The Political Economy of News Reporting and Poverty in Nigeria

This paper examines the political and economic factors that underpin Nigeria’s media. It seeks to understand whether these factors influence media content and invariably, poverty level in the country. Nigeria’s economy has depreciated over the past few decades. Unemployment stands at 23 per cent, with more than half a million of the citizens living on less than $1.90 a day, more than any other country on earth (Knoema, 2011; The Economist, 2019). The paper arguesthat if the Nigerian media could positively impact the growth of democracy and strengthen democratic institutions as they did in the past, they could also facilitate economic development, and poverty reduction in the country through news reporting. After all, one of the major features of democracy is to seek the happiness of the majority of the citizens by adequately providing for their wellbeing. It is therefore important to assess how the Nigerian media can provide useful information that can ensure poverty reduction. This paper draws on review of past studies, journal articles, newspaper and online publications in the related area. The paper recommends that the National Broadcasting Commission should mandate broadcast organizations to devote 80 percent of their broadcast to development information, events and conditions about the people of the state where they operate

Evaluation of the Impact of Students' Industrial Training on Journalistic Skills Acquisition among Polytechnic Students in Delta State, Nigeria

Good professional practice in journalism is a function of quality training. Good journalistic training must integrate the teaching of theory with exposure to practical skills to ensure adequate transition of students into employable graduates. However, there is a gap between theoretical training offered by various institutions of journalism and mass communication training and the demands for practical skills required for industry practice industry in Nigeria. This study evaluated the impact of students' industrial training, coordinated by the Students' Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) supervised by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) among other things in Nigeria, on the acquisition of professional skills in journalism. It carried out a questionnaire survey on 292 purposively selected Polytechnic students of mass communication in Delta State, Nigeria who have observed or are observing the industrial training. Findings showed that industrial training had a significant effect on journalism education, contributed significantly to the employability status of the students and significantly influenced acquisition of professional skills in journalism. It recommended an extension of the approved four-month duration for the training programme and regular evaluative research for possible improvement of the programme

Journalism and Mass Communication Training in Nigeria: Some Critical Thoughts

Abstract A major feature of any progress-prone human setting is the capacity to reflect on its acts. Reflection entails retrospectively evaluating one's actions with the intent to encourage what works and halt what does not. This paper reflects on vital issues in journalism and mass communication training in Nigeria by highlighting and discussing these issues from the standpoints of where we are and where we could be. Using the Reflective Practice theory as a framework, the author examines issues around such variables as admission processes, quality of faculty, curricula, programme accreditation, internship and training infrastructure. The paper identifies the absence of synergy between journalism academia and the industry as a major gap in the total process of journalism education in Nigeria. The paper is strewn with relevant recommendations that could bring the Nigerian journalism and Mass communication training to the front row and thus enable it to compete effectively with journalism training institutions in advanced climes