IMPACT OF MEDIA POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ON VOTING CHOICE OF THE ELECTORATE (A CASE STUDY OF 2003 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, AND STUDY OF OWERRI MUNICIAPAL COUNCIL IN IMO STATE.

ABSTRACT

The impact of media political campaign of voting choice of the electorate in Nigeria.  A study of Owerri municipal council in Imo State Nigeria.

The media political campaign often takes place during election period.  The campaign comes before the election.  It is an avenue for the candidates to sell or advertise their persons and electoral promise coupled with party manifestoes before the election date.  And in order to reach the electorates, the politicians make use of the mass media, which is an agent of dissemination of information to the grassroots level.

          The media carries out political campaign to electorates through

Constant relaying of information about candidates and their political intentions and positions they are aspiring to occupy.

The major purpose of this media political campaign is to influence the voter’s choice of candidate or candidates during the elections.

CHAPTER ONE:         INTRODUCTION

• BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY          1 – 4
• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 4 – 5
• OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 5 – 6
• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 6
• RESEARCH QUEATIONS                                      7
• RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS 7 – 8
• LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 8
• OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS 9
• CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION OF TERMS 9 – 10

1.10    AGENDA SETTING THEORY                                      10 – 15

NOTES                                                                                    16

Vii

 

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• SOURCE OF LITERATURE                         17
• THE REVIEW 18 – 26

NOTES                                                                                    27

 

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

• RESEARCH DESIGN                                                  28
• POPULATION 28 – 29
• SAMPLE SIZE 29 – 30
• SAMPLE TECHNIQUE                                 30 – 31
• INTRUMENT OF DATA COLLECTION 31 – 32
• DISTRIBUTION OF INTRUMENTS OF DATA

COLLECTION                                                                         32

• DATA ANALYSIS                                       32 – 33

NOTE                                                                                       34

 

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS

• DATA PRESENTATION         35 – 46
• TEST OF HYPOTHESIS 46 – 48
• FINDINGS/DISCUSSION 49 – 57

 

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY/CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER STUDIES

• SUMMARY/CONCLUSION 58 – 61
• RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER STUDIES 62

APPENDIX                                                                              63

          QUESTIONNAIRE                                                           64 – 67                  BIBLOGRAPHY                                                               68 – 72

CHAPTER ONE

 

INTRODUCTION

• BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In Nigeria, the mass media are saddled with the responsibility of informing, entertaining and educating the public. They also act as watching on the socio political machinery. These responsibilities out across all facets of life including polities and political decisions. It is often argued that the degreed of people’s participation in politics, depend on the information, which they get from the media.

Harold Laswell believes that “man has always needed something to watch over his environment and report to him on dangers, discoveries, opportunities, opinions, facts, decisions, changes and current trends. Something to entertain people on a broad scales something to broaden trade, commerce politics.

Beside, some experts as the informer and manipulator of mass opinion often describe the media, because they are the major sources of social and political information. What seems to give credence to the above claims is the prime places which governments, political time. They believe that the media can establish new attitudes or change existing forms of behavior, through there various programmed disseminated to the mass audience.

Again, the axiom “if the media says so, it must be true” and that the pen is mightier than the sword, typify the power of the media in the socio-political and economic existence of a nation. “To a large segment of the world’s population, the media portrays reality. Many people are not able to see that the media are not infallible”. No wonder, the third world countries, concerning Africa. They claim that such information are time-bombs, and if uncontrolled, may bring down the fragile political walls of the African countries, just recently, Kalu Ndukwe Odiba (1999) echoed in his seminar paper: “the mass media and opinion formation”, presented in a workshop organized by the academic staff union of polytechnics, bida chapter, that “the level pf political awareness, responsibility and participation in any given democratic society, depends largely on the public will, the media examine the political policies and programmed of the ruling class, educates the masses, motive, mobilizes and when necessary manipulates them into active participation or otherwise in the political programmed. Although he admitted that dissemination of information through the media does not equal acceptance by the masses, he emphasized that the media influence in modeling people’s political decision and behavior would remain unquestionable. It is believed that one of the underlying principles behind massive establishment of house, during political times is the indispensable foes of the media in selling political ideologies, education, propaganda and publicity.

In discussing the role of the Nigeria mess media during the 1979 general elections in Nigeria, Adoeoye Akinnsanya noted that.

“The press in both a product as well as a producer of mass opinion. He explained that the press is a product in the sense of their editorials, and a producer of opinion in the sense that they have been used to influence direct public opinions”.

Lucian Pye added that, “the mass media are amplifying factors in the society. They inform the people of the political behavior and misbehavior of these in power and thus, their power is amplified by making it possible for the people to determine the fate of the politicians in future elections” on, his arrivals back home in 1935, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (late), one of African’s most glamorous politicians and Journalists noted that: “There is no better means to arouse African people than by the power of pen of the tongue”. By power of the pen, Zik meant of the newspaper and magazines while the tongue represented radio and television.  It is against this background that many political parties and politicians commit large human and material resources on multiple media, political campaigns, at times, without proper analysis and understanding of the extent to which political campaigns through the mass media influences electoral decisions.

 

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Often times, politician and political parties spend human and material resources on multiple media political campaigns.  They believe that the media have the power and capacity of manipulate and mobilize the electorate into expected political behaviour for them, the axiom that if the media says so, it must be true, still holds especially, among non-formally educated and illiterate electorate.

However, the degree of validity or otherwise of their presumptions has not been ascertained, some communication and political experts say that other variables, apart from media political campaign play dominant roles, others argue otherwise.  This is the problem finding out, if political campaign, through the mass media, has any influence or otherwise, on the voting behaviour of the electorate, and to what extent.

 

1.3     OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

This study is aimed at discovering whether multiple political campaign, through the mass media, have any significant impact on the voting behaviour of the electorate.  It should also find out if there are other variables apart from media political campaign that influences voters political decisions.  It should also find out the degree of influence of each of the probable variables and which should be emphasized by the society.

Remarkable, some researchers, P. Lozarfield, H. Lass well, carried out similar studies on the topic on the 1940 presidential election of the U.S.A., their studies were conducted in 1944 and 1948, after about 40 years of study, it is imperative to re-examine similar topic, using different study sample, methodology and under different environmental and cultural circumstances, apart from updating knowledge, the findings of this study would either validate or invalidate the results of earlier researchers on the basis of contemporary development in mass communication.

 

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study, study, serves as a guide to present future politicians, political party leaders and government, in charting appropriate courses in all their political undertaking.  The media role and place in politics and political campaign have been fully determined.  It is also beneficial to students and society in general, because it adds to existing knowledge.

 

• RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Does mass media political campaign influence voter’s political decisions in elections?
2. To what extent does media political campaign influence voter’s decision?
3. Are there any other variables, apart from media political campaign that determines voter’s political behaviour?
4. Which of these variables (including mass media political campaign) play dominant roles in shaping political behaviour of the electorate?
5. Which of the mass media organs is perceived to be most influential?

 

 

 

• RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

H₀      Political campaign through the mass media has more influence   on the voting behavior of the electorate.

H₁      Political campaign through the media does not have influence on the voters behavior.

H₂      Political media campaign creates only awareness of the contestants.

 

1.7     LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study is limited by finance, and scope. It covers, only Owerri urban, and used only randomly selected eligible voters. As a case study, it may be difficult to generalize the finding to other electorate in other cities, due to possible interviewing variables, both at the time of this study and at the time media campaign and voting at elections. This study was carried out based on the 1999 presidential elections. Again, the choice of 400 respondents in Owerri urban does not equal the entire population of the owerri metropolis.

Nevertheless, the findings of this research can serve heuristic functions. Future researchers should consider increased sample size area of study and integrated media political campaign approach.

Remarkably, this study does not include political campaigns embarked upon through other channel of human communication. It covers only the radio, television, newspapers and magazines.

 

1.8     OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. MASS MEDIA: They include radio, television, newspaper, and magazines. These are technologically oriented channels through which Journalism practitioners disseminate information *including political campaign) to the audience.
2. CAMPAIGNS: Series of planned political activities to gain support or election purposes.
3. ELECTORATES: People, within a country, who have constitutional rights to vote in election, organized in the country. In Nigeria, the voting age is 18 years.

 

1.9   CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. MASS MEDIA: These are those organizational complex systems of print and electronic communication that make mass information readily accessible to large and distant audiences in an informal fashion. They also include traditional media and all those channels of transmitting information to a audience. Examples are posters, gongs, drums, newspapers, television, magazines, radio etc.
2. CAMPAIGN: Series of planned activities through communication to sell a product, win public support, sell an idea, or opinion of individual, groups or organization series of communication activities or other planned strategies aimed at converting people into an opposing viewpoint or accept a cherished ideology.
3. ELECTORATE: People within a community group organization or country that can vote in elections organized by that group. They include people of all age brackets including the children.

 

1. 10 AGENDA SETTING THRORY

Agenda setting implies that the mass media predetermine what issues are regarded as important at a given society. Agenda setting theory does not ascribe to the media the power to determine what we actually think, but it does ascribe them the power to determine what we are thinking about and how we think about them. They set the agenda for political campaigns, for instance the elements involved in agenda setting include:

The quantity of frequency of reporting:

Prominence given to the reports, through head line display, picture and layout in newspaper, magazine, film, graphics or timing on radio and television

The degree of conflict generated in the reports and cumulative media-specific effects over time. Kunezik (1988:1992) point out that the opportunity for agenda setting by the mass media becomes enhanced, when the value structured of a society is in a state of flux. Furthermore, Lang and Lang (1960) drew attention to two important factors in agenda setting.

1. The “reciprocal effect” concerned with the very presence of the media at the scene of an event and
2. The landslide effect” which refers to the (usually exaggerated) impressions created by the kind of media handling or reporting-waving crowd, ovations, booing etc.

 

As Kunezik point out, appropriate procedures for seeming agenda – setting involve companions between media content over a certain period and the subjects that most people in the society are discussing, the greater the consonance, the more the agenda setting hypothesis is confirmed. There have been criticism of the agenda – setting hypothesis but it is generally agreed that it has strong enough basis in logic and experience as marshal incluhan (1968, 2004) concludes, the press can colour events by using them in a particular way or refusing to use at all.

Furthermore, the notion of agenda setting by the media can be traced to Walter Lip Mann (1922) who suggested the media were responsible, for the pictures in out leads. However in 1972 and 1976 Mccombs and Shaw asserted that “audiences not only lean about, public issues and other through the media, they also learn how much importance to attach to an issue or topic from emphasis, the media place upon it” for instance, for the single fact that the Nigeria mass media choose to highlight and reflect the issue of certificate scandal of former speaker of the house of representatives Alhaji Salihu Buhari the public would not have known and the house will make out time to deliberate in the issue and go further to investigate on the issue.

Lang and Lang (1966) observed “The mass media focus attention on certain issues-they are constantly presenting objects, suggesting what individuals on the mass should think about, know about, have feeling about”.  It therefore means that the media act as a mirror to the society.  They x-ray to us how we are, how to do things and when to do it.  These the media do owing to their controlling influence by the media we talk of their capacity and ability to state categorically and define what issues are important in the society. However, the agenda setting can be understood to the ability of the media to correct impressions that were further to hold negatively in the society.  It could be recalled that before now, eligible electorates had sat down, folded their arms watching things going wrong in the country simply because the mischief makers seized the opportunity to exercise their mandate and enthrone the candidate of their choice who over time aggravated the plights of these non performing eligible electorates.

However, the knowledge of this theory helps us to understand communication realities.  But for the media to be able to set agenda, they must but develop.  When the media are developed they will go a long way to adequately set the agenda for the people especially when the media are perceived to be credible and dependable and when they posses the capacity to reflect and project the social, cultural, economic, political, academic features of the masses.  Again the media are perceived to be credible from their ability to meet the felt needs of the audience they are serving.

More so, the media have interactive characteristics, characteristics that enable them to know what the people want, when they want it, how they want it.  By that we talk of the capacity of the media to have the inbuilt mechanism of feedback.  The media that can be said to be credible should not only be seen as dissemination oriented but getting to know how the audiences are receiving  messages or ascertaining whether the media operate the top bottom approach, which would not augur well for effective agenda setting.  Death becomes an important issue to us, regardless of the level of importance we place on life the media have capacity to convey life.

NOTES:

1. CHARLES OKIGBO “News flow and media, effects some

perplexing questions on national

image” in Ikechukwu E. Nwosu, ed.

Mass Communication and National

Development (frontier publishers

Limited, Aba 1999) pg. 338

2. KALU N. ODIBA “The mass media and opinion

formation” unpublished seminar paper,

1999, Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger

State.

3. HAROLD LASSEWLL “The structure and function of mass

media in society” in Wilbur Scram

ed, Mass Communication urban,

Illinois, University of Illinois USA.

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