THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA AS A CHANNEL FOR CREATING AWARENESS AND MOBILIZING PUBLIC SUPPORT IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the study

The  media  play  vital  role  in  the  national  development  of  any  nation,  they  provide information,  education,  entertainment,  integration  and  social  interaction  in  a  country  by giving  insight  into  the  happenings  in  the  society  and  helping  with  the  development  of  a nation. The media are also seen as an agent of change instilling new values and behaviours in the society. The electronic media, as the realm's fourth estate, plays a crucial role in educating the public on health related issues. Flora et al. (201) described the four positions that the electronic media can play in national development many decades ago, including the first, which they called media as trainer, the second, which they called media as supporter, the third, which they called media as programme promoter, and the fourth, which they called media as supplement. The four elements have different appearances, but they can be used together or separately. For example, the electronic media's role as an educator involves informing the public about national issues especially in the face of new policies and legislation. The goal of education is to ensure that the general public is psychologically prepared with knowledge that can act as a checklist for their actions in the face of new policy development .

The electronic media, according to Kim and Noriega (2020), is an important part of health education. According to the researchers, one of the ways the electronic media can do this is through a mix of knowledge and entertainment and sharing update of national development content contents on electronic media platforms such as Radio and Television.

In Nigeria, the country has evolved through a series of development efforts aimed at establishing her as a viable, independent state. The ingenuity with which government’s policy makers draft development policies and guidelines for development programs has been the starting off point to indicate the purpose such government’s seek to achieve.When a government enjoys a good union with its developmental strategies, such a government more often than not, excels in elevating its society’s standards.But when a government does not get any support from the masses, this can become an impediment to the success of such development.

1.2     Statement of the problem

It is also pertinent to note that, no government can excel if the populace is not carried along in its development programs. The people need to know what the government and by extension, their leaders are up to. The people need to be informed not just passively but actively engaged by getting detailed information of their government’s plans and activities. Furthermore, the populace ought to be carried along every step of the way; as a way to guarantee active participation. When the populace is carried along by its government, every member of the society invariably knows what is expected of him/her and with the right motivation, contributes their own quota to national development.

As a developing country, Nigeria has continuously witnessed a downward slide from a country with about the most promising prospects in the sub-Saharan Africa with over 163million people (World Bank, 2013), to one that has 112.519 million people (69%) living in relative poverty (National Bureau of Statistics, HNLSS 2010). There seems to be an agreement among the academic society and media practitioners that at the center of all Nigeria’s problems is the fact that the mass media have not been fully deployed as an effective tool in achieving the desired accelerated growth and transformation that the country desperately needs (Moemeka, 2012). In 1974, the World Bank pointed out that efforts targeted at using the electronic media in  creating awareness and public support towards national development did not positively affect the lives of the people in the developing countries to any appreciable degree. Benefits derived from the electronic media efforts were very insignificant. Moemeka blames this problem on two factors  one, is the one-way nature of the mass media, and two, the way the media were used and continued to be used, a fact that aligns with McQuails’ (2005) argument in the Development Media Theory. In order to tackle this problem successfully, both the federal and state government need the total and unalloyed support of the people and this all-important support would largely be possible through the efforts of the mass media that would create the necessary awareness in people and then mobilize their support towards government programmes. Getting members of the society to be adequately informed and carried along by any given government means closing the information gap that exists between both parties. This gap/divide is one which can be bridged by the electronic media.  and thus it is upon this premises that this study seeks to examine the role of electronic media as a channel for creating awareness and mobilizing public support in national development using NTA Aba, Abia State as case study.

1.3     Objective of the study

The broad objective of this study is to examine the  role of electronic media as a channel for creating awareness and mobilizing public support in national development. Specifically, the study seeks to:

1. Investigate if  electronic media has plays any role in updating the masses on new development policies.

2. Determine  how television channel have been creating enough awareness on national development

3. To ascertain the extent at which NTA has engaged the  public to support  national development

1.4     Research Question

1. Does electronic media has any plays any role in updating the masses on new development policies?

2. How does  television channel create awareness on national development issues?

3. Does NTA give prominence to news on  national development?

4. To  what he extent has NTA  engaged the  public to support  national development?

1.5     Significance of the study

Findings from the study will be relevant to government, policy makers and media personnel. This study is important in the sense that it would enable readers to know the power of a television station in helping the authorities in the fulfillment of their expectations.  This is because It is only when government programmes and projects are given that support by the public that it will then be able to achieve the desired objectives and the television, happens to be a medium that can contribute quite enormously in meeting these expectation of government. The result of the study will enlighten television reporters on the need to give prominence to development issues as this would enable government gain support for the effectiveness of the programme.

1.6     Scope of the study

The scope of this study borders on the role of electronic media on as a channel for creating awareness and mobilizing public support in national development. The study is however delimited to Nigerai Television Authority (NTA),  Aba, in Abia State.

1.7 Limitation of the study

Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint– The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.8 Definition of terms

Relevance: relevance is the degree to which something is related or useful to what is happening or being talked about.

Media:The term media, which is the plural of medium, refers to the communication channels through which we disseminate news, music, movies, education, promotional messages and other data.

Electronic Media:Electronic media are media that use electronics or electro-mechanical means for the audience to access the content.