CHAPTER ONE

     1.0  INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the study

The term mass media according to the definition given by Head and Sterling (1982:22), “mass media are those means of communication that use technology to reach large parts of the population almost simultaneously with the kind of news and entertainment that ordinary people can afford to pay”. According to La’aro, (2004:1), the mass media are an important component of mass communication in disseminating symbol content to a large heterogeneous and widely dispersed audience.                                   The media is grouped into print and broadcast media. The print media include: newspapers, magazines, pamphlet, books, et cetera, while the broadcast media consist of radio and television. The establishment of “Iweiroyin fun awonegbaati Yoruba” by Reverend Henry Townsend in Abeokuta in 1859 marked the birth of newspaper in Nigeria. The radio on the other hand, started in Nigeria in 1936 through the distribution of programmes emanating from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) In London as part of its overseas services to Lagos, Kano and Ibadan under the arrangement referred to as Rediffusion. Similarly, in 1959, the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service (WNBS) was established by Chief ObafemiAwolowo as the first television station in Nigeria and in Africa.

In a democratic society, the media is referred to as the “Fourth Estate of the Realm”. This means that after the Executive arm, Legislative, Judiciary, the media comes next. Edmund Burke made this assertion in one of the proceedings of the British Parliament after he had mentioned the three well known estates of the realms, the lords spiritual, the lords temporal and the commons. He pointed to the press gallery and added, “And yonder sits the Fourth Estate, more important of them all”. President J.F Kennedy’s remark on the American press that the president reigns for four years but journalists govern forever also confirmed the fact that the media is a partner in progress with the government and not a tool. The broad functions of the media are to act as watch-dog over the government, safeguarding the rights of the individual and reporting events accurately, objectively and without bias or prejudice.

  However, media ownership tends to have influence on their performance as the “Fourth Estate of the realm”. The degree of freedom of the government-owned media cannot be compared with those of private-owned media. Many research works for instance have shown that government owned media deliberately avoid criticism of government action and play down stories capable of exposing government secrets event when the public interest requires that such story be told to the public. The Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) for example will never transmit any report revealing the secrets or criticizing any action of the Federal Government. The private media even though not entirely free from this fault, Buhari certificate forgery by the news magazine.

          Government-owned media are purposely set up to give maximum publicity to the government and its activities and any journalist who does not want to lose his/her job must keep to the policy. This policy also operates in Osun State where the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT) must not criticize the government of the day even when the interest of the public is at stake. A good example is the mass sack of civil servants including staff of (OSBC) and (AIT) during the administration of Governor RaufAregbesola. The station is being accused at the moment by people especially from the opposing party to the incumbent Governor of being the government stooge parroting the government voice and praise singing it. This propelled us into embarking on this research work to find out the influence of ownership on the performance of Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT) Osogbo.

1.2     Statement of the Problem

          The broadcast industries in Nigeria especially the government owned have been accused of dancing to the whims and caprices of the various governments owning them. This has greatly affected their performances in the society as the Fourth estate of the realm serving as watchdog against the government.The purpose of this study therefore, is to examine the influence of the Osun State government on the performance of Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT)Osogbo.

1.3     Research Questions                                                      

1. Does the ownership pattern of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT) affect its performance?
2. Are the broadcast contents of Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT) subject to censorship before they are broadcast to the public?
3. Does the influence of ownership on the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT)have any effect on the staff?
4. How would you rate the effect of ownership pattern of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT) in their performances?

1.4     Objectives of the Study

The objective of this research work is to provide answers to the questions asked above and to carry out extensive research in order to find out the influence of the Osun State government on the performance of Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and African Independence Television (AIT).This research will therefore take a close look at the performance of the staff of (OSBC) and (AIT) as a result of the influence of the State government and Federal Government vis-à-vis the ethical requirement of their profession.

1.5     Significance of Study

          This study will show the effects of ownership on professionalism in the broadcast industries. And it shall also be of benefit to the regular user of the broadcast like Advertisers, Sponsor, Broadcasters, Reporters, General audience, NGOs etc.This study therefore, is to examine the influence of the Oyo state government on the performance of the staff in the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), Osogbo

1.6     Scope of Study

          The scope of this research study will cover programmes and news department of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), Osogbo as a case study. It involves the influence,effects and impact of ownership on professionalism in the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), Osogbo. It also covers the control ofOsun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT) staff by its ownership.

1.7     Limitations

          The research study is limited to Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC) and Africa Independent Television (AIT)Osogbo, and faces a lot of constrains: among these are the problems of time factor, problem of getting necessary information from the respondents, problem of sourcing for secondary data i.e.Relevant past work and inadequate fund to finance the research work. These factors will make it difficult to cover all the areas relevant to this study.