EFFECT OF OWNERSHIP ON POLITICAL CAMPAIGN AND REPORTING
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EFFECT OF OWNERSHIP ON POLITICAL CAMPAIGN AND REPORTING
Chapter one
1.0 Introduction
This research examines Nigerian news coverage of political campaigns during the 2011 presidential election. The paper’s main focus is on evaluating the role of the Nigerian press in the struggle for political power.
Ownership has been argued to have a significant impact on the role of the Nigerian press in the struggle for political liberation. An owner is defined as the individual or group of people who bring together the financial and personnel resources required to run a business enterprise, such as a newspaper firm.
However, this impact is more obvious when the newspaper is controlled by the government, as the paper is required to represent the owner’s orientation and beliefs. If the publication is privately held, it will report independently.
In light of this, the purpose of this study is to investigate how ownership of various mediums influences their reporting on the political campaign for the 2011 presidential election.
1.1 Background of the Study
Media ownership, control, and influence are interwoven. The ownership interests influence what is and is not covered, as well as the method of coverage. Ownership has an impact on the substance of print publications and the information that readers receive. Ownership impact can explain for diverse renditions of the same events.
Mc Quail (2005, p.292), speaking on ownership and power in the media, advocates as follows:
There is an unavoidable propensity for news media owners to establish broad policy frameworks that are likely to be followed by the editorial team they employ. There may also be informal and indirect pressure on certain problems that are important to owners (such as their commercial interests).
Media outlets should be neutral and independent. However, as we all know, ownership has an impact on how the organisation functions. The media follows the owner’s lead.
Ownership is an important aspect in the regulation of the media. Media managers are frequently faced with the challenge of balancing the interests of the media owner and the public while not telling the ethnics of the profession about the laws of candour.
Whether the media is public or private, the owner’s interests have a significant impact on what media managers do or do not do. An owner is unlikely to tolerate a management that acts against his best interests.
Solomon, G.A., Margaret, S.A., and Joseph, A.T. (2009, p. 23). Identified the types of media ownership as follows:
Government Ownership
Private ownership.
Political Party and Religious Ownership
The political party owns and finances the media outlet. The media serves as the political party’s mouthpiece. The media’s role is primarily to distribute information about the party and rally support for it. The political party controls the financial affairs and editorial content of such publications.
It is widely assumed that a society’s progress will nearly always be slowed in the absence of a robust press. The rationale is simple: the press, as society’s watchdog, is tasked with ensuring that both the government and the governed do not at any time or in any way abdicate their responsibilities to one another.
It is also evident that the Nigerian press has proven to be one of the most vibrant in the world, playing an important part in the country’s social, political, and cultural affairs.
The press has reclaimed its due place as a determining factor in the nation’s historical and modern political history, as well as the difficult process of nation building.
Having said that, it is critical to remember that the strength of the press is heavily influenced by its freedom of expression and independence.
This underlying element could be attributed to the success of some media organisations, which continue to enjoy widespread support among citizens, particularly the masses, who comprise the vast majority of the population.
The capitalist press philosophy states that the press must be:
Free of interference from the state, corporations, and other factions.
Committed to the public’s right to know.
Committed to always learning and delivering the truth, as well as to reporting that is objective and factual (Aitschill, 1947, p.74).
According to the social responsibility thesis, the press serves the economic and political system by teaching the public, protecting the individual, and providing decent pleasure (Siebert et al, 1956, p.44).
As a result, the press has been exploited by three types of people, pushing it to lose control of its own influence. This is to be expected given that these elites have the ability to drown out the press at times, either because they are prospectors for such media outlets or because they have the authority of the state to affect what the media presents to the public.
This dominant political economy ideology, to which the press prefers to conform, has been its undoing, as it contradicts the core philosophy of the press available in a civilised democracy in which the media operates freely.
Instead of being an autonomous agent of change, the press has simply become a source of enjoyment for the ruling class. For political elites, it is simply a more powerful instrument for promoting political agendas through news management and propaganda in order to achieve both public and private goals.
As a result, the press takes on an establishment or opposition identity depending on the political status of these elites, who have everything it takes to influence them, particularly when ownership is at stake.
In this sense, the performance of media outlets might be mirrored in the canon dictum that “it is he who pays the piper that calls the tune”; hence, instead of a “watchdog,” the Nigerian press is essentially a dog fed and tamed by its master, and is supposed to watch and work for him.
This analysis demonstrates that the Nigerian press lacks the cultural identity that characterises the press, which operates within a cultural framework. This is clearly due to the prevailing political economic culture of the media organisations’ owners. our viewpoint undermines the neutrality of the press and so forms the essence of our study.
For the sake of clarity and simplicity, this study will be based on a guardian survey on the coverage of a topic that shook the fabric of our nation: the 2011 presidential election campaign, in which Dr. Goodluck Jonathan won.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The media is unquestionably an agent of positive change in society and a catalyst in nation building, but unfortunately, media owners wield enormous power, interfering with and manipulating news content to further their own interests, compromising objectivity due to the dictates of the media’s cultural identity and ethnicity. Gerhard Wendler (1996, p. 44) believes that:
“The press occupies a strategies position in influencing the course of event in the society and this is because it is the custodian of and accessory to information and whichever it decides to do with such may go a long way in helping to influence the direction in which the society moves” .
The press’s core function and responsibility is to serve as a steward of public consequence, a watchdog over government activities, a force for public opinion, and a crucial agent in supporting a nation’s progress.
However, in order for the press to function effectively, its independence, freedom from sentiment, and dissemination must be ensured.
Media organisations are established to serve the masses, but because to ownership issues, it is nearly impossible to tell whether media organisations are completely independent of their owners’ influence and power.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION.
During an election, the newspaper might draw attention to problems, solutions, or persons in ways that benefit a popular candidate or even the opposing candidate. In some situations, the newspaper can act as a means of persuasion and mobilisation of resources, information, and labour.
Looking at the role newspapers play in distributing information during elections and how they influence the principles and standards by which issues are addressed, it is critical that this study seeks to answer the following question.
How does ownership effect the performance of media practitioners?
Does a given media’s policy determine its activities?
Does the interest of the media owner influence the practitioner’s reporting style?
1.4 The purpose of the study
Keeping in mind that media outlets have a duty to serve the public, but that the question of ownership jeopardises this ethical role. However, this work aims to:
Determined the effect of ownership on political campaigns and reporting.
The press has established a level of independence, as evidenced by political boldness.
Determine the cultural identity of the press and how it relates to the underlying ideology.
Provide a solution(s) to ensure the objectivity and impartiality of the media.
This study will also aim to analyse the performance of the press through newspaper organisation reporting in relation to the intended performance of the press, as defined by its purpose and ethnicity.
Furthermore, the work will analyse and contrast the press’s role idea and behaviour against the backdrop of the political economic ideology of prospectors of newspaper outfits, utilising the Guardian as a case study for the 2011 presidential campaign.
1.5 Scope of the Study
The study’s scope is based on the Guardian newspaper’s influence in the 2011 presidential election.
The reason for selecting Guardian as an object of concentration is due to its ownership pattern, circulation strength, availability, and variety of courage in both national and worldwide political matters.
1.6 Significance of the Study
Given the previously discussed dominant tendencies of media owners and the subservient attitude of reporters and editors, who are the primary performers of media roles, it is critical to embark on such work as this to further sensitise media workers, particularly journalists, about their specific role and responsibilities to society.
It is hoped that the study will encourage editors to strengthen their stance on issues affecting their day-to-day editing functions and press freedom.
Furthermore, it is intended to act as a reminder to media owners that using the media solely for propaganda purposes is an abuse of the media.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
No sound study can be conducted without impediments that endanger the research’s success. This scientific work is no exception.
One of the issues experienced by the researcher is time.
Because of the session’s short duration, it was difficult to combine classroom activities with fieldwork to collect research materials.
Materials are another issue that goes along with the one mentioned above. Due to the poor status of the polytechnics library, the researcher had to travel from one library to another in search of appropriate materials for the research, which exacerbated the researcher’s fragile financial situation as a student.
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
The following terms are defined as they appear in the paper.
POWER ELITES.
Refers to a select group of overly articulate elites from society’s ruling class who wield economic and political power and hence have influence or control over the newspaper.
PERFORMANCE
Capability of the press to carry out its functions judiciously and in accordance with professional ideology without bias.
OWNERSHIP INFLUENCE
The power that a newspaper owner wields over the publication’s policy and overall content.
CONTENT
Any limitations or constraints in the newspaper.
MEDIA
The channel or mechanisms and process of obtaining and disseminating information, ideas, attitudes, and influences to the general public, such as a newspaper.
OBJECTIVITY
A newspaper’s ability to report an event accurately and without bias.
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