THE ROLE OF BROADCAST JOURNALISM IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIAN TELEVISION AUTHORITY (NTA LAGOS)

CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

The project concerns the role of broadcast journalism in Nigeria. Broadcast journalism deals with news writing and presentation in the electronic medium.

This poses a Herculen task for a journalist. A broadcast journalist must be aware of just about everything that is going on the world over. He must be abreast of current events around the globe; he must be familiars with inner workings of his local government area as well as have the knowledge about sincerity council of United Nations. To be a reporter, it is a twenty four hours a day job. The journalist must eat, think and smell news. Being a journalist is probably one of the most demanding job.

The journalist has to make a life-long commitment. Without this dedication, it can not be practically guaranteed that the journalist would over rise above a mediocre.

A good broadcast journalist must have a broad liberal arts, educate, a comfortable and confident command of the language, a friendly disposition and a clear articulate voice as well as a good personality. As a journalist of events, he should also have the followings: equalities

1. He should have at lease a conversational knowledge of the specialized field of every man he interviews.

1. He should know enough to recognize what is news interesting and important.

1. He must be prepared, in the course of morning to shift mental gears from guising a detectives about a homicide to a news conference with a state governor, commissioners and others.

1. He should be tough, aggressive but at the same time humane and sympathetic.

The journalist particularly the television journalist must be aware of the

limitations as well as the possibilities of the medium.

1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Like the print media, the electronic media or broadcast journalism, as a whole, have one thing in common they involve the conversion of aural and visual signals into electrical implies that can be, or that are then, reconverted into aural and visual signals, which we can hear/see. which we can hear or see by means of special technology. But whereas the technology involved in the print media is embolic belongs to and is situated in the technologies of the electronic journalism is three fold, and is divided between the source and the receiver in the mass communication process. Here lies the historical background of broadcasting in Nigeria.

Nigerian Broadcasting began with radio on December 19th 1932 when the B.B.C launched the world’s first regularly scheduled short were programme services. The service was intended to develop political electoral and economic links between the United Kingdom and English speaking people in its colonies.

On April 1, 1957 however, the Nigerian Broadcasting Co-operation was born to serve an audience which varied greatly in composition the N.B.C concentrated on three areas of programmes entertainment news and information.

1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This project is focusing on the role of the broadcast journalism in Nigeria. A broadcast journalist is seen as a profession that deals with news writing and presentation in the electronic medium, despite their role the broadcast journalist are still facing same problem of assault e.g. Sedition, libel and sandal e.t.c. Journalist are still facing some problem of assault e.g. sedition, libel and sandal e.t.c Journalist are expected to know their right and responsibility in order to be fair and objective in the news writing.

1. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this project is to shed more light on the roles of broadcast journalism in Nigeria, in Radio and Television media houses.

The research also aims at unveil and methods that can be adopted by a journalist in broadcast media houses.

1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is to show the role of broadcast journalism in Nigeria. It will go a long way in helping future journalists, researchers and students like who have interest in studying the role of broadcast journalism in Nigeria.

Also this study gives various ideas by which a good journalist can gather his news stories.

1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To enhance this study, the following research questions would be used for

this write up.

1. 1. Does the number of journalist in any organization justifies like the effectively of media production?

1. 1. Can the effective dissemination of information be able to establish good relationship between your organization and its publics?

1. 1. What do you regard as the best method, the most effective means of gathering your information?

1. 1. Do you subscribe to the assertion that effective performances of journalist enhance sound information dissemination to the media audience?

1. 1. How will you judge the performance of mass media practitioners in Nigeria?

1. 1. Can a journalist perform up to expectation without going through the training of journalism?

1. DELIMITATION

Broadcast journalism is an important duties, which enhance the efficiency of a

journalist. Hence, being a whole topic, particular reference will be made to only imposed and inherent limitations of broadcast journalism in order to alleviate cumbersome nature of the duty.

It shall be conducted by studying the role of broadcast journalism in Nigeria media houses.

1. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Being a good journalist cannot be a function of a factor but a function of a number of factors, hence this research is limited to the examination of broadcast journalism as an important factor that make a journalist to be effective.

The problem envisaged to be encountered in the process of carrying out this research will include the following.

1. The availability of the journalist to be contacted and the willingness to express their opinion on the method adopted in writing their news.

1. Time and cost involved in the study may also affect the quality of information to be contained in the research. The major constraint includes transportation costs, contingency cost such as repeated calls to the establishment or the media journalist by the use of telephone, materials and time limit.

1. Finally, the researchers being mindful of the fact that without 75%$ lecture attendance, cannot be allowed to sit for the semester examination, could not mere out of the school during lecture house to get the necessary information. Due to lack of adequate fund on time, the research could not be extended further but avenue remains for future researchers to go beyond this scope.