Gloria Meido
It has been established that there is a very strong relationship between media performance and the conduct of politics and political activities in democracies.
The value of the media in the development of the Nigeria nation-state became prominent in the struggle by the founding fathers of Nigeria nationalism against British colonial rule and imperialism, mildly in the late 1920`s and more forcefully from about 1944. The origin of the media however predated the nationalist struggle for independent and became a product of evolution from the early Christian missionary establishment in the south of the country.
The press no doubt is the voice of the people which plays its rule only in an atmosphere of complete freedom termed “Press Freedom”, an atmosphere where information, ideas and opinion are expressed freely without fear, favour or intimidation.
Unfortunately, this atmosphere was hardly granted during the military era which had dictator who only were accountable to themselves and owed nobody any explanation. During this era , media houses were shut down with magazine and newspaper confiscated. Journalists were harassed, detained and draconian decrees enacted to curtail press freedom.
Democracy as a system on the other hand, allows citizens participation and respect for the rule of law. It was the dawn of a new era on the 29th of May, 1999 in Nigeria that saw the military return to the barrack.
The 1999 Nigeria constitution is clear on its assigned rule to the media in the polity. In chapter 2, section 22, it says that “the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all time be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people”.
Thus, the constitution has legitimated the functions of the media and appoints them the responsibility of monitoring and evaluating the performances of Nigeria leaders at all levels.
According to Nimmo and Combs (1992),” historically the mass media were heralded as the ultimate instrument of democracy, destined to unite, educate and as a result, improve the actions and decisions of the polity”.
While the media is working hard to play their constructive role in instituting democratic values, we must also take into cognizance of challenges facing them individually and collectively.
One of the greatest challenge affecting the performance of the media is the political behavior of politicians especially those in government. The non-tolerant behavior of politicians to views or opinions is threatening to broadcasting and democratic values.
Another factor that ruins the function of the media is the issues of commercialization policy which disables the majority of the people from any form of involvement in the airwaves. High charges demanded by various stations for almost everything disqualifies most people with meaningful show or programs with the media. As a result, the airwaves are exclusively for those ready to pay exorbitant fee like the government and their organizations, business groups and big social institution.
Corruption of media personnel and corrupt activities of officials and business groups remains one of the challenges affecting the performance of the media.
Also, some media houses are poorly equipped to be able to discharge their duties of effective coverage, reporting and disseminating of information effectively. Some still use analogue equipment except for few private outfits.
The media is too critical to be ignored in the democratic process. It is often argued that the quality and freedom in our broadcasting speak volumes about the quality of our democratic status.
To this end, to ensure that the media helps in the sustenance of democracy, the following should be considered:
- Media stations should build the knowledge of all staff to know the Constitution, the Electoral law, NBC code on broadcasting, the professional code of Ethics e.t.c.
- Media stations should be guided by the principles of social responsibility, that is, fairness and balance in the handling of political coverage.
- Media stations need to develop strategic plans on promoting democratic values through behavior change oriented programs targeted at the different segment of the population.
- Media houses should temper their commercialization regimes with mercy.
- Media houses should promote public interest issues based programming instead of personalities and personal activities.
- Stations should not simply collect money and broadcast dubious claims but rather be bold enough to investigate the costs and relevances of such claims.
