Background
to the Study
The Nigerian presidential election
has long been the greatest symbol of democracy in the country, from the
Nigerian independence in 1960 through the conflicts and brief reign of the
militaristic regime, to a return to civilian presidency with President Seun
Shagari’s term in 1999. The year 2003 saw President Olusegun Obasanjo voted
into office as the president of Nigeria.Following President Obasanjo was
President Umaru Yaradua, who was voted into the Presidential office in the year
2009. Due to his declining health and subsequent death, the democratic process
was foregone and the presidential role was filled by then Vice-President
Goodluck Jonathan, who in 2011 later became the president of Nigeria after
winning the Nigerian election and a full term was served.
In the month of March 2015, the
presidential electionalong with several other elections had been carried out at
various levels of government throughout the country was held and General
Mohammed Buhari was elected president of Nigeria.
During and after the period of
campaigning for the election, several mediums of advertisements were employed,
ranging from Television ads to Billboards to rallies for the general public.One
of the more popular mediums employed for the campaign were the newspapers.
Every day saw a different set of advertisements and articles, all aimed towards
the campaign either by subtly discrediting other candidates or by touting a
specific candidate as the best choice.
The print media has been since
before the time Nigerian independence been a powerful tool for swaying the
opinion of general populace, it has been responsible for providing political
informationto the general masses, like the state of corruption, the
effectiveness of leaders, their shortcomings and many other things, before,
after and during the election period.
The newspapers can be judged to
play a large role in the decision making process of the readers, by providing
exposure to certain advertisements, articles, features and in certain cases
openly supporting certain candidates. This forms the basis of judgment for the
readers, as certain political parties will have more exposure than others, it
is important to understand how the readers, and subsequent voters, view the
coverage and information dissemination process of these newspapers.
Statement
of the Problem
It can be assumed that the
newspaper’s coverage of these campaigns formed some basis for decision making
amongst the masses during the elections, but it is important to consider the
adequacy, effectiveness and fairness of this basis.An important duty of all
journalistic establishments is fairness to both the reported and to the general
public. The print media is responsible for its own reportage.
The 2015 presidential election was
won by now President Mohammed Buhari, it is necessary to understand the part
played by the newspapers in making this possible. The flow of information and
the themes of that information presented by the newspaper must be understood in
order to properly hold the newspapers accountable for their reportage and
understand their relevance in the Nigerian democratic process.
Objectives
of the Study
1.
To find out the readers perception
of the newspapers coverage of the 2015 elections
2.
To identify the effects, if any, of
the newspapers on the decision for presidential candidates.
3.
To ascertain the most influential
newspaper medium and why.
Research
Questions
1. How
do readers perceive the newspapers coverage of the 2015 elections?
2. Did
the newspapers affect the decision of the readers, and how?
3. Which
newspaper medium was the most influential and why?
Methodology
For the purpose of this study, in
order to judge the reader’s perception it will be necessary to access the
opinion of the readers directly, there are many ways through which this can be
achieved but for the purpose of this study data will be collected via survey.
Specifically questionnaires, these will be distributed to relevant parties and
the results will form a basis of the data.
Questionnaires are useful as they
serve as proper and impartial means of receiving people’s opinion in a form
that can be easily processed. A large part of the immediate society read
newspapers, as such the demographic recipients of these questionnaires will be
limited to those who read newspapers and are old enough to vote. With all these
considered along with the limitations inherent, a total of 100 questionnaires
will be distributed amongst the postgraduate students of Covenant University.
Upon collating data, an analysis
will be performed on the results from which a conclusion on the reader’s
perception of the newspaper’s coverage can be reached.
Significance
of the Study
It has been noted that newspapers
as a news medium play a great role in determining the opinion of their
readership and the society at large, as such it is vital to understand the
nature of their reportage. This is ever more important when issues as
significant as the Nigerian elections are concerned. In determining the people
who will hold posts throughout the body of government any medium that sways
opinions as well as the newspapers must be examined closely.
An examination is sought in this
study on the 2015 elections, in order to further understand the effects of the
print media on the choice of party and candidate by the readers, the form of
information dissemination that led to this choice, the representation of the
candidates and many other factors that led to the results of the elections.
By collecting and analyzing the
readers’ perception of the newspaper coverage of the 2015 elections, it will
become possible to further understand how the media play a role in our decision
making process, to find responsibility with the print media for any and all
misinformation, and to better understand the patterns of information
dissemination in the media.
Scope
of the Study
The study will be focused primarily
on the 2015 Nigerian elections, with a particular focus on the presidential
elections for its ubiquity amongst the general populace. The study will cover
only the newspaper medium but will strive to reach every newspaper in the
questionnaire and a focus on the more popular newspapers in the gathering of
secondary data.
Limitation
This study is limited in scope to
the print media, due to its popularity and influence in the political sector.
The geographical location of the researcher also limits the collection of data
to the west of Nigeria. A deadline of three months also limits the depth of the
study.
Definition
of Terms
·
Newspaper:
a paper that is printed and distributed usually daily or weekly and that
contains news, articles of opinions, features and advertising.
·
Election:
the act or process of choosing someone for a public office by voting.
·
Bias:
an unfair feeling of like or dislike for a person or group because of race,
religion, gender, etc.
·
Advertisements:
advertisements are the end result of an advertising process; for example, an
advert copy.
·
Demographics:
these are groups of people, sometimes large, that have a particular set of
similar qualities. For example, age, sex, religion, marital status, ethnicity
e.t.c.