| 1 |
Author(s):
Najeem Adunola Omotayo, Agboluaje Saheed Abidemi.
Page No : 1-24
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Television News Coverage of the 2019 Presidential Election in Nigeria: A Content Analysis Approach
Abstract
In the Nigerian context, the broadcast media have continued to participate as active stakeholders in the electoral process. They produce various adverts, jingles, programmes and shows that aim at encouraging people to exercise their voting rights, reject electoral violence, and advocate peaceful elections. They also play important roles in social sensitization and mobilization ahead of the elections with many broadcast stations hosting debates for political aspirants. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of the programme's contents of NTA’s Political Update on voters’ participation and voting patterns in the 2019 general elections in Nigeria. The study adopted mixed methods design of the exploratory type. Sample comprised 185 respondents, including key stakeholders drawn from six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Data were collected using three instruments; NTA and FRCN Network Programme Contents Analysis Checklist (NFNProCAC); Voters’ Electoral Participation Questionnaire (VEPQ) and Key Electioneering Personalities Interview Schedule (KEPIS). Content analysis data were analyzed quantitatively, while survey data were analyzed using SPSS V25, descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that NTA’s Political Update adequately featured voter education contents prior to the 2019 General Election in Nigeria; also, majority of the respondents were regular viewers and listeners and were adequately exposed to the station contents of NTA, featuring more of voters’ education contents. Further, findings revealed that there was an overall significant relationship in the electorates’ perception of featuring voters’ education contents on NTA programmes. Lastly, more voters participated during the last general elections as a result of their exposure to NTA network programmes prior to the 2019 general elections in Nigeria. The study recommended that tv stations should increase the strength of nationwide programmes for effective voters’ education.
| 2 |
Author(s):
Arikenbi Peter Gbenga, Ewomazino Daniel Akpor (Ph.D), Edike Kparoboh Fredrick, Fidelis Otebe.
Page No : 25-40
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Health Communication as a Viable Tool in the Control and Prevention of Meningitis in Nigeria: An Analytical Audience Perspective
Abstract
Meningitis continues to be a significant public health challenge in Nigeria, leading to substantial morbidity and mortality rates. Effective control and prevention strategies are crucial in mitigating the impact of this infectious disease. It is in the light of this that this study therefore, from an analytical audience perspective, examines health communication as a viable tool in the control and prevention of meningitis in Nigeria. The objective of this study is basically to examine the impact of health communication interventions on the knowledge and preventive behavior related to meningitis among the target audience in Nigeria. This study is anchored on the attitude change theory; and data were collected through the use of questionnaires. Findings from this study show that health communication interventions have been impactful because it has influenced the knowledge and preventive behavior of the respondents as regards to the control and prevention of meningitis. The study also revealed that health communication strategies have been highly effective in the control and prevention of meningitis in Nigeria. This study recommends that in order to enhance the effectiveness of health communication as a viable tool in the control and prevention of meningitis in Nigeria, the multi-channel communication approaches should be strengthened.
| 3 |
Author(s):
Rasha Alyaqoub, Nik Adzrieman Abdul Rahman, Ahmad Alsharairi.
Page No : 41-58
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Public Relations from The Lens of Internal Practitioners: Evidence from Jordan
Abstract
This study explored the benefits and disadvantages of using online PR from the perspectives of university PR practitioners, employing in-depth face-to-face interviews with 22 PR managers from public and private Jordanian universities based on a purposive sampling technique. This research's main objective was to determine what these practitioners felt were the benefits and drawbacks of online PR. The data were analysed using NVivo 12 software to develop themes. The findings showed that the PR practitioners conceptualised online PR as a part of the modern technology revolution, effective and sustainable in this era. They said that online PR offered several benefits like potential cost savings, the ability to spread information, resolve student-related problems, and raise their organisation's visibility. However, they were concerned that online PR could lead to disadvantages like added costs because of the need to hire online experts. Among the recommendations drawn from the results are that strategies and their concomitant tactics must be developed to reach specific publics, qualified employees with the necessary skills must be hired and their skills updated with frequent training, employees must be incentivised to achieve their best performance, organisations should monitor social media to address and solve problems of their key publics, and metrics must be created to measure the impacts of online PR quantitatively.
| 4 |
Author(s):
Gabriel T. Nyitse (Ph.D), Terhile Agaku.
Page No : 59-71
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The Law of Sedition: Implications for the Practice of Journalism in Nigeria
Abstract
This study was conducted to examine the law of sedition and its implication for the practice of journalism in Nigeria. The study is premised on the tenets of the social responsibility theory while the secondary sources of data relevant to the discourse were relied upon for analysis. It was revealed that the freedom of expression is a fundamental human right enjoyed and protected by law in civilized and democratic societies, however this right is not absolute anywhere in the world as the fundamental human rights are restricted by the law of sedition which restricts journalists from publishing or undertaking actions that bring into hatred, ridicule or contempt to the government in power, or incite or provoke the citizens to rise against or seek to remove the government in power. It was also revealed that sedition is a punishable offense under the Nigeria law as journalists in Nigeria have been charged for various seditious offenses in the past. The study equally revealed that journalists charged for sedition have the right of defense through lawful excuse, prove that words used were not seditious as well as claim ignorance of the act. The study concludes that the law of sedition is a compromise to freedom of expression because constructive criticism is an indispensable tool especially in a democratic society. However, the law of sedition law has been used by the government as a tool to regulate citizens' opinions and indiscriminately wield power. The government uses the law to suppress the protesting views of the public and journalists alike. The study recommends that journalists should operate within the ambit of freedom of expression guaranteed by the fundamental human rights for a better society, journalists should observe the ethics of the profession as safety measures against being accused and charged for sedition and journalists should be conversant with laws that tend to inhibit their practice.
| 5 |
Author(s):
Mohamed Bangura.
Page No : 71-88
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Sociology of Journalism Mores in Sierra Leone: Communication, Application and Dereliction
Abstract
Contemporary communications automations have diversified journalism application in a philosophical social system and Sierra Leone has not been an exclusion. However, social research on the encounter of these automations on journalism humane is scrappily skimpy. Loads of the sociological or intellectual focus contribute to concentrate on purposes of contemporary communications automations in commonplace social application, while their humane conclusions are considered to be furtive. The aforementioned is despite the verity that the social applicability of journalism is broadly signified on its competence to socially operate as a robust gifter of civic awareness or education, and “reliable, all- inclusive and rational” obligations of news organisations and events (Marcinkowski & Engelman, 2021). The current social research explores humane challenges confronted by Sierra Leonean journalism professionals or practitioners when utilising cellular phones, the internet and email in their social engagement. The research incorporates an inquiry questionnaire and semi-structured dialogues to produce data on humane challenges and difficulties confronted journalism professionals or practitioners in Sierra Leone. Outcomes acknowledge a dialectical crush of contemporary communication automations on journalism and submit that cellular phone, the Internet and email are perceived as promoters as well as barriers to humane journalism. The research excites the application of the sociology of journalism mores as a social structure for inquiring humane challenges and difficulties confronted by journalism professionals when utilising contemporary communications automations. It is debated that the application of humane journalism should be perceived as encircled by the social interaction of a mosaic social network of tectonic, institutional and socio-economic components, both within and outside to the social community in which journalism is practiced or applied.
| 6 |
Author(s):
Luis Camillo M. O. de Almeida.
Page No : 89-96
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User-Design: An Enabling Method of Video Game Making
Abstract
The goal of this study was to investigate the experiences of five undergraduates majoring in communications media at a medium-sized university as they created their own computer games. To analyze the data, I utilized the constant comparison method. After a thorough analysis of the phenomenon of user design, I identified three themes through qualitative analysis: User design fosters creativity and empowerment, User design can be challenging and serve as a design tool, and User design provides a rewarding learning experience.
| 7 |
Author(s):
Gideon Uchechukwu Nwafor (Ph.D), Edith Chinelo Onuama.
Page No : 97-107
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Representation of Drug and Substance Use in Tiwa Savage’s Musical Video Asake Loaded and Its Influence on Undergraduates
Abstract
The representation of drug and substance use in contemporary media, particularly in music videos, has become a subject of increasing concern due to its potential influence on young audiences. This research investigates the portrayal of drug-related themes in Tiwa Savage's music video "Asake Loaded" and explores its impact on students of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU). The study was anchored by Social Learning Theory adopting the Survey research method to obtain data from 370 respondents through Krejcie and Morgan sample size determination table. The findings reveal that the "Asake Loaded" music video presents drug and substance use in a glamorous and normalized manner. It prominently features images of drug consumption, partying, and extravagant lifestyles, potentially romanticizing drug use for impressionable viewers, including college students. The research further indicates that a considerable number of COOU students have watched the video, and some report being influenced by its depictions of drug-related content. Based on the findings, the study recommended that artists like Tiwa Savage should be encouraged to consider the potential influence of their music videos and promote responsible messages that discourage glamorization of drug and substance use.
