Status and Representation of Women in Public and Private Broadcasting Media in Kaduna and Kano State, Nigeria

Globally, Journalism is seen as a male-dominated profession. This male dominance has been documented by many studies despite the increase in the number of female students in journalism and mass communication studies throughout the world. This study attempts to determine the status and representation of women in public and private broadcasting media in Kaduna and Kano, Nigeria. The method of data collection employed in the study was documentary research. Data were collected from public and private broadcasting media in Kaduna and Kano respectively. Results indicate that journalism is still male dominated even in the private media although there is improvement in the representation of women in the profession. However, women are more represented in the private media organizations in Kano compared to Kaduna although Kaduna is considered more liberal than Kano.The study concludes that being successful in journalism practice for women is not only based on education and merit but other factors that might prevent them from reaching their career peak. Thus, there is need for fundamental changes in journalism practice to enable women overcome all barriers in order to become successful in their chosen career. Keywords: Status, Representation, Women, Broadcasting Media, Kaduna and Kan

An Analysis of News Reports of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria by Daily Trust and the Nation Newspapers in the Year 2016

Crises in various part of Nigeria bring about high number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) especially in the northern part of the country due to the Boko Haram Insurgency. The IDPs rely on humanitarian assistance for survival since they lost their means of livelihood. For them to get such assistance, their conditions need to be known by the general public in other to come to their rescue. Part of the press responsibility in the society is to effectively inform the citizens about happenings in their localities and the country as a whole. A UNICEF report indicates that there are 2.5 million malnourished children in the various IDP camps in Nigeria and about three hundred of them will die unless they are aided while, Doctors without Borders say at least 30 of them die every day. This highlights one serious condition in the IDP camps especially in Borno state due to the Boko Haram Insurgency which displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes. This paper analyzed Daily Trust and the Nation newspapers reports on the situation of the IDPs in the various camps across the country in other to determine the kind of role they play in highlighting their condition and soliciting support for them as well as the kind of agenda they set. Findings indicate that the situation in the various IDP camps has been highlighted by the two newspapers. They as well proffer solutions to effectively tackle the challenges. However, there is need for the newspapers to give more prominence to issues surrounding the management of the IDP camps in order to make it more transparent to minimize or eradicate corrupt practices to ensure better life for the IDPs and prevent the death of mal-nourished children. Keywords: Analysis, News Reports, Daily Trust, The Nation, Boko Haram Insurgency and Internally Displaced persons (IDPs

New media and the challenges of Boko Haram terrorism: proposing the adoption of human-wearable digital technology

The Boko Haram terrorism, which began in 2009 has had a devastating impact on the society. So far, it has triggered one of the worst humanitarian crises in history and has been responsible for over 30 thousand deaths with over two million others displaced, mostly in the North-east of the country with sizeable spillovers into the neighboring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Boko Haram’s primary goal was to create an Islamic caliphate in the region, and like other terrorist networks, uses the unconventional, hit-and-run guerrilla war tactics. This has rendered the insurgency to be a hard nut to crack, a phenomenon that is cited as one of the main reasons the group is able to continually carry out successful attacks despite being declared “technically defeated”. Hence, this need to seek for alternative, ‘unconventional’ media as a tool for counterterrorism. The media, both new and traditional have been shown to play a critical role toward the de-Bokoharamization campaign of the Nigerian Federal Government in collaboration with its Western partners. However, due to the guerrilla tactics nature of the insurgency, human-wearable digital microchip technology such as radio frequency identification and wireless body area network systems have been suggested as capable of yielding desirable outcomes. Following a critical review of literature and taking from Laswell’s communication model, this review article offers a digital communication counterterrorism model to complement the state’s efforts toward the anti-terrorism campaign

Unethical Practices in the Mass Media: A Study of some Selected Media Houses in Kano Metropolis, Nigeria

The study examines the “unethical Practices in the Media: studies of some selected media in Kano metropolis. Four media houses in the Kano metropolis were purposively selected. These include Kano Radio, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Kano, Freedom Radio, and the Daily Trust. Considering the critical, but vital roles of the media in nation building in any democratic setting, this study is situated within the Social Responsibility Theory and Kant’s Duty Law Theory. The researcher adopts a qualitative method in carrying out this research. It can be deduced from the findings that respondents strongly disagree that journalists are well paid in Nigeria, only a few respondents react otherwise. Therefore, we can conclude that it is conspicuous Nigerian journalists’ are not well remunerated. And this can be said to pose a constraint to the efficiency and effectiveness in their operations Findings also revealed that some of the journalists in Kano State practice unethically, while only few respondents are of a different opinion. This presupposes that some journalists in Kano State are involved in this practice. This means that their activities are devoid of objectivity, and has caused the masses to have little or no confidence in their activities. In the light of the findings of this study, the following recommendations are important: Remuneration for journalists is not commensurate with the hazards of the profession. The poor remuneration is not only responsible for the brown envelope syndrome, but also hinders the press from performing up to expectation. The employers of journalists should therefore ensure that remuneration for journalists is commensurate with the work they do. Owners of media organizations should allow journalists to perform their duties according to the ethics of the profession. Government should increase the salary of journalists and be compensated after years of service. Keywords: Ethics, Mass media, Kan

Comparative Study of India and Nigeria Communication Policy

A national communication policy enunciates the goals, objectives and functions of communication system and aims, at dovetailing these with the overall socio-economic, political and cultural development goals of the society. The Indian media policy is divided into “five year plans” for ease of implementation while for Nigeria there is no media policy in place to guide communication systems in Nigeria. The study made use of both primary and secondary sources in its methodology. The study concluded that a national communication policy to guide communication systems in a country is crucial for her overall development. The paper recommended that for Nigeria to have an acceptable communication policy that would fast track the expected development, there is the need to learn from the Indian National Communication Policy. Like India, Nigerian Communication Policy must be indigenously produced. India has not allowed foreign media materials to swamp the country and distort her tradition and cultural values. Keyword: India, Nigeria, Communication polic

The Essentiality and Locus of Social Media Policy in Nigeria

This is a critical essay that examines the essentially and locus of social media policy in Nigerian communication policy at the national and institutional levels. It theoretically examines the communication and media environments in Nigeria and how the complexity and peculiarity of the environment triggers the need for separate social media policy that will deal with how citizens in respective of their social, political and economic status should understand and use social media. The proposition is made within the argument of common interest theory, which provides a balanced submission between utilitarian and unitary approaches to social policies that discussed common interest as factor for the essentiality of policies such social media policy. The paper, after examining issues involved in the formulation, adoption and implementation, submitted that social media policy in Nigeria, should be standalone from broader communication policy because of its separate, popularity, acceptability and usability much more than the conventional media such as radio and television. Keywords: Social Media, Policy, Social Media Policy, Media Policy, Nigeria

A Sociological Investigation into the Influence of the New Media on Political Mobilization: A Study of Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Election

The new social media have adopted a new form of political mobilization, democracy and government which have become an effective voice for many. As a result of this new social phenomenon which has a large audience communicating with each other. Modern political parties have shifted their ground to the social media platform to create political awareness and using it as a campaign ground, a platform for raising funds for a political party and political debates in order to woo/mobilize electorates. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of the new media on political mobilization using a qualitative content analysis of some news, journals, print and electronic media message. The paper presents a situation analysis and reveals that new social media cannot be down play by politicians when it comes to the area of political mobilization because of its large audience which is about 11.2 million Nigerians. It shows that the new media have enhanced political awareness and interaction. However, politicians/political parties in Nigeria have made use of this new social media to marginalize, intimidate, and discredit political opponents which have led to verbal war/political conflicts. The paper suggests that social media providers should discourage its users from posting provocative and hate messages by blocking such messages. Keywords: social media, political mobilization, presidential electio

Influence of ICT Adoption on Tertiary Education: Investigating ICT Usage in E-learning Context among Nigerian Students

Abstract Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been employed in various fields of human endeavours, especially to engender socio-economic development. One key sub-sector in which the adoption of ICTs is increasingly becoming critical is the farm-based (agri-based) enterprises. This study was prompted by the urge to determine the critical factors that affect ICT usage in e-learning by students of post-secondary schools.  The concept of e-learning, through the application of information and communication technology (ICT) has been increasingly attracting the attention of researchers. Recent studies found that there is quite a number of factors that affect students’ adoption (usage) of ICT for learning purposes. However, students’ expectation toward effort-free (easy-to-use) ICT hardware and software has been singled out as one of the major factors that becloud their perceptions of adopting ICT in their academic activity. In addition, the literature has highlighted that students’ ICT adoption expectancies in e-learning context is influenced by their prior experience and inexperience (e.g., anxiety). This study therefore, was prompted by the urge to determine the effect of ICT usage expectancies and prior usage experience (via-a-vis inexperience) on tertiary institutions students’ ICT adoption in e-learning context. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model was adopted and a pre-tested and validated questionnaire was administered to 400 students that were randomly selected in Yobe State University Damaturu, in Nigeria.  The study found effort expectancy explains about 80% of the variance in ICT usage, and only prior experience moderated the relationship significantly and positively. Keywords: Effort Expectancy, Experience, e-Learning, Tertiary Institutions, ICT Usage, the UTAU