Role of the Media and Analyzing the Administration of President Goodluck Jonathan
Role of the Media and Analyzing the Administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
INTRODUCTION
The enhanced awareness of the role of the media has been demonstrated by the current steep rise in the use of information technology in varied social processes worldwide. Even poor developing countries have embraced the new technology of information dissemination.
Media development is consistent with the established position that the media helps to cause attitude change and, by so doing, ensures socio-economic transformation (Schramm, 1964; Lerner & Schramm, 1967; Agbaje, 1992; Ayee, 1997; Makoa, et al, 2000).
Other scholars are, however, not so sure about the direct effects of the media on behaviour (Gauntlett, 1998).
Given the above, it is perhaps not far-fetched to expect the media to assist Nigeria to reposition itself as a democratic polity with a strong commitment to transparency and accountability.
This is especially because on 29 May 1999, the new administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo publicized its resolve to fight corruption and enthrone a new, improved manner of conducting public business in Nigeria.
In this new dispensation, corruption is to be exposed, punished and eliminated. A new anti-graft law has been enacted and a commission to investigate and prosecute offenders has also been inaugurated.
Furthermore, in Section 22 of the 1999 Nigerian constitution, the media has been given a role to ensure that the government, at all levels, is accountable to the citizenry. Moreover, wherever corruption is checked in the conduct of public business, the media usually plays a critical role.
In the United States, its role in bringing down President Richard Nixon in 1974 has been widely acknowledged. It is generally appreciated that the American democracy is well-served by its media which informs and educates the public, and ensures that the government is accountable to the American people.
In short, the nature and character of the media greatly impacts on the performance of the democratic/governance process and vice versa. The role of the Nigerian media during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan will now be analysed and evaluated.
Statement of Problem
In many situations, it is the ideology or the politics of the proprietor that decides media-bias, or slant. In Nigeria, this has been the dominant consideration since the pioneer media proprietors were motivated largely by their political ambition to establish a printing press (Omu, 1978; Jibo, 2000).
Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, for example, established media outfits during the era of decolonization to enhance their political prospects as certain inheritors of state power after British disengagement from Nigeria.
In the second republic, Chief MoshoodAbiola was similarly motivated to establish the Concord media group to checkmate Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), and to thus enhance his prospects of getting nominated to run as President on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), the UPN’s arch rival (Agbaje, 1992).
Apart from media-bias, the optimum performance of the media in promoting democracy and in achieving the basic roles of mass communication has come into consideration and this ultimately is the problem which this research identifies.
During the democratic administration of President Goodluck Jonathan between 2011 -2014, how well has the media performed?
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