CHAPTER ONE

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY.

The history of the media in Nigeria is a very unique one. Pioneered by the efforts of private
individuals, it enjoyed patronage and acceptance by many Nigerians, especially the educated
ones. Right from the advent of Iwe Irohin in 1859, the Nigerian media emerged as a viable
source which has often times stood as the voice of the voiceless Nigerians.

The importance of the Nigerian media in the development of the Nigerian state became more
prominent in the struggle by the Founding Fathers of Nigerian nationalism against the
continuous British colonial rule and imperialism, right from the emergence of political parties in
Nigeria and up till about 1944. As the agitation gained momentum, the colonial government
initiated a process of tactical pull over through negotiation with the emergent yet fragmented
political class; the media took a front seat and status in the struggle as the mouthpiece of the anti-
colonial struggle. In playing this role, the media and individual journalists were exposed to all
forms of vicissitudes and punishment by the colonial authorities.

The Nigerian press has indeed established itself as a strong force in the information sphere and
this was maintained during the oppression days of the military juntas in the country, and was also
instrumental in the enthronement of democratic governance in the country in 1999.
Unlike the history of the press, the origin of the broadcast media in Nigeria took a different twist.
According to Adeseye and Ibagere (1999) the establishment of a relay station in Nigeria by the
British Broadcasting Corporation in 1932 was meant to serve different interest. Chief of which
was to mobilize Africans and Nigerians to fight a common enemy-Germany and also to serve the
interest of the British minorities in the country. This testimony is in sharp contrast to that of the
press which though started by a non-Nigerian, but was generally meant for the information,
education and entertainment needs of Nigerians. Since the inception of the broadcast media in
Nigeria, it remained exclusively with the government until the government of General Ibrahim
Babangida deregulated the industry, thereby giving private individuals the opportunity to own
and operate broadcast stations.

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Media ownership will continue to be a major determinant in the affairs of the media in Nigeria.
Adeseye and Ibagere (1999) identify three types of media ownership; Public, Private and Quasi-
government ownership. They noted that the public ownership is a system whereby the
government establishes and operates media houses. The private system is a system where private
citizens own media houses and the quasi-government is a partnership between the government
and private investors. The last is however not being practiced in Nigeria. There is no doubt that
media ownership in Nigeria is largely in the hands of the government. In Nigeria today, there is
virtually no state government that does not own a television or radio station and even newspaper
publishing houses. This therefore implies that majority of media personnel in Nigeria are under
the services of the government.

Unarguably, ownership is one of the major problems facing the media in Nigeria, be it State or
Federal. In most cases, there is a stigma on journalists who work in these media houses as they
are often seen as government’s propagandists. Journalists are made to give the activities of their
government owner more prominence at the expense of other important issues. When they fail to
do so, regardless of their role or importance to the media organization, the reporters risk being
sacked or demoted unless they are lucky. The issue is not different in the broadcast media.
According to Udeajah (2004), everything points to the fact that ownership has had some
significant effect on the operations of broadcast organizations in Nigeria. The policy of the
persons who pay the broadcaster’s salary determines the operation of the media station.

The public or government owned media houses in Nigeria have been known to suffer a myriad of
problems which have left them redundant and reduced them to mere “government handouts”.
This is as a result of the overbearing influence of the government owners on the media houses.
Uche (1989:139) states that:
The influence of the government is seen in the unwavering support government media
organizations give to the government of the day. Government officials do not hesitate to remove
anyone in charge who fails to offer unquestionable support.
Obviously, this could be the reason why government owned stations have lost credibility in the
eyes of the public.

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Noting further, Uche stated that in a bid to save their job, media personnel in government media
houses are ready to abide by the rules of their government owners or be shown the way out.
Nwachukwu (2008:9) puts it this way:
An erring official risks being sacked with ‘immediate effect’ or face other punishments for such
‘heinous’ acts. For instance, within one year of the elected civilian government assuming office
in 1990, no less than ten chief executive officers of state owned broadcasting stations were
sacked. Those who kept their jobs got the message - toe the line.

This disenchantment in the government owned media has come to encourage sycophancy in the
industry as the media houses are now known to provide less credible news/information as
compared with the privately owned ones. Azegbeni (2006). The reasons for such low credibility
are government interference in the editorial content, inadequate funding as well as poor and
inadequate trained personnel. Another reason for their low patronage can be attributed to their
perceived bias and pro-government stand on issues of national interest.

Obviously, the government owned media stations are also faced with the problem of political
interference. Ordinarily, they have the widest reach but private companies still shy away from
patronizing them with their adverts and this has left them at the mercy of their government
proprietors who now release subvention to them whenever they feel that they are satisfied with
their operations. This assertion is supported by Ezeah (2005) who, referring to a study conducted
on government owned media stations by Chika Ndu (2000) states that the media houses are
always receiving irregular subventions which has brought them to their epileptic state. He further
states that the method of funding is faulty and inadequate and this has resulted in their poor
performances.

Government’s bid to make the press favorably disposed to it also led to the unholy act of
censorship. This is a way of gagging media houses and personnel by their government
proprietors to ensure that anything that is not approved about their activities is not published or
aired in their media. This often makes news stories from the government media more of a
government official announcement than the actual report of an event.

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The nonchalant attitude towards government establishment in Nigeria has also been shifted to the
media. Despite the transformation being witnessed in the media globally, most government
media organizations in Nigeria still operate with analogue equipment. According to Doghudje
(2008:15):
For national coverage on radio/television, you have to rely on the federal-government-owned
radio and television networks. And that is most unfortunate because they are poorly equipped
and poorly maintained. Besides, they are inflexible and posses a huge dose of civil service
mentality… it is for this reason that they depend on government subventions or subsidies for
their survival instead of generating enough revenue for their survival and growth.
There is no gainsaying for the fact that most government owned media organizations are still
operating with the equipment which they acquired at their inception and this has remained so
after many years of operation as their government owners show nonchalant attitude towards
them. This was exactly the case, which led to the collapse of the Daily Times newspapers.
In the same vein, it is an open fact that journalists in government owned media organizations are
poorly paid or remunerated. They are treated as civil servants even though they are made to work
round the clock and made to come to work even when other government staffs are off duties.
Many state governments in the past often owe their media workers months of unpaid salaries and
this made the media personnel to embark on industrial actions to demand for their salaries.
The problems of government owned media houses in Nigeria are enormous and will be discussed
extensively in the review of related literatures.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The media is regarded as the fourth estate of the realm, this can be said to be the role, bestowed
on the press by nature. The responsibility to inform and educate the public on the happening in
the day to day activities of the government is vested on the media.

But generally press freedom has always been a controversial issue, Africa is not an exception; In
Namibia, Norah Appolus was removed from her post of news director of the Namibian
Broadcasting Corporation because of her report the government considered too independent. In
the same vein, the administration of Group Captain Baba Adamu Iyam of Edo State
unceremoniously removed from office, the Editor of the Observer Newspaper, Adekumbi Ero for

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the Editor‟s criticism of the government‟s retrenchment policy. Adeseye and Ibagere (1999). On
September 20th 1991, Tony Ikeakanam was removed as the editor of the Observer demoted to
grade level 12 and posted to Ibadan as a reporter for allegedly using an unglamorous photograph
of the then first lady, Mariam Babangida on the front page of the newspaper African Concord
(28 October, p: 45, 1991).

There is no doubt that as a result of the above mentioned incidences, journalists in government
owned media always bend the news to favour who ever is in power and they are also obviously
silent about official corruption.

What could be responsible for lack of professional journalism in government owned media
which has militated against its social responsibility? Could it be as the saying goes: he who pays
the piper dictates the tune?

In summary, the fundamental problem motivating the study is the restrictions

on journalistic practice in government owned media to give an objective report especially
when the news is negative to the image or understanding of the media ownership.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following constitute the objective of this study:
i. To find out, those constraints on journalistic practice in government owned media;

ii. To determine how government influence affects media contents.

iii. To determine the factors that provide the constraints on journalistic practice in government
owned media.

iv. To determine whether government ownership of the media wields any influence on the
practice of journalism.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY.

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This study is significant in the following ways:-
i. It will help the researcher to understand how media practitioners in government-owned media
maneuver their social responsibility role.

ii. It would serve as an epitome for the media practitioners in government owned media to eagle-
sight where they need to make correction so as to carry out their social responsibility functions
better without compromise.

iii. It would contribute to the existing literatures on this topic and as thus would impel further
research on how limitations on journalistic practice in government owned media could be
reduced to the minimum or eliminated.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.

The following research questions were drawn as guide in this study:
i. What are those constraints on journalistic practice in government- owned media?

ii. Does government-ownership of the media houses have any effect on their operation?

iii. What are those ways in which the government seeks to control their media content?

iv. Has government ownership of the media houses affected the credibility of those media
organizations?

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY.

A research of this degree would have been better to encompass as many government media
stations as possible, but doing that would not only be too weighty, but would make the research
unachievable especially for the researcher. Therefore, this warrants the call for a sample of the
population to be chosen. Supporting this, Asika (1991:46) notes that sampling enables us to
obtain quicker results instead of a complete survey of the entire population…enables us to be
more systematic and affords us better opportunity to be focussed than with complete coverage of
the entire population.

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This study would therefore be limited to only the government-owned newspapers with a case
study of HERALD newspaper from Ilorin, kwara State, north- central (geo-political zone) and
The SUN newspaper from Lagos, South-West ( geo-political zone) of Nigeria.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

The terms below are defined in the context that they are operationalized in the study:-
1. Constraints – those factors militating against the practice of journalism.
2. Ethics – rules or standard regulating activities of the press.
3. Government – group of people who are responsible for controlling a country or state.
4. Government Media – these refers to government-owned newspapers located in the south-
south geo-political zone of Nigeria.
5. Media – these refer to radio, television, newspapers and magazines that are used in the
dissemination of information to a large and heterogonous audience.
6. Media Practitioners – this refers to a professional journalist who has undergone training and
is working with a media organization.
7. Ownership – means to have control and management of something when it is legally yours.

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 CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 INTRODUCTION
The history of the media in Nigeria has always been characterized by two major forms of
ownership. These are government (public) ownership and private ownership. Each of these forms
of ownership has its peculiar hindrances. However, the focus of this study is not on these
hindrances as a whole but those pertaining to the government-owned media of the South-South
geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Several studies have been conducted on the constraints facing the
practice of journalism in Nigeria. In this chapter, the researcher undertakes a review of some of
these studies concerned with the stumbling blocks to the smooth-run of government-owned
media in Nigeria.

2.1 OVERVIEW OF GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP OF THE MEDIA

All forms of media ownership are driven by different agendas. O wnership is a principal
determinant of independence. What then determines independence? According to World
Development Report (2003), Ownership is a central factor of independence because it is the
owners who control information flow and thus influence economic, political and social
outcomes.
Ogbiti (2006:5) re-enforces this position when she asserts that:
the implication of government-owned newspapers are that governments fund, appoint board of
directors, general managers and editors; thus they call the tune, as a result, each government-
owned newspaper owes its allegiance to the ruling class and not to the tax payers whose money
is the source of funding for the newspaper.
Government owned media depends solely on the government that owns them to provide support
funds in addition to any other generated by the organization. Such support funds may include
those for staff salaries and other operational costs such as procuring and maintaining broadcast
and print media equipment. Most public owned broadcast organizations had over the years
depended on this source since it was the responsibility of the government to provide financial
assistance to its media organization. Okenwa, (1998) asserts that government subvention cannot
be guaranteed in Nigeria. The overdependence of government media on government subvention

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makes these media subject to manipulation by their owners. Nwosu (1990) cited Siebert,
Peterson and Schramm (1963) as saying that the mass media should have the capacity of
maintaining their financial self-sufficiency so as to be free from the pressures of special interest.
Government ownership of the media enables it to exert a psychological and financial control
over the media.

World Development Report (2003) is of the view that government control of the media could
distort and manipulate information in the incumbent government’s favour. In total agreement,
Nwosu (1990) says most media in Nigeria are owned by government and so end up many a times
serving as mere mouthpieces for communicating various government’s activities at various
levels. This, he continued, does not make for balanced, extensive and fair communication.
Government-owned media have always been accused of not living up to their expectations.
Onukaba (2005:2) opined that:
It is the duty of any media institution to keep the public aware of what is
going on around them by providing accurate, factual and timely
information at all times. It is also the duty of the media to warn or alert the
public about impending danger, to interpret events or provide information
needed by the public to make everyday decisions or that will help them
participate actively in the political, economic and social activities of a
community. They are also expected to use their products to educate,
entertain, mould public opinions, reinforce attitude and set agenda for the
society.
However, for any media institution especially the government-owned to play these roles
effectively, they are expected to uphold these values of objectivity, fairness, justice, accuracy,
balance, moderation and decency.
The reasons often given by government for their involvement in media ownership according to
Onukaba (2005) are that the private ones cannot be trusted to faithfully uphold these tenets of the
profession. They accuse them of fostering unrealistic expectations among the populace, of
heightening anxieties about conditions in the country and of hate-mongering, inaccuracies and
misinformation, sensationalization and shallowness, over-commercialization, political bias and
partisanship, elitism, deception, manipulation, violation of privacy, indecency and obscenity, the

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lack of fairness and balance. These of course are general criticisms against all media institutions,
whether private or public (government-owned).

Ownership all over the world seems to tilt towards the Marxism adage of “He who pays the piper
dictates the tune.” For example, in Pakistan, there is no formally enforced press censorship but
journalists have been indirectly forced to curtail their reporting due to various external reasons.
For instance, according to Ramanujan (2007),
When reporting the aftermath of an earthquake in Pakistani newspapers, government-owned
newspapers refrained from explicitly condemning the ineffectiveness of the government’s
response or highlight that the military was inept in handling the disaster. When President
Musharraf admitted the inefficiency of the government’s response and the inability of the
government to get aid, the press praised him for admitting the problem instead of criticizing him
for not providing relief in the first place.
According to Akuta (2005) as cited by Ramanujan (2007), the media did not and has not
questioned the government for its failures in aiding victims and getting relief assistance.
The Somaliland Times (2003) reports that:
Although it has been the norm for managers at government-owned media to suppress all
information deemed by them as critical of, or embarrassing to the incumbent administration, the
government has more recently embarked on a policy of complete censorship of all materials
issued by the official media.
Sequel to the above, it becomes crystal clear that the editorial policy of these media
organizations will not represent the interest of the public. Instead, the government of the day will
always have their fill.

Max (2000) wrote that the media in Alabama have been manipulated almost as cynically as those
in former Yugoslavia but under the guise of operating in a democratic environment.
Governments have used laws and regulations to regulate the media in such a way as to ensure
their compliance or drive disobedient ones out of job.

When the media falls under the control of the government, they could be used to propagate lies.
George Bush, the former president of the United States of America was delighted to learn from a

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Washington Post-ABC News Poll that 56 percent of America still thinks Iraq had weapons of
mass destruction before the start of the war while six in ten said they believe Iraq provided direct
support to the Al-Qaeda terrorists‟ network. Amy and David (2005) argued that Americans
believed these lies, not because they are stupid but because they are good media consumers.
They added that their media had become an echo chamber for those in power. Therefore, instead
of challenging the fraudulent claims of the Bush administration, they had their media acting as
conveyor belts for the government lies.

Some may argue that working for a government-owned newspaper might seem like a good idea,
free of harassment that independent journalists face. However, sometimes, this apparently
privileged position acts to the contrary. For example, in August 2004, Mr. Ahmad Zia Seamak
Herav, the editor of the government-run daily, Anis resigned citing extreme pressure on his
professional independence, he added that his attempt to turn the newspaper in an independent
professional media organization was considered unacceptable with constant efforts to undermine
him.

It is important to note that apart from government control of the media through laws, decrees and
the courts, other means of control such as „co-opting‟ (sic) exist (Uche, 1989: 139). „Co-opting‟
according to Uche is a term that explains the reduction of journalists to mere stooges of the
government. Besides that, Nwachukwu (2008) explains that the government uses preferential
treatments to „buy‟ the most influential journalists in the country. These influential critics are
often appointed to top position in the government.

In most of the so-called third world countries, government takes active interest in the
establishment and control of the media. Onyero (1991:55) points out that:
When the government becomes actively involved in the ownership and operation of the media,
the public becomes the target of the political brainwashing…Because the media are supposed to
check the excesses of the government, truth becomes hidden. As a result the media become more
political tools used only to advance the wishes of the government.
Naturally, each government wants to tell its own story. As such, they do so by establishing their
own media houses. Thus, some have argued that government establishment of its media house is

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a welcome development especially in the Third World countries but the problem remains that
government owned media lack credibility and objectivity and as William Hatcher puts it as cited
by Chinedu (2004):
Even when they play the news straight, government owned media generally have credibility
problems, readers are often suspicious of news from official organs and if they are given the
chance, they will seek independent sources.

The above is not always the case with some government owned media in advanced countries of
the world. For instance, in Britain, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is owned by the
British government, but its activities are not often controlled by the British government. In
Article 3 of its charter, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s objectives is stated to be:
“To provide, as public services, sound and television broadcasting service and to provide sound
and television programmes of information, education and entertainment for general reception”.
True to its charter, the day to day operations of the BBC are directed by media personnel who are
responsible to a board of directors of the corporation. The corporation can disagree with the
government on certain issues and hold its ground.

This is not the case in Nigeria where the government in power controls the press firmly
especially the government media.

Living Guyana (2005) has it that for the state media to become a divisive factor, the people
running it have to be insulated from political interference. There should be no directions by
politicians or their representatives or discussions on policy.

The editorial went on to say that the major problem with state media has always been that if they
fall under the control of party in power, even indirectly, that can lead to a contamination of the
news process. That is not only unfortunate in itself, but it can also lead to a politicization of other
privately owned media in response. It is therefore an obvious fact that the proprietor’s interest
informs the editorial policy of the media.

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2.2 FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST THE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE
PERFORMANCE OF THE GOVERNMENT OWNED MEDIA
The mass media play a vital role in nation-building. It is therefore necessary to identify the
problems facing the mass media in Nigeria. The problems of government owned media house
appear to be more complex because of the usual bureaucratic inertia and mismanagement that are
characteristic of the developing countries. Hence the conservative attitude of government media
out-fits; organizational problems and misappropriation of fund exert a paralyzing influence on
the government owned media. Financial mismanagement, inability to provide enough funds for
technical facilities as well as static administrative protocol coupled with the absence of practical
knowledge of audience management etcetera hamper the operations of the media out-fits owned
by the government.

Nwosu (1990:117) asserts that the government has limited resources; hence most government
media are suffering from chronic shortage of funds. This implies that government ownership of
both the electronic and print media involves funding for capital investment and running costs. It
is pertinent to mention here that the funding of government media depends on the state of the
economy of the media.

The problem arising out of inadequate funding of the government owned media outfits, more
often than not, compel the media organizations to seek other means of supplementing
government subvention given to them such as resorting to limited commercial broadcasting,
increasing the advertising rate and the withdrawal of subvention on newsprint.

Partisanship or ideological journalism and sectionalism pose a big problem to the government
owned media. During the colonial era for instance, most newspaper privately owned by some
nationalists and politicians, like the west African pilot owned by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of Africa,
mounted newspaper crusade against the British colonial administrators by criticizing the
government policies and inciting the people against colonial rule in Nigeria, Hachten (1971).
Schranm (1964) states that poor funding is the bane of government owned newspaper in the
developing world. Throughout the developing world, the mass media are under-financed and
underdeveloped and therefore are not contributing what they might contribute if fully and

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adequately used.

Schranm believes that the financial starvation being suffered by some government owned media
is preventing them from realizing the dream for which the founding fathers of the newspapers
had established it. He however recommends that the basic requirement for developing the mass
media to the rate at which they can make the greatest contribution to national development
require serious and substantial financial commitments.

He also said that the first requirement for accelerating the developing of mass communication is
therefore that a nation be willing to make a serious investment in media growth, adding that
substantial progress could be made in this regard for results. He insists that the essential point is
that the responsibility for communication development should not be dropped when an inventory
and plan have been made. Arguing that, the responsibility should be an active and a continuing
one. Perhaps, the best bait for communication development is to develop a well though-out plan
that investigates the development of mass communication in the general pattern of social and
economic development.

Nwosu, (1990) supports the idea of funding when he points out that “stringent budgets mean
little or no investigative reporting or in depth writing. This affects salaries so that talented
professionals will not come to that organization or if they do they will not stay”.
This is exactly the present cloud that envelopes some government owned newspapers. The few
talented professionalizes who are presently working in this newspaper are however only there
because they have not found any alternative. They are not committed because of the inadequate
funding.
Furthermore, delayed monthly salaries have led to low morale, job insecurity and lack of
commitment, pilfering and indiscipline.

The choice of suitable media technology is another militating factor against government owned
media. The changing technological improvement prevalent in this modern age affects both the
broadcast and the print media. Going by the present economic woes of the government, the
procurement of modern technological equipment and facilities has become a problem to the

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government. New technological transfer is difficult to be adapted to. Other problems associated
with it include problem of spare parts, durability of the new technology, and staff training for
operating the new system. Ethical problems still militate against government owned media.
Amadi (1986) insists that bribery and corruption still exist in the practice of Nigeria journalism.
Ebo (1998) says that this affects audience perception of media credibility.

One of the greatest ethical problems of government owned media is that of the media objectivity.
Many of these media do not report balanced news. Also, inviting reporters for dinner, giving
those Christmas gifts, „brown envelops‟ and other forms of gratification remain an ethical
problem against the government media outfits.

2.3 LEGAL CONSTRAINTS ON JOURNALISTIC PRACTICE IN NIGERIA

Thomas Jefferson, the third American president said that he preferred a press without a
government than a government without a press. Sad to say, experience has shown that the
reverse is the case in Nigeria. The authorities (government) hate the investigative inclination,
eagle and probing eyes of journalists thus they try to muzzle the press with legal and extra-legal
instruments at their disposal.

Asadu (2007:261) identified one of the legal control mechanisms that weigh the media down in
the discharge of their social responsibility to the people as law on sedition. Fred (1999:3) adds
that the ruling class is suspicious that a free press could “lionize” the ordinary citizens to the
extent of causing a shift in the base of power. This assumption, though erroneous has its grounds
on the contributions which journalism made towards the decolonization of Nigeria.

The root of the ruling class’s suspicion of the press is therefore traceable to the mistaken
imagination according to Wilcox (1975) as cited by Fred (1999) since a fettered pre-
independence press was able to remove the powerful colonial masters, then an unfettered post-
independent press would be too hot for less powerful African masters to contend with.

In recognition of the importance of press freedom, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights (10th December 1948) according to Emmanuel (2006) everyone has the right to

15
freedom of opinion and expression. This right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek and receive information and ideas through any media regardless of
frontiers.

Media laws are necessary since there is no absolute freedom anywhere in the world but a closer
look at laws governing the activities of journalism especially the print reveals that the laws have
not been mild. Some of these laws are listed below:
1. The Newspaper Act, 1917
2. Printing Presses Regulation Act, 1933
3. Criminal Code and Penal Code: (a.) Sedition, (b.) Injurious falsehood, (c.) Criminal
defamation, (d.) Prohibition of imported Publications, (e.)Seditious publication against foreign
Heads of State, (f.) Contempt of court.
4. Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications Act, 1961)
5. Defamation Act, 1961
6. Seditious Meeting Act, 1961
7. Obscene Publication Act, 1961
8. Official Secrets Act, 1962
9. Newspaper (Amendment) Act, 1964
10. Circulation of Newspaper Decree No. 2, 1966
11. The Defamatory and Offensive Publications Decree No. 44, 1966
12. Newspaper (Prohibition of Circulation) Decree No. 17, 1967
13. Public Officers (Protection Against False Accusation) Decree No. 11, 1976
14. Newspaper (Prohibition of Circulation) Validation Decree No. 12, 1978

In the light of the above, how can a journalist perform his responsibilities effectively without
being crushed by the slag hammer of the law?
Section 4 of the Independent Constitution, section 25 of the 1963 Constitution, section 36 of the
1976 Constitution and section 39 of the 1999 Constitution all contain almost the same words on
freedom of the press (Ukonu, 2004).

2.4 NIGERIAN PRESS AND THE QUEST FOR PROFESSIONALISM

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The institutional position of the press as the watchdog of the society, has found expression in
section 22 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which states explicitly
“The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to
uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and
accountability of the government to the people”. The chapter referred to is chapter 11, which is
entitled “Fundamental objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy”, covering sections 13-
14 of the constitution, and outlining the fundamental obligations of the government and the
people of Nigeria, as well as the political, economic, social, educational, environmental and
cultural foreign policy thrust of the country.

To give impetus to the above, section 39 of the same 1999 Constitution, entitled “Right to
freedom of expression and the press”, declares as follow:
1. Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions
and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference

2. Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section; every person shall be
entitled to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas
and opinions, provided that no person, other than the government of the federation or of a state
or any other person or body authorized by the president on the fulfillment of conditions laid
down by an Act of the National Assembly, shall own, establish or operate a television or wireless
broadcasting station for any purpose whatsoever.

Following the above constitutional provision, it is quite glaring that the 1999 Constitution, is in
support of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states
expressly that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The right includes
freedom to hold opinion without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regard less of frontiers”. But the extent of the abuse of these
constitutional provisions by a section of the Nigerian press has not only necessitated this
research, but it has also made the society and others to call for the adherence to professionalism
of journalism. In spite of the many laudable roles played by the media, and are still playing, there
are still some dark sides to it.

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 In fact, a special constitutional conference of the NUJ was convened in Dutse,
Jigawa State in June 2000, to review the constitution of the union. The conference among others
sets high academic standards for entry into the profession. It stipulated a degree in Mass
Communication or Journalism, and a certain level of experience in the field, as entry
qualification. It also stipulated a registration board to register and produce a compendium of
journalists in Nigeria, besides a disciplinary committee to enforce the ethics of the profession,
and with the power to sanction erring practitioners to the extent of barring them from practice.

2.5 POLITICAL INSTABILITY

Writing on the problem caused by the appointment of political stooges by the state government
to head the media organizations, Ndubisi (2003:61) quotes Iyida (1998) who says that:
Government paper may have the style sheet all right, the editor may be good, too good! He
knows the job. He sees journalism even as a vocation, himself as a missionary; his job as a
labour of love, but the problems still persists, why? It is because of a lot of encroachment.
Sometimes government tends to regard its press as waste disposal unit for party loyalist of sorts.
These adventures take time to adapt and easily roll out editors who become easy victims of their
whims.
The political appointees noted here by Iyida (1998) are the sycophants‟ appointed by the state
government as sole administrations or general managers to head their media.

He is of the opinion that these political appointees have one thing in mind, to come and satisfy
their political aims, divert government grants and subvention into their private pockets instead of
using them to uplift the standard of the organization and welfare of its workers.
The ulterior motive behind this comes to light when the editor tenders a formal complaint on the
mishandling and misappropriation of funds of the organization by the general manager to the
governor or the military administrator, the reaction of the governor is usually shocking, instead
of reacting positively to these anomalies, he plays it down and takes a mute stand.

The nonchalant attitude of the governor according to Iyida (1998) points to the fact that he
deliberately brought these chieftains to head the newspaper house so as to compensate them for

18
their political support and loyalty. This had been the bane of the government owned newspaper
in Nigeria. What is surprising is that even the authors of the anti-watchdog campaign in
government do not patronize the praise singing press.

This government officials or functionaries who are the praise singers patronize the privately
owned watch doggy newspaper in the country and they discard their own, which further leads to
continuous fluctuation and poor readership of the paper.

2.6 MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND ITS CONSEQUENCES ON MEDIA PRACTICES

The foundation for the perception of how ownership determines media contents, seems to have
been laid by the cerebral German economist/philosopher, Karl Marx, when he states in his
German Ideology, as cited by Murdock and Golding (1977), as follows: “The class that has the
means of material production has control at the same time over the means of mental production
so that, thereby, generally speaking the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production
are subject to it.”

The market theory therefore, situates a direct link between economic ownership and the
dissemination of messages which go to affirm the legitimacy and the values of a class society.
Today, these views seem to be supported by evidence of tendencies to a great concentration of
media ownership by capital entrepreneurs, a position equally endorsed by McQuail (2005) that
whoever owns and controls the media can choose, or set limit to what is to be done. The Marxist
theory, moreover, tends to emphasize the ideological effects of media in the interests of a ruling
class, and to legitimize the dominance of capitalism, and the subordination of the working class.
Althusser, cited by Wilson (1997), calls the media “ideological state apparatuses”, that is, the
way they enable those who hold the lovers of power in the society to survive, without recourse to
violence.

In another of his analysis of media ownership, Akpan (1991), posits that the government-owned
media especially, are always pandering to the whims or caprices of the ruling party and
government officials. And by so doing these, government-owned media, remain low on

19
credibility, because they shut-out contrasting view points. Akpan posits further that even the
privately-owned media in the country are equally partisan, and most times, subject themselves to
the dictates of the owner.

There are many reasons for media ownership. The reasons are: profitability, power motive,
knowledge motive, and public interest motive. The basic reason for government ownership of the
media is to promote literacy through the print medium and to render public service to the people.
Hence economic motive is not the underlying factor of government ownership of the media.
Government ownership of the media however affords the state and federal governments the
opportunity to use their media institutions as instruments of propaganda and tools for the
propagation of government policies and programmes. This has a far reaching effect on the
credibility of government owned media. Many problems inhibit the efficient and effective
performance of the government owned outfits such as management problems, funding problem
and ethical problems as have been elucidated.

2.7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Theories are parameter for measuring the freedom and hypothesis testing in any phenomenon
under study. In total agreement Brooks (1970) cited by Ohaja (2003) asserts that in every
discipline, there is a body of theories that provides the explanation for observing phenomena in
that field. As suppositions are made and tested in the field through research, those that are
validated become generalizations upon which theories are based. To verify the validity of such
theoretical assumptions, the basis of such result or outcome can be replicated; it has been proven
that given specified number of variables or circumstances a certain outcome can be expected.

This study accordingly is pivoted on the following theoretical suppositions:

1. Authoritarian theory and
2. Benevolent-Authoritarian or Conservative Development Journalism

Authoritarian Theory
This study is best situated within the context of the authoritarian theory. This theory among other
dominant theoretical perspectives or models is pertinent to this work.

20
According to Ogbiti (2002:7), this theory is applicable where the press is largely owned and
controlled by mostly dictators as in some African, Latin American and Asian countries. The
theory posits that the ruling class is given the right to use and control the press to promote the
interest of the government in power. As Kunczick (1988:46) sited in Folarin (2005:27) points
out:
It is derived from the state philosophy of absolutism, which gave the government of the ruling
class the right to use and control the press and thus, determine what the public should know or
believe. Whether the ownership was public or private, authoritarian media existed to promote
the interest of the government or its functionaries.
Defleur et al (1987) in Obaze et al (2004:17) assert that authoritarian governments operate their
media for the purpose of controlling the flow of information, shaping public opinion and
providing approved collective interpretations.

The instruments of control of the media are: direct state control of production, enforceable codes
of conduct, heavy taxation and other kinds of economic sanctions, controlled import of foreign
media, government right of appointment of editorial staff and suspension of publications. There
is the lack of true independence to journalists who are subordinated to state authority. It justifies
advance censorship and punishments for deviants.

Benevolent-Authoritarian or Conservative Development Journalism

According to Folarin (2005: 46) this type of development journalism is espoused by scholars,
media practitioners, leaders and others who believe that selective handling of information is
justified in developing countries, which are often ridden with crises. The important thing, they
hold, is to ensure that public welfare is kept in mind at all times. Exponents of benevolent
authoritarian journalism tend to view democracy as an unproductive luxury in developing
countries. Holding on to the most authoritarian tenets of Development Media Theory, they are
prepared to assign to the national news agencies the function of censorship in addition to their
normal function of news distribution. The pervading freedom-inhibiting tradition of exaggerated
respect for national leaders is best exemplified in benevolent-authoritarian or conservative
media, which like erstwhile socialist media, are subject to democratic centralism and self-
censorship. Running throughout such media and the attendant scholarship is a common belief

21
that economic development cannot take place in developing countries without the short-term
sacrifice of political liberty and press freedom. But there are other views to the contrary.

The relevance of these theories to the study lies in the fact that the nature of control exacted on
the operations of the media determines the level of performance based on the canons of
journalism. Thus, government domineering influence can constrain the operations of the media,
in this sense journalistic practice.

22
 CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

This study used the survey design. The reason for this is that whenever the major source of
primary data for a study is the views of members of the public or any particular group, a survey
is better called for. The aim of survey is to provide empirical data collection from a population of
respondents on which suitable conclusions can be made. Hence, research designs simply imply a
comprehensive plan or blue print showing how the research will be used to solve the already
identified problems.

3.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH POPULATION

The population for this study comprises of only journalists in government-owned media
organizations in the North-Central and South-West geo political zone respectively by examining
only the Herald journalists in Kwara State and The Sun journalist in Lagos.

3.3 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

Since the geo-political zones covered are vast, the cluster sampling was used. Cluster sample is
involved where more than one stage of selection is used. Sampling is the selection of some
members or elements from the population for actual investigation or study. This selection is
necessitated by the impracticability of studying the entire population in most cases. Therefore,
Quota sampling method was further used. Based on estimation, 50 respondents were drawn
from each of the two media organizations.

3.4 SAMPLE SIZE

One hundred media practitioners were drawn from the two media organizations from the two
states that were chosen to represent the two geo-political zones. According to Wimmer and
Dominick (2005), the size of a sample required for a study depends on at least one of the
following seven factors:
i. Project type,
ii. Project purpose,

23
 iii. Project complexity,
iv. Amount of error tolerated,
v. Time constraints,
vi. Financial constraints and
vii. Previous research in the area.

In the light of the project type and the research methodology, the researcher used one hundred
(100) persons as sample size. Fifty (50) persons from each of the two media stations.

3.5. INSTRUMENT FOR DATA COLLECTION

This study used questionnaire for data collection. It also made use of two forms of data
collection namely:
1. Primary and
2. Secondary data.
The primary source are data gotten from respondents as answers to questionnaire administered to
them while the secondary source are data generated from library materials, authoritative books,
government publications, journals, news papers and magazine reports that are relevant to the
study.
These secondary data were used in the review of related literature in chapter two.

3.6 PROCEDURE FOR DATA COLLECTION

The main data collection technique adopted for this study is questionnaire. The questionnaire
contained questions which helped the researcher to acquire the right opinion or view of the
respondents. The questionnaire gave the respondents considerable choice of responses. Hence,
the researcher administered questionnaires by hand and personally collected them.

3.7 METHOD OF ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA

Data collected were analyzed using simple percentage and presented in a tabular form.

24
 CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

4.1 INTRODUCTION
One hundred questionnaires were administered to different respondents who are journalists in the
two State-owned newspaper organizations in both North-Central (kwara) and South-West
(Lagos) geo-political zones of Nigeria.

Out of the one hundred (100) questionnaires, ninety two (92) were correctly answered by the
respondents while eight (8) could not be used because of the inappropriate answering by the
respondents. This made them void of use in this research.

TABLE 1: Breakdown of total questionnaire administered and returned

Station/ state No of questionnaire Percentage No of quantity received Percentage

Herald (kwara) 50 50 48 52

The sun (lagos) 50 50 44 48

Total 100 100 92 100%

The above table presents that 50 questionnaires were administered, to each of Herald
newspaper and The Sun newspaper with a total record of 100 administered questionnaires. 48
were received from Herald while 44 were received from The Sun. On the received questionnaire,
Herald had 52 percent while The Sun had 48 percent.

TABLE 2: Sex Distribution of Respondent

Gender No of respondents Percentage

Male 54 59

Female 38 41

Total 92 100%

This table presents that a total number of 54 male and 38 female were administered these
questionnaire with a percentage of 59 and 41 respectively.

TABLE 3: Age Distribution of the Respondents

Age No of respondents Percentage

25
21- 30 18 20

31- 40 22 24

41- 50 25 27

51- 60 17 18

60- above 10 11

Total 92 100%

This table presents age distribution of the questionnaire. Age range of 21-30 received 18,
range 31-40 received 22, range 41-50 received 25, range 51-60 received 17, and age
range 60 and above received 10 questionnaires.

TABLE 4: Marital Status

Status No. Of respondents Percentage

Married 52 57

Single 30 33

Divorced 10 11

Total 92 100%

In this table, 52 respondents are married, 30 are single while 10 respondents are divorced
in which there percentage were presented as 57, 33, 11 respectively.

TABLE 5: Educational Qualification of Respondents

Qualification No. Of respondents Percentage

FSCL 5 5

SSCE/WASC 12 13

Diploma 22 24

BSc/BA 36 39

Master 14 15

Phd 2 2

Total 92 100%

This table presents the academic qualification of respondents; 5 are with First School
Leaving Certificate, 12 are with SSCE/WASC, 22 are with Diploma, 36 are with BSc/BA , 14 are
with Master while 2 respondents are with Phd.

26
 TABLE 6: Respondent Year of Service

Years No. Of respondents Percentage

1-5 10 11

6-10 30 33

11-15 20 22

16-20 20 22

21 and above 12 13

Total 92 100%

The above table presents respondents year of service accordingly . 10 respondents are
with 1-5 in service,30 are with 6-10 years experience, 20 are 11-15 years of service,20 are with
16-20 years of service and 12 are with 21 and above years in service

TABLE 7: Designation of Respondents

Designation No. Of respondents Percentage

Editor 8 9

Proof reader 6 7

Reporter 14 15

Advertiser 7 8

Photographer 4 4

Cartoonist 12 13

Graphic artist 8 9

Admin officer 10 11

Accountant 4 4

Secretary 6 7

PRO 5 5

Driver 4 4

Production manager 4 4

Total 92 100%

The above table presents the designation of respondents according to the service they
rendered to their organization .8 editors, 6 proof readers,14 reporters, 7 advertisers, 4
photographer, 12 cartoonist, 8 graphic artist, 10 admin officer, 4 accountants, 6 secretary, 5 PRO,
4 drivers and 4 production managers are the respondents of this research work.

TABLE 8: Are There Limitations In Your Media Organization?

27
Nature of response No. Of respondents Percentage

Yes 92 100

No 0 0

Total 92 100%

In the nature of response to the limitation status in media organizations, 92

respondents agreed that it existed while none answered with NO.

TABLE 9: Which among These Are the Possible Limitation on Journalistic Practice in
Your Media Organization?

Nature of Response No. Of Respondents Percentage

Management not given free hand 2 2

Employment of non professional 6 7

Misappropriation of fund 2 2

Shortage of staff 1 1

Inadequate funding 13 14

Poor salary 15 16

Lack of modern/adequate equipment 4 4

All of the above 49 53

Total 92 100%

This table presents the nature of respondents’ responses to the existence of limitation in
media organizations accordingly.

TABLE 10: Government Media Abide More to Government Policies

Nature of Response No. of Response percentage

Agree 0 0

Strongly agree 92 100

Disagree 0 0

Strongly disagree 0 0

Undecided 0 0

Total 92 100%

This table presents the respondents as agreeing that the government media abide more to
government policies with 92 out of the 92 received questionnaires acknowledging to the
statement.

TABLE 11: Government Policies Are Means of Censoring Their Media

28
Nature of Response No. of Response percentage

Agree 0 0

Strongly agree 92 100%

Undecided 0 0

Disagree 0 0

Strongly disagree 0 0

Total 92 100%

Here, 92 out of the 92 respondents strongly agreed that government policies are means of
censoring their media.

TABLE 12: Government Policies Affect Media Content Negatively

Nature of Response No. of Response percentage

Agree 0 0

Strongly agree 92 100

Undecided 0 0

Disagree 0 0

Strongly disagree 0 0

Total 92 100%

This table presents the respondents as agreeing that Government Policies Affect Media
Content Negatively with a tally of 92 or 100 percent questionnaires strongly agreeing.

TABLE 13: Does Government Officials/Agent Interfere With Your

Operation?

Nature of Response No. of Response Percentage

Yes 72 78

No 12 13

Undecided 8 9

Total 92 100%

In this table, 72 respondents say YES, 12 say NO, and 8 are undecided to the question:
‘Does Government Officials/Agent Interfere with Your Operation?’

TABLE 14: Does Your News Story Tend To Protect Government Interest At All Time?

Nature of Response No. of Response Percentage

Yes 41 45

No 30 33

29
Undecided 31 34

Total 92 100%

This table presents an unequal responses of respondents regarding whether news story
tend to protect government interest at all time. 41 say YES, 30 say NO and 31 are undecided

TABLE 15: which of these ways does the government seek to control your media
organization?

Nature of Response No. of Response Percentage

Funding 10 11

Setting up of editorial board 10 11

Censorship 22 24

All of the above 50 54

Total 92 100%

The above table presents the ways in which the government controls media organizations.
10 respondents chose Funding, 10 chose setting up of editorial board, and 22 chose
censorship, while 50 chose all of the above.

TABLE 16: Is the Funding Of Your Media House Based On How Effective You
Promote Government Activities?

Nature of Response No. of Response Percentage

Yes 20 22

No 62 67

Undecided 10 11

Total 92 100%

In this table, 20 respondents answered YES, 62 answered NO, while 10 are not decided
on the above question.

TABLE 17: How Are The Designations In The Editorial Board Meeting Taken?

Nature of Response No. of Response Percentage

Board chairman’s say is final 35 38

Based on consensus 37 40

Undecided 20 22

30
Total 92 100%s

This table presents ‘How the Designations in the Editorial Board Meeting Taken’. 35 say
that board chairman’s say is final, 37 say that it is based on consensus, and 20 are undecided.

TABLE 18: What Makes Your News Medium Credible?

Nature of Response No. of Response Percentage

Ability to present issue in a balanced way 92 100

Giving one side to a story 0 0

Praise singing 0 0

total 92 100%

In this table, 92 respondents which is 100 percents of the respondents agreed that ability
to present issue in a balance way makes their news medium credible.

TABLE 19: Would You Say Your Media Organization Is Credible?

Nature of Response No. of Response Percentage

Yes 69 75

No 0 0

Undecided 23 25

Total 92 100%

Here, 69 respondents say their media is credible while 23 are undecided

TABLE 20: In Which of These Ways Can Limitations Be Triumphed Over?

Nature of Response No. of Response Percentage

Through board independence 10 11

Recruitment and promotion of staff 12 13

Joint ownership 39 42

All of the above 31 34

Total 92 100%

This table presents 10 respondents saying through board independent, 12 saying through
recruitment and promotion of staff, 39 saying through joint ownership and 31 saying through all
of the above can limitation be triumphed over.

31
 TABLE 21: In Which Other Ways Do You Think These Limitations Could Be
Overcome?

Nature of Response No. of Response Percentage

Press freedom 13 14

Abolition of legal/restriction 10 11

All of the above 69 75

Total 92 100%

This table presents ways in which limitations could be overcome. 13 say by press
freedom, 10 say by abolition of legal restriction, and 69 say by all of the above.

4.2 ANSWERS TO RESEARCH QUESTION

The limitations on journalistic practice in government owned media
particularly the print media are immeasurable and these have prompted this study. Thus, the
research questions that steered this study are discussed as below:
Research Question 1: What are those constraints on journalistic practice in government-
owned media?
From the investigated data, table 8 shows that the respondents agreed that there are limitations.
The study as well reveals that management is not given free hand, as some of the respondents
responses points to the fact that government present are always felt in the day-to-day activities of
its media organizations. Misappropriation of funds was also identified as a limitation. It was also
acknowledged by some respondents who pleaded to remain anonymous on this that top
management officers misappropriate funds meant for the station and the government cannot do
anything since they (the government) are the same people who appointed them in compensation
for their political loyalty.
Poor salary was also seen as another restraint, where respondents attested to that fact in an
interview.
Also, 4 respondents acknowledged lack of modern/adequate equipment as a constraint which has
made it very difficult for government owned media to stand to the challenges of modern
newspaper production. However, 49 respondents accepted all the options as constraint on
journalistic practice.
Research Question 2: Does Government Ownership of media organizations have any effect
on their operations?

32
The answer to this question is entrenched in Tables 10, 11 and 12 respectively; indicate that
government owned media abide more to their policies. This is information is made obvious from
respondents response which show that 92 or 100% of the respondents affirm to it. Table 12
makes known that 92 or 100% of the respondents agree that government officials and agents
interfere with their operations; at such, they are made to seek to protect government’s interest at
all times.
Research Question 3: What are those ways in which the governments seek to control their
media?
The investigations in tables 11 and16 offer answers to this research question. Table 15 shows
that one fifty (50) respondents indicated that government use censorship, funding and setting up
of editorial board to control their media. And, table 16 explains that sixty two (62) or 67%
believe that the funding of their media houses is not based on their promotion of government
activities.
Research Question 4: Has government ownership of media house affected the credibility of
those media organizations?
Table 18, puts forward a question that: “what makes a medium credible?”. 100 % of the
population admitted that the ability to present issues in a balanced way makes a media
organization credible. In table 19, sixty nine (69) respondents said their media organizations are
credible while twenty three (23) were undecided.
However, in an open ended question, If “yes” or “No” why do you think it “is” or “not” credible?
However, some who never mentioned that their media organizations are not credible gave the
following as reasons for their media organizations not being credible – censorship by
government, government media’s function as its mouth piece, propaganda machine and
presentation of one sided stories among others.

33
 CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

This study is premised on the need to have a free, workable and independent media in Nigeria.
Therefore, it set to unearth the basic constraints of journalistic practice in government owned
media organizations in Nigeria, with the Herald newspaper (kwara) and The Sun (newspaper) as
samples areas.
The study revealed that there are so many limitations militating against the professional
discharge of journalistic practice in government owned media. These constrictions range from
Management not being given free hand to operate their stations, Poor payment of staff, Lack of
modern equipment, Employment of non-professionals, Inadequate funding, Censorship,
Termination of appointments to terrorize staff, among others.

These obviously pilot reasons why many prefer to patronize private newspapers to the public
owned ones which have degenerated to government propaganda machines.

5.2 CONCLUSION
The role of newspapers in the education and dissemination of information cannot be
overemphasized, thus, the study after thorough research, critically came to the conclusion that
government media needs to be looked into with a view to improving its present performance and
credibility.

The findings reveal that government-owned media are currently in a very poor state
economically, managerially, technologically and politically.
Government need to put in more effort to upgrade and improve the performance of the media by
tackling the above stated problems.

34
Availability of fund is imperative as no development could be achieved with nothing, therefore,
government should define clearly ways through which these constraints will be efficiently and
effectively curbed and this can only be achieved if government make funds available and avoid
politicising appointments into managerial cadre, dismissal of journalists for writing the truth and
censoring the activities of the journalists who have been trained to carry out their responsibilities.
The researcher concludes that such constraints suffered by the six media (newspaper)
organizations in the south-south geo-political zones of Nigeria are not peculiar to it. Most of
other government owned media organizations in Nigeria have their does of such constraints
because their media houses operate in the same political economy. No doubt, privatization of the
media organization would surely be a panacea to the myriads of constraints faced by
government-owned media organization in the south-south geo-political zone of Nigeria.

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
Arising from the research findings, the researcher wishes to make the following
recommendations.
(1) Government should stop unnecessary and undue interference in the media.

(2) Unnecessary Censorship should be discouraged by the government and when it is inevitable,
it is should be left for the media professionals to determine.

(3) Objectivity and fairness should be the watch word of the Nigerian press in order to retain
readership and even improve on their market share.

(4) Under-funding is inimical to the operation of any newspaper organization and should
therefore be avoided.

(5) Obsolete equipment should be replaced with modern printing equipment in order to stand the
challenges of modern newspaper production.

5.4 SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Arising from the research findings and recommendations, the researcher wishes to make the
following suggestions for further studies:

35
1. The researcher wishes to state that this research may not be free from unavoidable human
errors and therefore suggests that further research be carried out on this topic but with a different
sample size and a different geo-political zone.

2. Research should also be carried out on Media deregulation: private broadcasting

stations and the changing landscape of broadcasting in Nigeria.

5.5 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study was designed to sample the limitations on journalistic practice in government - owned
media stations in Nigeria. As a major constraint, the media practitioners are not cooperative in
terms of giving out information due to the fact that many who dared to expose the government in
the past were given one form of punishment or the other.
In the same vein, the bureaucracy associated with government establishments also poses a
constraint to the study.

Time is certainly another limitation in this study especially when viewed against the backdrop of
the dynamism of man, which makes it difficult to carry out research of this nature.
Considering the prevailing economic situation in the country, funds are always a major problem
in carrying out researches and this research was certainly not an exception.

36
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January 13, 2019 From http://www.internews.fr/ima/pdf/ journalism freedom report_02.pdf
Nwachukwu, F (1989). Media ownership in Nigeria: present and future perspective. Available
online: http://www.wacc.org.uk/index.php/wacc/publications. Retrieved 3rd, april.2019.
Ramanujan, D. N. (2007). Self-censorship in the Pakistani print media: A South Asian Survey.
Retrieved February 31, 2019 from http://sas.sagepub.com/cgi/ content/refs/14/1/45
The Somaliland Times. Censorship introduced in government owned media. Issue 57, February
22, 2003. Available at http://www.somalilandtimes.net /2003/57/5712.htm
World Development Report (March 2, 2003). The role of the media. Retrieved January 10, 2019
from http://www.dawn.com/weekly/books/archive/030302/books2.htm.

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 APPENDIX
Department of Mass Communication,
The Polytechnic Igbo Owu,
Ilorin,
Kwara State.

22nd January, 2019.

Dear respondent,
I am a student of the above mentioned Institution carrying out research project on: limitations
on journalistic practice in government-owned media organizations in Nigeria (A Case
Study of Herald Newspaper and The Sun Newspaper).

The research is in partial fulfillment of the award of National Diploma (ND) in Mass
Communication.

I kindly request that you fill the spaces as appropriate. Your responses to the questionnaire will
be purely for academic purposes and will be treated confidentially.

Yours faithfully,

Idris Khadijat Adedamola.

QUESTIONNAIRE
Please, tick [√] against the box you consider the most appropriate an answer in the space
provided.
Part A.
Biographical Data.
1 Sex Male [ ]
Female [ ]
2 Age 20 - 30 [ ]

40
31 - 40 [ ]
41 - 50 [ ]
51 - 60 [ ]
61 and above [ ]
4. Marital Status:
Single [ ]
Married [ ]
Divorced [ ]
3. Educational qualification:
FSLC [ ]
SSCE [ ]
Diploma [ ]
BA/ B.Sc [ ]
Masters Degree [ ]
Ph.D. [ ]
5. Religion:
Christianity [ ]
Islam [ ]
African traditional religion [ ]
Others [ ]

6 Years service
1-5 [ ]
6-10 [ ]
11-15 [ ]
16-20 [ ]
21 and above [ ]
PART B
7 Which media organization do you work for? ______________________

8. Designation (position)

41
Editor [ ]
Reporter [ ]
Admin Officer [ ]
General Manger [ ]
Accountant [ ]
Production Manager [ ]
Photographer [ ]
Graphic Artist [ ]
Cartoonist [ ]
Secretary [ ]
Others specify. [ ].
9. Are there constraints in your media organization?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
10. Which among these are possible constraints on journalistic practice in your media
organization?
Misappropriation of fund [ ]
Shortage of staff [ ]
Lack of modern /adequate equipment [ ]
Management not given free hand [ ]
Poor salary [ ]
Inadequate funding [ ]
Employment of non-professionals [ ]
All of the above [ ]
11. Government - owned media abide more to government policies?
Agree [ ]
Strongly Agree [ ]
Disagree [ ]
Strongly Disagree [ ]
12. Government policies are means of censoring their media.
Agree [ ]

42
Strongly Agree [ ]
Disagree [ ]
Strongly Disagree [ ]
13. Government policies affect media content negatively?
Agree [ ]
Strongly Agree [ ]
Disagree [ ]
Strongly Disagree [ ]
14 Do government officials/agents interfere with your operation?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
Undecided [ ]
15 Do your news stories seek to protect government interest at all times?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
Undecided [ ]
16.Which of these ways does the government control your media organization?
Funding [ ]
Setting up of editorial board [ ]
Prior censorship [ ]
All of the above [ ]
17 Is the funding of your media organization based on how effective you promote government
activities?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
Undecided [ ]
18. How are the decisions in editorial board meetings taken?
The chairman has the final say [ ]
Based on Consensus [ ]
Undecided [ ]
19. What makes a news medium credible?

43
Ability to present issues in a balanced way [ ]
Giving one side to a story the opportunity to be heard [ ]
Praise – sing the dominant class [ ]
20. Will you say your media organisation is credible?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
Undecided [ ]
21. If “yes” why do you think it is credible?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
22. If “No” why do you think it is not credible?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
23. In which of these ways can these constraints be overcome?
Through board independence [ ]
Recruitment and promotion of staff as at when due [ ]
Joint ownership [ ]
All of the above [ ]
24. In which other ways do you think these constraints could be overcome?
Press freedom [ ]
Abolition of legal restrictions [ ]
All of the above [ ]
25. Do you depend on your media organization for news/information?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
26 Are you satisfied with your job?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
27. In your own words, what do you think should be done to correct these constraints?
_______________________________________________________________-

44
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

45