PRINT MEDIA, CARTOONS AND SOCIAL COMMENTARY IN NIGERIA
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PRINT MEDIA, CARTOONS AND SOCIAL COMMENTARY IN NIGERIA
Chapter 1: Introduction
Cartoons are nonverbal graphic communication channels used by media organisations to express their thoughts, perspectives, and discoveries.
They are used to express a perspective in amusing ways and are frequently focused on current, hot, and relevant concerns. Print media primarily uses them to educate, enlighten, and entertain its audiences (Emi, 2008).
Furthermore, the need for investigative journalism has emphasised the watchdog role of newspapers because there are two sides to humans: the godly and the animalistic.
The godly side of humans behaves in good manners, whereas the animalistic side of humans is the evil side, as evidenced by various wrongdoings or atrocities committed by man.
It also demonstrates the human need to control, to gratify base instincts of wealth gain, and to indulge in evil or sensual cravings.
Humans are expected to be rational, but rationality does not always ensure good behaviour because their animalistic impulses usually triumph.
As a result, the media must expose evil and bring criminals to justice in order for human civilisations to avoid becoming like the animal realm, full of evil.
There is also a need to curb the excesses of the powerful or privileged against the less privileged, to hold rulers accountable to their people, to implement social reforms, to expose crime and other wrongdoings, and to speak up for the voiceless, among other things (Aina 2001).
Also, the claim that Nigeria is one of the world’s most corrupt countries is not exaggerated. International organisations have continually testified to this irrefutable fact. To back up their accusations, the country has observed several forms of corrupt acts.
This must have perplexed the previous regime, led by Chief Olusegun Obasajo, to the point where he felt it necessary to establish organisations to combat corrupt practices among citizens.
Two such organisations are the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EECC). After a few years of operation, many people refer to them as a toothless bulldog organisation.
The press is the sole organisation on which Nigerians can rely to combat corruption through in-depth news reporting, opinions, comments, editorials, editorial cartoons, and so on.
Watson (2008) claims that the media is a prominent public arbitrator of human behaviour. Many people have deemed cartoons in newspapers to be equally capable of serving as a society watchdog. This is the question the researcher hopes to address.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The study will look at the impact and significance of crime illustration in strengthening the role of print media cartoons as watchdogs in Nigeria and the drive for development.
It is to determine the impact of comic illustration on readers and the extent to which cartoons have served as a watchdog for society.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
1. Determine the frequency of cartoons in the print medium.
2. To see if print media cartoons can effectively convey information.
3. Determine the extent to which newspaper cartoons can identify culprits/evildoers.
4. Determine whether print media cartoons can serve as a means of communication for members of society.
5. To assess how social reality is produced using newspaper cartoons in print media.
1.4 Research Questions
1. How frequently do we see cartoons in the newspaper?
2. Do newspaper cartoons identify or reveal the genuine identities of perpetrators or evildoers?
3. Do readers find newspaper cartoons meaningful?
4. Do newspaper cartoons serve as the society’s mouthpiece?
5. Do the captions of newspaper cartoons genuinely play a watchdog role in society?
1.5 Scope of the Study
Certain publications in Nigeria publish cartoons. It is therefore necessary to examine the entire print media.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
This study is significant in the field of mass communication because it contributes to understanding the impact of mass communication messages and media content on people.
It also serves as an intermediary between what is true and our experiences, particularly those that are not continuous. It also serves as a window into the walls of information.
The importance of this study to society can be traced back to the Lasswellian media function of environmental surveillance, which is the journalistic service of collecting and disseminating news information by surveying the environment through monitoring trends, discussions, or providing early warning signals of an impending danger, reporting evil deeds, and so on.
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