COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF GATE KEEPING IN GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE MEDIA
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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF GATE KEEPING IN GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE MEDIA
ABSTRACT
The study’s goal was to compare and contrast the gatekeeping functions of Nigeria’s two media ownership models (government and private media).
In doing so, two media outlets, Radio Nigeria Enugu and Cosmo Fm Enugu, were surveyed as case studies, and significant discrepancies in their gate-keeping patterns were revealed.
These differences were supported by the four hypotheses that were formulated for the study, which states that there is a difference in the gate keeping pattern between the two, that privately owned media are more objective in news reporting and news presentation
that there are more stages of news control in the government owned media than in the privately owned media, and that privately owned media exercise greater freedom in their gate keeping functions than the government.
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study: Gate Keeping
Kurt Lewis, an Austrian psychologist, coined the term “gatekeeping” to refer to a person or group of people who govern “the travel of news items in communication channels.”
He defined a gatekeeper as any person or formally organised group directly involved in relaying and transferring information from one person to another via a mass medium.
As journalism evolved into a profession with a broader scope rather than a pastime for the ambitious printer, the media began to get more involved in the processing and regulation of news travel.
They also began to present to the audience what they had chosen in the middle of so many events that were deemed newsworthy based on news-selected criteria such as timeliness, human interest, significance, consequence, and proximity.
The gatekeeper was present at all stages, determining what the public saw and heard through these channels. They have the ability to direct attention to certain events and ideas rather than others.
This was the reason, White (1964) stated that the editor “in his position as a gatekeeper sees to it that the community shall hear as a fact only those events which the newsman believe to be true”
The mainstream media chooses and publicises a wide range of events, including birthdays, speeches, trips, suicides, meetings, and crimes, to create our image and impression of the world.
The usual gatekeeper’s cha at a modern electronic media house would include the reporter, the chief editor, the controller of news, the manager of news, and the production editor. However, the aforementioned arrangement applies to Radio Nigeria (FRCN) Enugu, even if the posts may have different names in other media organisations.
The aforementioned individuals will need to collaborate with other gatekeepers, such as typists and proofreaders, to assess what is publishable as news.
The gatekeepers of news not only try to identify but also keep the public informed by separating news from non-news and selecting key events based on his audience’s interests or his own predisposition.
In later uses, the audience chooses what they are exposed to through selective exposure. The need for gatekeepers to always keep their audience in mind in their news selection process was emphasised by Douglas C. Covert (1985, pp. 133-136), who claimed that “visual compositions that please the makers may not be as acceptable to view as commonly as assumed.”
This word implies that while journalists execute their functions of environmental surveillance, socialisation, audience education, and cultural transmission, journalists themselves perceive their work as reflecting everything rather than being at the heart of things.
1.2: A Comparative Analysis of Gatekeeping in
Government and privately owned media
Before conducting a comparative examination of the gatekeeping procedures between the two types of media ownership, we must first grasp the criteria and philosophies that will drive our comparison.
It is claimed that this will help us comprehend why the government owns the media. The RADIO NIGERIA Enugu operates much differently than a privately held media outlet, COSMO FM Enugu.
1.3 Radio Nigeria as a Dependent Government
OWNED MEDIA.
The electronic media sector was founded on the desire to entertain and instruct the colonial masters. It was distributed from Lagos via rediffusion sets and included educational and informational programming from the British Broadcasting Co-operation (BBC) in London.
Aside from executing the aforementioned responsibilities, it is also an important tool in administering government operations and protecting the interests of the day government.
Progressively, the Nigeria Broadcasting Service (NBC) took over the rediffusion services, which were ultimately converted into regional radio stations such as Western Nigeria Broadcasting Services (WNBS), Radio/Television Kaduna, and Eastern Nigerian broadcasting.
These stations remained government because they received direct government money, and this dependency marked the beginning of the government’s influence over them.
‘The (RADIO NIGERIA) Enugu, a government-owned media outlet, continues to preserve and serve as the government’s mouthpiece. This is because, as the adage goes, “he who pays the piper dictates the tune,” and RADIO NIGERIA must always conform to the demands of the government in power if it is to provide its services.
Because the concept of freedom of gatekeeping has been mortgaged by these media’s financial reliance on government, they do not broadcast anti-government propaganda in their news coverage. At times, it goes so far as to create special studies to highlight trouble areas for the government’s perspective on specific subjects.
When it came to reporting on important issues involving the government, it did it in such a way that they did not convey the same level of urgency and seriousness as reported by privately held media in such situations.
The news reported by the government media (RADIO NIGERIA) in Enugu is not completely accurate, fair, or objective. It becomes mere propaganda agents for the savaging of the image of the government media, as Radio Nigeria makes the understanding of government activities different because what it puts forward as news was (is) no news.
1.4 The Cosmo FM Enugu is privately owned.
MEDIA
Contrary to what appeared to be a government monopoly on the media, the necessity for balanced reporting and programming flexibility eventually led to the establishment of privately held media.
In 1992, the federal military administration led by General Ibrahim Babagida issued a decree permitting private individuals to possess electronic media.
The aim of privatisation was to fill a gap in government-owned media reportage while also generating profit for the financier’s enterprise. As a result, private media houses such as Minaj System Radio/Television, Cosmo FM, African Independent Television (AIT), Ray Power 100.5pm, and others were established.
Unlike Radio Nigeria, which is owned and controlled by the government, Cosmo FM operates independently of the government. The government does not control the programming broadcast on this medium, and because of this relative freedom, it is able to comment critically and objectively on government issues that government-owned media cannot.
This serves as the foundation for the audience’s increased trust in privately held media, which strives for public trust as a means of retention.
Another area where Radio Nigeria Enugu differs from Cosmo in terms of gatekeeping is in the area of national crisis reporting. Radio Nigeria attempted to be less enthusiastic in reporting the October 22nd 2005, Belleview plane crash, and June 12, 1993 crisis, but Cosmo and Minaj system television (MST) did a better job of carrying such news.
At Radio Nigeria, gatekeeping begins with the head of state and the minister of information before moving on to their reporter, chief editor, controller of news, manager of news, production editor, and typist, all of whom work closely with the gatekeeper to determine what is aired as news.
On the other hand, Cosmo gatekeeping begins with the funders, who may ask their staff to verify the coverage or non-coverage of specific programs
The goal of profit-making severely limits the kind of news that appears on the television since the organisation must establish credibility with its audience in order to generate commercial profit.
While sanctions on privately held media include the revocation of licenses and the closure of commercial media outlets, sanctions on government-owned media take the form of supervisory or total sacking of editors.
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