study established that knowledge of the Act positively correlated with its use. The implications of the findings were discussed. Full article

Satire has gained increased scholarly traction across journalism and related fields. The genre increases the entertainment value of journalism and broadens its appeal. Satirical news also serves as a catalyst to pique the curiosity of ordinarily disinterested audiences in news, particularly political news. However, there are some concerns emerging from the weaponization of satire in this contemporary period, which is characterised by the proliferation of fake news and misinformation. From the Nigerian context, there have been minimal empirical spotlights placed on satirical journalism. We employed semi-structured interviews to explore the views of Nigerian print satirical journalists and cartoonists. Our finding broadens scholarship in the evolving area of satirical journalism. It demonstrates how the mainstreaming and the weaponization of satire have changed the texture of satire in Nigerian journalism. Although ethical concerns are admitted, we argue that cartoonists and satirical journalists have a responsibility to adjust to the dynamic media ecology, where satire continuously provides insightful critique and entertaining commentaries. Full article

As a country with a remarkable crude oil deposit, it is a dark irony that Nigeria depends on importation for its petroleum product needs. The devastating impact on Nigeria’s economy of this dependence continues to provoke polemics. Recently, the polemics dominated the text of Nigeria’s leading national newspapers. We see in the texts, manifest and latent ideological status quo thinking about the variant of science Nigerians believe might launch Nigeria into a sustainable competence in petroleum products affordability. Since latent ideological text meanings elude the competence of lay readers, we sampled as data, newspaper texts containing manifest and latent views expressed by Nigerians regarding the version of science of crude oil refining they believe Nigeria needs to enable it to exit its dependence on importation for its petroleum product needs. Leveraging our critical discourse analysis of these diversely sourced data, we raised and answered questions, such as whether the concern expressed by powerful Nigerians against indigenous crude oil refiners results from the patriotic disposition of the powerful or whether their concern is a pushback against anything with a potential to break the monopoly and the illicit gains that accrue from oil subsidy policy that enriches only those at the corridors of power. Our analysis also forayed into why Nigeria’s journalists and Nigeria’s political class see nightmare instead of dreams in the commitment of indigenous crude oil refiners to indigenize the production of petroleum products in Nigeria. Full article