THE IMPACT FO EXPOSURE TO NIGERIA YOUTHS
ABSTRACT
It is an indisputable fact that much of what Nigerian adults know about foreign countries and contemporary issues which shape world public opinion is gleaned from the foreign mass media. Against this backdrop, this study investigates the opinion of Nigeria youths, who are regarded as the most curious and enthusiastic members of the society.
This work, apart from investigating the impact of exposure to foreign media on Nigeria youths, was also designed to satisfy partially the requirements for the award of Higher National Diploma in mass communication at the institute of management and technology Enugu. The entire work is divided into five chapters.
Chapter one deals with background of study, statement of research problem, objectives of study, research questions, operational definition, assumptions and limitation of study.
Chapter two deals with related literature.
Chapter three deals with research methodology; research design, study population, sampling method, data collection techniques and theoretical framework.
Chapter four deals with analysis of data and interpretation of results and presentation of results.
Chapter five gives the summary, conclusion and recommendation of the study.
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
- Background of study 1
- Statement of research problems 5
- Objectives of the study ` 6
- Significance of study 6
- Research questions 7
- Operational definition 8
- Assumptions 10
- Limitation of study 11
References 13
CHAPTER TWO
- Literature review 14
References 34
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- Research design 36
- Study population 37
- Sampling method 38
- Data collection technique 39
- Theoretical framework 40
References 43
CHAPTER FOUR
- Analysis of data and interpretation of result 44
- Presentation of results 44
- Discussion 68
CHAPTER FIVE
- Summary 71
- Conclusion 73
- Recommendations 73
Bibliography 76
Appendix 78
CHAPTER ONE
- BACKGROUND OF STUDY
In black Africa, it is a truism that Nigeria, because of her sheer
size population wise, is the largest single market for almost every known commodity and this includes the messages content of the mass media. About 300 publications serve the populace. NTA (National Television Authority) even claimed at one time that its network news was viewed by an audience of 30 million and according to their slogan, “20 million Nigerians can’t be wrong”. In most urban centres is Nigeria, modern satellite dishes have become common sight, not only among the upper crust but more increasingly among the emergent middle class.
About 90% of the letters from listeners broadcast on BBC “Talk back” come from Nigeria listeners. The same thing goes for the volume of “sports programme” “On the sunny side of sports”. In all, the fact remains that of all black African countries combined, Nigeria owners and consumes more media messages.
Because of the sophistication of modern societies it is quite difficult to learn first hand the vast volume of experience in anyone society. Invariably Nigerians, like their contemporaries worldwide rely on the mass media to be informed, educated and entertained. The mass media serve as the primary source of information on a wife range of topics. They serve an agenda –setting function. According to Bernard Cohen in his book “The press and foreign policy”, the media may not always be successful in telling people what to think but they are usually successful in telling people what to think about. This means that the media choose and emphasize certain topics, thereby causing, the public to perceive certain issues in the society and the world at large as important. Mass media audiences are served selected perspectives that influence their perception of the world. This is indeed the mainstay of the mass media. The ability to create images and social realities upon which the views of the audience about the world is structured. The gatekeeping role sees the media selecting items considered news worthy. It is through this process that various news agencies of the world determine the news to be received world wide.
The portrayal developing countries in international mass communication tends to be negative and biased, a clear attestation to the impact of media induced reality and media agenda setting on audience perception of social reality. In their study of communication problems all over the world, the MacBride commission confirmed the presence of these false and distorted images of developing countries in the world media (MacBridge et al. 1981). This situation has led to the call for a new world information and communication order (NWICO).
The mass media are the main cultivations of stereo types. During the gulf war, content analysis of TV revelaled that Arabs had been typically portrayed via three main negative stereo types:
- Terrorist (although only a minuscule number of real Arabs fit into this category, it is prevalent in Western media
- Oil sheik (met too many fit in here either) and
- Bedouin desert nomad (only 5 percent of Arabs in real life are Bedouin). It came as no surprise then that many
American troops stationed in Saudi Arabia were surprised by their contact with Arab culture. Their media exposure did not prepare them for the reality on the ground. The American media has helped create these stereotypes associated with Arabs. As George Gerber stated in his hypothesis (Gerber et al, 1977;1986) the more people are exposed to the mass media, especially television, the more they will come to believe that the real world is like the one they observe. This forms the basis for the cultivation theory which asserts that the media, especially the TV, extert tremendous influence on people by altering their perceptions of reality.
- STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM
The mass media fuels the dissemination of information. They
make it possible for people to know about the goings on in the world around them. They create realities, which influence audience perception of the real world. The foreign media, especially, western media are in the habit of selling their points to developing countries of the world like Nigeria. They point the reality of hunger, disease, wars, crime and death about Africa and saccharine picture of their advanced civilizations. A glaring imbalance in the quality and quantity of news flow about developing countries is created as a result.
The extent to which the activities of foreign media influence
the views of the Nigeria audience, especially the young people of this country, forms the main focus of this study.
- OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The main objective of the study is to investigate the impact of
exposure to foreign media on Nigerian youths who form the most curious and enthusiastic elements in the society. The study will investigate media channels which expose Nigerian youths to the messages content of the foreign media and the extent to which they influence the perception of the Nigeria youths on relevant issues such as goings on the global economic front, policies of western democracies especially America, and how they impinge on the interplay among nations of the world conflicts etc about the world they live in.
- SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The need for this study derives from the prevailing trends in
the mass media world of today. It is indubitable that much of what Nigeria youths know about contemporary issue, which shape world public opinion is gleaned from the foreign media. It therefore because necessary understand the interplay between the Nigeria audience and the message content of these foreign media to which they are exposed, to determine the impact they have in creating stereotypes which Nigerian youths carry about in their heads.
It is hoped that the result from this study will help make for a better understanding of the influence of foreign media either positively or negatively on the perception of a Nigeria audience and the attendant effect of this impact.
- RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In order to establish a research focus and premise, the need
arises to adduce research questions. The following research questions are posed for investigation.
RQ 1: Do Nigerian youths have access to the mass media?
RQ2: Do Nigerian youths expose themselves to the mass media?
RQ3: Do Nigerian youths expose themselves more to the foreign media then the local media?
RQ4: Do the message content of the foreign media appeal to Nigeria youths the more?
RQ5: Are the perceptions of Nigerian youth about relevant issues, other national and their peoples influenced by the foreign media?
- DEFINITION OF TERMS
Some terms used in this study need to be further clarified to
bring out their denotative and connotative meaning and make for better understanding among readers who might not be knowledgeable in the varied meanings of these terms.
- Agenda setting: This refers to the press giving prominence to certain issue in the society, causing people to think about and discuss them.
- Gate-keeping: This is the selection of items considered newsworthy, and at the international level, it begins with the choice by news agencies which determine the news to be received worldwide.
- Images: These are perceptions or impressions created in minds of a mass media audience regarding nations and their nationals.
- Media realities: This refers to the construct of realities created by the media which goes not normally correspond with the real world.
- Message content: This refers to the totality of information, idea, attitude and culture disseminated by the media to their target audience.
- Social realities: This refers to the real life situations as opposed to the environment or reality provided by the mass media.
- Stereotypes: This is the representation of nations and their nationals in a fixed often biased pattern not truly representative of such nation or their nationals by the mass media.
- Nations: According to Longman dictionary of contemporary English, this refers to countries considered in relation to their people and their social or economic structure.
- National: The Longman dictionary contemporary English defines it as someone who is a citizen of a particular country but is living in another country.
- ASSUMPTIONS
- Nigeria youths are the most curious members of the Nigerian society.
- Nigerian youths form the major bulk of the consumers of mass media message.
- Media use is determine to a large extent by the level of education of the users.
- Nigerian university student by virtue of their academic environment one inclined the more to use the media.
- The mass media contribute to the understanding of other nations and their nationals.
- LIMITATION OF STUDY
The youth of every society from the backbone and the basis for
the future of the society. For this very reason, the issue of youth development is a very important topic for the enhancement of our society. The Nigeria population census of 1991 put Nigeria’s population at 88.5million.
a greater chunk of this figure is made up of people between 18 to 30 years. These people who are the youth of the country form the most active segment of the society. They opt for military service, may supportive role in the political arena, bear the nations colours in international sports and keep the hopes alive for the perpetuity of our nation wood.
The lives of Nigerian youth suggest susceptibility to certain values and influence. A general look around our campuses for instance reveals western influence in the mode of dressing, mentality and carriage of our young undergraduates. This is so because the ideas and cultures transmitted via the media largely, western media are readily assimilated by Nigerian youths.
In the light of the aforementioned, the main thrust of this study would be limited to Nigerian youths between the age of 18 to 35 years; who are undergraduates in a selected Nigerian federal and state university. These would form a representative microcosm of Nigeria undergraduates with the stipulated age bracket and make for a troper generalization of result at the end of study.
REFERENCES
Dominick J. (1993): The Dynamics of mass communication. New
York.
African Council for communication Education (ACCE) (1993):
Africa Media Review: Nairobi.
Mac Bride, S. et al (1981); Mary voice, one world. Ibadan:
Ibadan University press.
Longman Dictionary contemporary English (1995) Essex:
Longman House Co.
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