READERS PERCEPTION OF THE ROLE OF PRINT MEDIA IN SPORTS DEVELOPMENT
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READERS PERCEPTION OF THE ROLE OF PRINT MEDIA IN SPORTS DEVELOPMENT
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Sports were originally a recreational pastime, but the introduction of financial and material incentives, as well as the associated honour, increased the number of participants, the number of events, and the struggle for success, introducing high-level politics into it. As a result of the projected rewards, fraud, inconsistencies, and injustices have dominated the system.
However, many individuals and groups are now interested in learning about sporting activities. Fixtures, dates, times, and locations for such events become topics of attention. They also call into question past decisions and future ambitions.
Thus, information and public awareness become critical in resolving this quest for information and understanding. A dedicated unit or field in journalism takes on the responsibility of informing the public about athletic events.
The impact of these reports on public behaviour and sports management in general necessitates specialised knowledge and abilities in sports reporting.
In light of these facts, this study investigates the role of print media in Nigerian sports development. Sports were a recreational phenomenon until the early 1930s, when the first World Sports Festival was organised. The selection processes across different nations resulted in stronger and more competitive sports across nations and continents.
Thus, competitive sports act as a unifying force and a source of sociopolitical relationships. Financial incentives, international honours, and merit prizes were introduced to encourage and motivate individuals and nations vying for the crown.
Sports organisations such as the Federation International de Football Association (FIFA), the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the National Food Authority (NFA) were established, creating job possibilities.
As a result, several sporting activities, medals, pressure organisations, and interests formed. Every day, various groups and interests press or strive to learn about the processes and dynamics of these sporting activities, ostensibly in order to maintain and/or impact specific phenomena.
The print media fills this duty gap by reporting on these efforts and providing the necessary information to all interested persons far and wide. Beazell W.P. noticed this when he wrote, “Sports news gets closer than anything else I know of, to the common denominator of news. The sports pages are arguably more popular among readers than any other section of a modern newspaper.
This responsibility has a significant impact on the entire socio-cultural, political, and economic framework of nations. Sport comments sparked nationalistic activities/pressures, fanaticism, and hooliganism in sports.
Because of its larger reach, it has become the most reliable, albeit costly, means of advertising products, services, and programs. It has generated millions of dollars for its organisers and elevated numerous analysts and pundits to international celebrity/hero status.
The struggle for national heterogeneity has also extended to sports. Given the importance of sports reporting, adequate reporting materials and concrete facts are required for quality and objective reporting.
They are interested in the techniques and methods of data collection. Generally, they collect data through personal observation, press associations, publications, and mass media.
The introduction of financial and material incentives, as well as the attendant honour to sport, has increased the number of participants, events, and the quest for success, bringing high-level politics into it.
As a result of the projected rewards, fraud, inconsistencies, and injustices have dominated the system. However, many individuals and groups are now interested in learning about sporting activities.
Fixtures, dates, times, and locations for such events become topics of attention. They also call into question past decisions and future ambitions.
Sports reporters gather, process, interpret, and publish relevant news items for interested parties. This responsibility keeps them on the move all the time, looking for facts that will be extremely valuable to the public.
As a result, this study focusses on organisation. Sports reporting structures, reporters’ responsibilities, and technical requirements for good sports reporting.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The media’s social responsibility and development role in sport development in Nigeria has been criticised for focussing too much on European sporting promotion and culture at the expense of indigenous games and talents, prompting a serious re-evaluation of the roles and obligations of sport journalists and media through self-regulation.
However, given the nature of media ownership and the high cost of media production, industry observers agree that practitioners have shifted to profit maximisation, which finds fertile ground in foreign sport portrayal on Nigerian media and the massive advertising revenue it generates for the media, rather than local sporting events and activities, which are under-funded, ill-equipped, and lack proper promotion, administration, management, branding, and packaging.
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