ROLE OF THE PRESS IN THE FREE AND FAIR ELECTION IN NIGERIA
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ROLE OF THE PRESS IN THE FREE AND FAIR ELECTION IN NIGERIA
Elections are a celebration of democracy. It promotes an inclusive state, democracy based on popular sovereignty, and long-term peace, while also testing the competitive power of political parties and leaders through programs and ideology.
In this setting, it is critical for the press to maintain citizens’ trust by playing crucial roles in democratic initiatives, democratic consolidation, democratic expansion, and democratic systems.
Politics will increasingly take place in the realm of communication, as the press is the primary medium for disseminating election messages. The press can help to smooth the nation’s transition process by fostering an election-friendly environment, democratising the public realm, and legitimising political proposals.
These aspects are critical for strengthening the political system’s integrative capability and external adaptability, as well as educating citizens on universal ideals of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. However, the public function of the press is heavily reliant on its own framework of ownership, finance, control, and regulation.
Politicians communicate with the press more than they do among themselves. The press impacts people’s overall cognitive grasp of politics. A strong identification of citizens with political parties led by the press increases motivation to vote and participate in politics. However, the party is merely one aspect of society, not the totality.
The articulation of partisan contents indicates a partial reporting of political truth. It just reflects the intellectual representation of society and contributes little to democratic well-being.
Citizenship begins with state membership; so, civic responsibility compels the press to contribute to the shaping of public opinion. In this process, the press must impart civic knowledge to citizens and provide them with participatory tools.
Information and resources encourage active public engagement and build meaningful conversation and public ownership of the post-election agenda-setting process.
Familiarisation of citizens with various ideas and issues such as knowledge about transition management, election objectives, election system and processes, registration of voters, nomination of candidates, transparency of election process
neutrality of electoral and security officials, monitoring of code of conduct, roles of various agencies in improving the election environment, monitoring of human rights, redesigning the state, inclusive dispensation, durab
The press must collaborate with civil society and citizens to prevent electoral malpractices such as vote buying and selling, character assassination of candidates, dismissing national sensitivities, social harmony, and decent voting behaviour, abuses of state and market power, and instilling in citizens a sense of reason, conscience, and civic responsibility.
The press’s ability to do so puts it in a privileged position to make political decisions that have a significant impact on the nation and its people.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The press exists to serve the governed, not the rulers. The government’s ability to censor the press was removed, allowing the press to continue to criticise the government. The press is protected so that it can reveal official secrets and inform the public.
Only a free and restrained press can effectively expose government dishonesty. One of the most important obligations of a free press is to prevent any section of the government from fooling the people.
The effort will thus demonstrate to a significant extent the significance and role of the press in fulfilling its mission to educate and enlighten members of the public about democratic values while avoiding sensational or divisive coverage of political matters.
1.3 Research Questions.
The study aims to answer the following questions: what role does the press play in a free and fair election?
To what extent is the press socially responsible?
To what extent can the government and the people help the press fulfil its mission? To ensure a free and fair election.
What are the problems and upcoming challenges?
Purpose or objective of the study
This study aims to investigate how the press has fared and lawfully performed its role in ensuring a free and fair election. The study’s premise is the ongoing discussion over the role of the press in a free and fair election.
The study is thus concerned with evaluating the press performance in an election, the political election, and the Nigerian press’s overall contribution to a stable policy.
Methodology
We will conduct the study using a qualitative method. We will rely on secondary data. We will consult pertinent literature from books, journals, the internet, newspapers, and magazines.
We will also conduct structured interviews to gather people’s perspectives on the subject, as well as their assessments of the press and the government.
1.6 Relevance of the Study
The function of the press has always been a contentious issue, depending on whether the society is authoritarian, democratic, communist, or libertarian; perspectives differ and vary significantly as to the exact role of journalists in the society.
The press should be free of governmental control and ownership, which goes against the recognised Eastern world ethic. Many journalists and hardcore critics believe that journalism is only acceptable and proper if it keeps the government or administration on its toes with a barrage of criticism.
Nonetheless, some journalists writing in Eastern journals such as Pravda feel that the press is truly free and democratic when edited by the people and represented by their numerous mass organisations.
It is worth emphasising that many emerging countries do not easily fit into the four press theories of authoritarianism, libertarianism, social responsibility, and communism.
Because the press is an essential organ of the democratic system; an important vehicle of communication and an instrument in the formation of public opinion, journalists should see their job as a trust to serve the public interest.
In order to achieve this goal, the council requires that the press provide a truthful, comprehensive, and reliable account of events in a context that gives meaning, project a representative picture of society’s constituent groups, regard itself as a forum for comments and criticisms, and fulfil its social responsibilities by clarifying societies’ good and values.
Limitation
The initiative has been able to touch upon numerous areas of the
theme “The role of the press in a free and fair election” but there were various reasons that caused setbacks and limits in gathering data and material for the project. The first limits of this study are budgetary and time constraints, as well as a lack of suitable study resources.
During the process of obtaining materials, the researcher encountered numerous budgetary obstacles as well as a shortage of relevant textbooks for review.
Definition of Terms
ROLE: According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (6th edition), a role is the degree to which someone or something is involved in a situation or action, as well as the impact that they have on it.
MASS MEDIA: According to Defleur and Dennis (1981), mass media are instruments that transport messages over long distances or over time in order to facilitate mass communication.
4. CANDIDATE: A nominee or aspirant for a job or award. 5. ELECTION: The process of selecting one or more people for a public or private office from a larger pool of candidates.
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