ABSTRACT
The research is on the thrust to examine the effect of media credibility on news consumption among civil servants in Osogbo. The research was anchored on Perception Theory and Uses and Gratification Theory respectively which means that civil servants in Osogbo use the media based on their need and there was no two people that share same gratifications at all time. Survey research method coupled with 383 copies of questionnaires were administered to respondents in Osogbo from which 346 copies were correctly filled and analysed using frequency and percentage tables method. Findings show that respondents still prefer radio (28.3%) and television (36.1%) among other mass media of communication. Majority of the respondents were heavy viewers, readers and listeners because they spent at least 1 minute to 6 hours exposing to their preferred medium at least on daily basis. It is recommended that media outfits whether traditional or social media outfits should from time to time review their contents/programmes by carrying out audience survey to know the perception of their audience since the hallmark of a programme/contents is the attention paid to it by the audience.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The mass media are tools for mass communication saddled with the responsibilities to inform, educate and entertain members of the society. It is through the mass media that the society gets to know what is happening within and outside the country to enable them react accordingly. One of the ways to carry out these responsibilities is by disseminating information to vast heterogeneous audience thorough broadcast news by radio and television.
The mass media ought to play the role of gathering, analyzing and disseminating news and information about people, events and issues in society which could be in form of news, commentaries, editorials, advertorials, news analysis, profiles, columns, cartoons, pictures or magazine feature via mass communication medium such as radio, television news papers, magazine, digital TV, facebook, you tube, 2go and other numerous social media to a heterogeneous audience simultaneously or about the same time” Ogunkwo (1999) in Suntai and Vakkai (2014). But reverse is the case in Nigerian Journalism practice as the issues of news commercialization has prompted the mass media to tilt away from objectivity and balance in reporting. The media be it broadcast or print have lost their credibility as they have slowly negate the social responsibility of journalism to an income generated journalism practice.
As Asogwa & Asemah (2012) put it: There is an increasing commercialization of the media in Nigeria, the situation that has brought the integrity of the mass media enterprise to question. The social responsibility theory holds that while the press functions as a free enterprise, as guaranteed by the libertarian theory, it must be responsible to a society in which it operates. Based on this theory, the mass media are able to raise issues of public importance. Our mass media today do not seem to perform this social, duty as issues that set agenda for national development are compromised for “naira and kobo”. This abuse at practice has received the attention of mass communication scholars and other stakeholders who now advocate for a reinvention of our media contents to make the media realize their potentials as tools for national development.
Onoja (2009) sees news commercialization as “a situation whereby stations begin to raise revenue by charging fees for news reports they should normally carry free”. This implies that, broadcast stations are meant to package and produce news free rather than commercializing it for profit making and gain.
