IMPACT OF RADIO ON POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

Title page

Approval page

Dedication

Acknowledgment

Abstract

Table of content

CHAPTER ONE

1.0   INTRODUCTION 

1.1        Background of the study

1.2        Statement of problem

1.3        Objective of the study

1.4        Research Hypotheses

1.5        Significance of the study

1.6        Scope and limitation of the study

1.7       Definition of terms

1.8       Organization of the study

CHAPTER TWO

2.0   LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPETR THREE

3.0        Research methodology

3.1    sources of data collection

3.3        Population of the study

3.4        Sampling and sampling distribution

3.5        Validation of research instrument

3.6        Method of data analysis

 

 

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 Introductions

4.2 Data analysis

CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Summary

5.3 Conclusion

5.4 Recommendation

Appendix

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

Political participation is a process through which individuals or groups of citizens get involved in designing representative decision- makers to enhance an effective governance and societal welfare. The participation can come in form of voting, rally, contesting, partnership, among others. To embark on this task of electing leaders, people must be mobilized in order to get enlightened via enlightenment campaigns, sensitization, information dissemination and advocacy programmes directed at Community Leaders, Age Grades, Development Associations, Opinion Leaders, Artisan Guides and other grassroots movements in order to increase their awareness and foster attitudinal change towards active involvement and participation in politics. (Ikelegbe, 2005). According to one of the political activists, Anthony Gramsci (2010), “the ruling class or party through agent of socialization ( eg radio) indoctrinated others, their beliefs systems and values towards politics”. This emphasize more on the need and advantages of radio in helping to educate people (rural people) on the aim of embarking on politics and the gain achieved from such in a persuasive and convincing mood to lure them into participation for such as it helps to build an organised and healthy and peaceful community, state, country and the world at large. It is also known that the impact of radio manifests in emergence of political movements by instant group with aim to achieve objectives. This implies that radio aim at reaching the diversified and heterogeneous people (rural dwellers) in their various destinations simultaneously and also in their different language for both old and young to partake. This is because in most rural areas, old and young women are in a greater number (non-educated ones) and with their votes, one wins any election. There are various ways one can participate in politics. These ways could be through political rally, partnership, contesting, criticism, voting and so on. The above participation means are very crucial in our rural areas, especially where we have a large country (eg Nigeria).  From the above statement, Democracy stands as the most widely embraced system in politics and governance as means “Rule by the people,” which implies direct participation and representative terms of rule by the people. But, in most community many people are still showing apathy, alienated, indifference to political participation especially cities populated by businessmen. The more information and education even enlightenment on the importance of political participation are made known to the people, the more interest, sympathy and joy they derive from participating in it by the greater extent of the knowledge they acquire about it. Therefore, mass media particularly radio play a crucial role in fostering an environment of good governance and political awareness in society. As the watchdog and interpreter of public issues and events, the media has a special role in every society. In information-based society; the media have a disproportionately visible and influential role says International Foundation for Election Systems,(2011).  IFES (2011) added that democracy cannot exist in the absence of the press. This is because democracy is based on popular will and popular opinion depends on the public’s awareness and knowledge. It is the mass media that brings up, promotes and propagates public awareness Fischer, (2002) says the main responsibility of the press is to provide comprehensive, analytical and factual news and opinion to the people on everyday issues and events of popular concern. To fulfill its duty and responsibility, the press must work according to the fundamental principles of professional ethics, as well as norms and values of journalism.

Goodman, N. (2010) opines that democracy can neither be sustainable nor strong without a free press. On the other hand, press freedom will not be possible without democracy. Therefore, the mass media and journalists must be committed to democracy. For this, the press must be perpetually involved in the establishment and promotion of a democratic culture.

The press must remain ever vigilant to protect and enforce people’s freedom of thought and expression and citizens’ right to all information relating to the various aspects of their life and future.

Held, D. (2006) also observes the fact that access to information is a citizen’s right and must be taken to heart, and information must be presented in a simple and palatable manner. Right to information is inherent in democratic functioning and a pre-condition for good governance and the realization of all other human rights, including education and health care. The main objectives should be the promotion of transparency and accountability in governance so as to minimize corruption and inefficiency in public office and to ensure the public’s participation in governance and decision making.

Media must be credible and trustworthy. Trust is the most valuable asset for any media. Once lost, it cannot be earned back. It is for this reason that all media must uphold their principles to provide accurate and factual news and other programmes. Jones, D. W. (2001). Press must understand the difference between politics in general and party politics. Media should not be a vehicle, or used as an advocate for any political party or ideology. Public and political issues should be clearly understood, analyzed and presented in an impartial manner. During elections/political campaigns, equal time slots or opportunity must be allocated to each of the legitimate political parties and candidates. In the course of elections, messages that encourage goodwill and harmony among all the ethnic groups, religions, genders, cultures, languages, regions and communities should be broadcast. Media plays the role of watch-dog in reporting corruption, complacency and negligence. In a changing, competitive landscape, compliance to good governance has never been taken so seriously, as people demand more transparency from both the government and private sectors. Responsible practices from government, universal principles on human rights and the fight against corruption have assumed great importance. To this end, the research looks into the impact of the radio in political participation using Uyo metropolis area of Akwa Ibom state with the view to know the level of media mobilization.

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The values and expectations of audience members in Akwa Ibom State with emphasis on the state capital which is the major catchment area of Comfort radio does not present a shift from the status quo and due to the differences in the psychological make up of the people, they exhibit varying perceptions when faced with political messages and they comprehend political messages differently even when they live in the same environment. The problem remains, how does the audience rate the performance of Comfort radio in the 2007 general elections? Were their operations effective from the period of electioneering campaign to the elections proper? Was the station biased in terms of favouring the ruling party and denying access to the oppositions? Was the station able to mobilize the audience through inducing attitudinal and behavioural change during the elections period? The problems highlighted above make it imperative to examine the perception of the audiences of Comfort radio in the station’s coverage of the 2007 general elections in the state.

• OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of the study is to ascertain the impact of radio on political participation, but to aid the completion of the study, the researcher intends to fulfill the following specific objective;

1. To determine if the radio is an effective tool for mobilizing electorates
2. To examine the relationship between radio messages and political participation

• To ascertain the impact of radio on political participation in Akwa Ibom State

1. To examine the effect of radio messages on political motivation among the electorate
   • RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher;

H₀: radio is not an effective tool for mobilizing electorates.

H₁: radio is an effective tool for mobilizing electorates.

 

H₀: There is no significant the relationship between radio messages and political participation

H₂: There is a significant the relationship between radio messages and political participation

1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study is a contribution to the numerous literatures on the radio’s use in elections. It is of an academic importance to students of communication arts, as it serves as a reference point for them. The study will also be of great importance to radio presenters and on air personalities as the study seek to explore the benefit and impact of radio broadcast has on political participation of the listeners

• SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers the impact of radio on political participation in Akwa Ibom state Nigeria, but in the cause of the study, there are some factors that limited the scope of the study;

Financial Constraints: In running around to gather materials for the study, considering the economic meltdown, money and resources were involved which delayed the completion of this work.

Attitude of Respondent: The researcher encountered challenges in trying to extract the requires information from the members of staff in different organization.

Time and Effort: The researcher was constraining by time and effort in running around for the completion of this research work.

Other notable limitations are the uncooperative attitude of some respondents, timely completion and return of questionnaires the hostile nature of some respondents.

• OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Radio: Radio is the technology that uses radio waves to carry information, such as sound, by systematically modulating properties of electromagnetic energy waves transmitted through space, such as their amplitude, frequency, phase, or pulse width.

Election: An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office.

Electorate: all the people in a country or area who are entitled to vote in an election.

Political Campaign: A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referendums are decided.

1.8   Organization of the study

The chapter of this research work present the introduction to the background of the study, statement of the problem, researcher question to enable the researcher to meet up with the purpose the study, limitation of the study and operationlizational definition of terms of some important terms. Chapter two present the literature review which is critical     study of the previous and related works or studies done in a researcher’s area of interest or concern. Through such a critical study, the contributions made in the researcher’s area of concern are unveiled, thereby affording him or her opportunity to make headway in his or her endeavour. The researcher therefore will delve into a review of the authors and scholar’s view of minimum wage and productivity of worker. The chapter three, present the research design, area of study, population of the study, sample and sampling techniques, methods of data collection, instrument for data collection, reliability of the instrument, validity of the instrument, distribution and retrieval of instrument and methods of data analyses. Chapter four presents the data presentation, analysis of research question interpretation of result which will be critically analyses for easy understanding and be able to come up with a successful conclusion. This chapter is the summary, conclusion and recommendation coupled with suggestion for further researcher in some area in which the researcher was not able to meet up with.

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