Introduction To Mass Communication - Apuke Destiny Oberiri (2016)

Introduction to Mass Communication-Apuke Destiny Oberiri
INTRODUCTION TO MASS
COMMUNICATION
FOR
DIPLOMA AND UNDERGRADUATE
APUKE DESTINY OBERIRI
(DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION, TARABA STATE
UNIVERSITY)
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.
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.
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 Communication3
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 Model15
Lasswell's Model16
The Shannon and Weaver Model (1948-49)..17
The De Fleur Model (1958)...19
Schramm's Model..20
Schramms Model of Mass communication..21
Dance Helical Model of Communication..22
Berlos SMCR Model of Communication.23
CHAPTER THREE
MASS COMMUNICATION THEORIES....25

Characteristics/Attributes of Theory.....26
Why Study Theories......26
Normative Theories.26
Authoritarian Media Theory..27
SovietCommunist 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
Lasswells Propaganda Theory. ...34
Lippmans Theory of Public Opinion Formation34
Social-Scientific Theories (Limited Effects Theories).35
The Post Stimuli-Response theory...35
Two step flow theory36
Dissonance Theory (Selective Processes)37
Theories of Media, Culture and Society...39
Agenda-setting theory..39
Main Streaming/Synchronisation Theory40
The Knowledge Gap Theory41
Spiral of Silence Theory..42
Media Systems Dependence Theory43
Active Audience Theories..44
Uses and gratifications theory..44
Media Violence Theories: Children and Effects.46
Catharsis theory46
Aggressive Cues Theory..47
Social Learning (Social Cognitive) Theory..47

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
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
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 Rating93
Limited Effects Paradigm..93
Powerful Effects Paradigm94
Uses and gratifications concept......95
CHAPTER TEN
LAWS REGULATING MEDIA PRACTICES IN NIGERIA....103
Repressive Laws......103
The Law of Privacy..105
Laws of Defamation107
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
Afghanistanism114
Bribery114
Sensationalism114
Moonlighting..114
Brown Envelope Syndrome...114
Cocktail Journalism115
Cartel Journalism.115
Disguise Journalism.115
Self-Censorship...115
CHAPTER TWELVE
PRESS FREEDOM IN NIGERIA...116
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 mans 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 persons 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 receiveror 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
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 nonverbal 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 persons day- today life, from employment to romantic engagements.
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 Gandhijis 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
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.
We all do it. Think of a situation when you spoke to yourself. You went and met
somebody and said something silly. Dont you tell yourself I should not have said
that or I shouldnt 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
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 ones 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).
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/senders effort to communicate is to inform or affect the attitude of the receiver.
That is why communication must be receiver-centred.
6. Feedback
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 workmens 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 sources 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.
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
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,
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.
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.
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
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 readers 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 Weavers 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.
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 wells 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.
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 Shannons
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 channels 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
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 DeFleurs 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.
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
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.
DANCE HELICAL MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

In 1967, Frank Dance proposed the communication model called Dances 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.
Dances 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 its gradually moves upward in a back and forth circular
motion which form the bigger circle in the top and its 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
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.
BERLOS SMCR MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
In 1960, David Berlo expanded Shannon and Weavers,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: Barloss SMCR Model of Communication

CONCLUSION
Communication models are designed to better explain communication theories and
concepts. Models are communication tools that illustrate communication behaviour.
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)
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)
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,
Social Responsibility Media Theory, DemocraticParticipant 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 governments 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).
SovietCommunist Media Theory
This specific normative theory was a derivative of Authoritarian Media Theory
transplanted to the SovietCommunist sphere. There is the difference, however, that
while Authoritarian Media theory served to maintain the status quo, SovietCommunist
Media theory was aimed at promoting development, as understood and prosecuted by
the CommunistSocialist 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 SovietCommunist Media theory sought to use the media to
support development and change towards the attainment of the communist state, it was
like the Authoritarian Media theory in subjecting the press to direct state control (Destiny
2012).
SovietCommunist 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
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

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
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 medias 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.
(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 societys 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
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).
Lasswells 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
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.
Lippmans 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 Lippmans 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,
gender, and income level, religious affiliations} will have similar reactions to that
exposure.
The Social Relations Perspective
It posits that peoples 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

Based on the two-step flow hypothesis, the term personal influence came to illustrate
the process intervening between the medias direct message and the audiences
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 hypothesisthat ideas flow from the media to opinion leaders
and then to less active sections of the populationhas 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
Lazarsfelds 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, Lazarsfelds two-step hypothesis is an
adequate description to understand the medias 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 leaders
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
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 (Kastenmller et-al 2010).
Joseph Klapper (1960) asserts that mass communication does not directly influence
people, but just reinforces peoples 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 persons 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. Klappers 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
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.
2.
the press and the media do not reflect reality; they filter and shape it;
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
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 televisions
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
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.
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 peoples 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).
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
persons 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 medias 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.
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
sourcedominated 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:
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
medias violence effects.
Catharsis theory
Catharsis theory states that viewing violence is sufficient to purge or at least satisfy a
persons aggressive drive and, therefore, reduce the likelihood of aggressive behavior
(Baron, 2006).
In other words, viewing mediated aggression reduces peoples 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
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 peoples
level of emotional and psychological stimulation which can in turn lead to aggressive
behavior(Baron & Richardson 2004).
It is also assumed that a persons 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 ones 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
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 peoples 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.
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:
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.
Cultural Transmission
This function entails the passing on or the transfer of a nations (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 ones 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.
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 individuals 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
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 Hogans 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).
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
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 TsaiLun 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
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
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 Virginias influence on American independence. In
1734, John Peter Zenger began publishing the New
York Weekly to counter Bradfords newspaper, the New York Gazette who mostly
expressed the government line. Zengers 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;
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. Defoes Review was distinguished from the
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 Benjamins 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
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,
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
persons 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,
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 earths 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).
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,
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
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
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 radios 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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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
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 MEDIAS
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
existmotion pictures (or just pictures and "picture"), the silver screen, photoplays, the
cinema, picture shows, flicksand 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 visionwhereby 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
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
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.
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
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 organizations 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.
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 companys 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.
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
todays 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, dont 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.
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, its
propaganda, plain and simple. For instance Taraba State University is a state owned
institution and is located in Jalingo, thats a fact; it is one of the newest institutions in
Taraba State, thats a fact. And it graduated its first set in 2014 thats 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
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.
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.
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:
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 childrens
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

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 didnt see as much purpose or value in describing and cataloguing peoples
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
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.
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 isnt real.
Counter-arguments
News is not make-believe (at least its 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.
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 medias 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
There is no way one can make a comprehensive study of media effects without
channeling ones 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
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

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.
Medias 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.
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 dont just expose themselves to media messages;
they do that based on certain benefits they would derive. The theory was founded by
Blumler and Katzs. 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 optimists 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 todays
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'
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, McQuails (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
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
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 TVs 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
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?
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 peoples 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.
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. Blumlers 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.
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 insureds),
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 its 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.
(3)
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.
(4) 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.
(5)
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
(6)
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
(7) 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.
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 peoples private lives. Every individual has the right to be left alone. This
law prevents the journalist from probing too deep into peoples 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
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 ones 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,
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
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.
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 someones 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:
- 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.
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.
2.
3.
4.
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
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
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
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 courts
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.
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 personsreputation, 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 somebodys
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
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 YarAdua 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

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
todays 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)
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.
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
days 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.
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.
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