CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

The media play a crucial role in the socialization and education of members of the society in which it operate. The media affect us in many ways: as a major socializing influence, a carrier of culture, a source of information , education, entertainment, a key player in political communication and participatory democracy and a communicator of ideological values, norms, attributes and beliefs (Dennis and Merill 1999). The indispensability of the media is incontestable going by the plethora of responsibilities placed on the media by the constitutions of various democratic societies.

Mass communication is a transmission of information for masses. It function in reaction to the actual events, policies and programme in term of the need and objectives that the nation has before itself. It not only informs and educate but it also inspects public affair and the custodian of people's right. Communication such as radio, television, film and newspaper affect the mind of the people. The activities of the mass media follow closely the development in various field, informing people, reacting to policies, educating the students related to current events and creating the social climate in which development and nation building programme can take place.

Simply defined communication is the art of transmitting information, idea and attitude from a person to another. The unfolding achievements of science are making this communication machinery and more fantastic in its ability to conquer the physical barriers of our world. The art of mass communication is, much more difficult than that of face to face discussion. The oldest media are those of printed word and picture which carry their message through the sense of sight; the weekly newspaper and daily newspaper, magazine, books, pamphlets, direct mail and curricular.

Newspapers are powerful and important medium of mass communication. They are published in many languages. Every morning we eagerly wait for the newspaper to come because they provide knowledge and information about things that happened in recent past. They are found all over the world. It caters to the needs of various sections of society. A newspaper has great influence on society. It shapes public opinion and influences government policies and decisions. In a democratic society, they play a greater role of the guardian of the rights of the people. They serve as a link between the government and the people. They raise voice against the cruelties committed on the people.

Newspapers are periodicals with informative, educative, entertaining and cultural promoting messages. They are usually daily publications, although earlier publications appeared fortnightly in Nigeria. MacDougall and Reid (cited in Ogbiten, 2007), see the newspaper as an institution developed by modern civilization to inform and lead public opinion and to furnish that check upon government which no constitution has been able to provide.

Newspapers publish articles on various issues. They provide solution to various social and economic problems. It is through newspapers that politicians come to know about the news and reviews of others on certain policies of government and political parties. Those interested in sports can learn about their favorite sports stars. They help the job seekers in finding jobs of their choice and preference. Newspapers give report about important business activities. A businessman comes to know about the moods and trends of market through newspapers. Newspapers provide weather forecasts. This immensely helps the farmers in deciding about the crops and their activities. Newspapers help in developing reading habits.

There are many people who don’t start their daily routine unless they go through the newspapers. There are candidates appearing in the various competitive examinations who regularly read the newspapers to keep themselves abreast of the current affairs. Even the aged and the ladies read the newspapers everyday as a matter of routine. Even people of low income can afford newspapers. Thus newspapers play prominent role in a democracy. So we should cultivate a habit of reading newspapers.

Newspaper readership studies do perhaps seem to be confined to an obscure corner of extant literatures. This probably may be due to the assumption that virtually people read newspapers for obvious reasons; hence, doing a newspaper readership study (to ascertain how frequently newspapers are read, reasons for reading them and preference for a particular newspaper to the other), appears rather elementary. Consequently, most researchers seem to concern themselves with “weightier” matters of newspaper coverage of events as they occur in the society; influence of ownership on such coverage; and the functionality of newspapers in the society. However, as elementary as newspapers readership studies may appear, their centrality as constituting sound foundation upon which further studies are built cannot be overemphasized.

The concept of readership is central to newspaper. Readership is an abstract concept which captures the act of reading. The concept, though difficult to define, is usually associated with newspapers, magazines and all kinds of periodicals. Thus, readership is the number or type of people who read a particular newspaper, magazine (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2010).

Ogbiten (2007) avers that to most people, reading newspaper has become a habit. For them, the newspaper is both for the eyes and ears. They believe whatever and anything they read as the gospel truth. He further avers that the belief in newspaper is so strong that they do not question anything that they read in the papers. Obviously, the cardinal operational principles of accuracy, truthfulness and balance news reporting might have informed such a belief in newspaper. With the blackmailing type of news reporting, inaccurate news dissemination that is observable in some of the dailies, the belief may gradually be eroding; even though readers still find the newspaper useful in one area or the other.

Newspapers and news databases contain a lot of materials, which can be searched. By using newspapers and computerized databases students can obtain information on different topics. Thus, the use of newspapers in the classroom may help learners master skills and strategies needed to access to information. The content of newspapers deals with the outside world, their use in the classroom bridges the gap between the outside world and the classroom. By using the newspaper students widen their horizons, learn about other cultures and societies and enrich their general knowledge.