1.1 Introduction
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Mass Media has been regarded as a valuable tool for economic, social and political development in the rural areas. Every community needs the full support of Government on rural development in order to be full civilized, even for them to know the basic needs and situation of the state economy, because of these reasons, it is imperative now for the Mass Media to be used as the only ways by which people will be nurtured on the new developments. Despite all the changes brought about by information on social scene as well as in media remains a dominant factor with its capacity to appeal to the minds of people.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Mass media in Nigeria evolved over the years. This is because from the establishment of the first newspaper Iwe Irohin by Reverend Henry Townsend in 1859 to the stage of media commercialization in the 1990s, management and operation of media organizations in Nigeria have been topsy-turvy.
The international development community does not obviously attach a clear priority to supporting the conditions for more informed societies to emerge. The strategies needed to support more informed societies are shrouded in contention and a lack of consensus. The danger remains that governance actors will simply ignore the issue as too difficult, too politically complex and too sensitive to confront. If they do so, they risk ignoring a central means through which governance outcomes will be shaped in the 21st century.
At the initial stage of the missionary dominated era, the operation and objective of the first media was to propagate the gospel and instill the culture of reading in the Yoruba community (Oso, 2012). The management and operation of Iwe Irohin was solely private. The missionary determines the operation, content, pricing, circulation, and language of the newspaper. The colonial government had little or no interest in the ownership or establishment of any media organization. Iwe Irohin was nonpartisan at the initial stage, and this protected it from the political interest coupled with lack of interest in the media operation by the colonial government. Later on, Rev. Henry Townsend dabbled into politics and subjected the paper to political coloration. Expectedly, the paper was punished heavily as it winded off during the Egba political uprising (Oseni et al., 2000).
Mass media are a creation of technology. They have moved on for ages spurred by technology. New media technology heralds each age in human history ever since man perfected the art of writing. As creations of technology, mass media have become an integral and indispensable aspect of human society. A society without the mass media is unthinkable. The world owes the mass media great gratitude for making social, worldwide interactions possible. The place of mass media in modern society is obvious.
Several issues have arisen from scholars and stakeholders since the announcement. But there are several advantages in the digitization policy, including the expected shoot up in the number of broadcast stations and the competitions that will follow. This circumstance and other bugging issues bring to the fore the paramount need to delve into the regulation realm of the Nigerian broadcast industry. The quest will no doubt engender comprehensibility on the populace and guide the regulators and stakeholders for effective broadcasting in the digital age.
Today, the trend is still the same. The media men and advertising practitioners cannot still cope without each other. On the hand, there is no way the advertiser can send his message across without the use of the media. In viewing this study on the side of the broadcast media in Nigeria, the case is still almost the same. Time has actually passed when the Nigerian broadcast stations were been supported solely by government funds. But the begging of the depression, advertising revenue from the sales of time and programmes has become from the sales of time and programmes has become a viral sources of income for broadcast media in Nigeria. Hence the 100% government owned broadcast media have gone particularly or full commercial.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Sustenance of Nigerian Mass Media Industry.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that executing a mass media is capital intensive enterprises over the years, so many Nigerian mass media fund and it is under a dispute whether all the avenue that help in sustaining a mass media come from advertisement. Therefore, this project is geared towards finding the critical role of advertising in the sustenance of Nigeria most media industry.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to scrutinize the Sustenance of Nigerian Mass Media Industry through media advertisement. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To find out if advertising has any role to play in the sustenance of the media;
- To determine the advertisement contribution towards sustaining Nigerian mass media industry;
- To find out if mass media audience advertise in the different media that is known to them; and
- To ascertain the income from adverting forms a significant part of the industry’s revenue.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Does advertisement have any role to play in the sustenance of the media?
- Does advertisement contribution immensely towards sustaining Nigerian mass media industry?
- Does mass media audience advertise in the different media that is known to them?
- Is advertising as a profession advanced in Nigeria?
- What is the income generated from adverting forms a significant part of the industry’s revenue?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: Advertising does not help to sustain Nigeria mass media industry.
- H1: Advertising helps to sustain Nigeria mass media industry
Hypothesis Two
- H0: Advertising as a profession is not advanced in Nigeria.
- H1: Advertising as a profession is advanced in Nigeria.
Hypothesis Three
- H0: Mass media audience does not advertise in different media that is known to them
- H1: Mass media audience advertises in the different media that is known to them.
Hypothesis Four
- H0: The income from advertising does not form a significant part of the industry revenue.
- H1: The income from advertising form a significant part of the industry revenue.
1.7 Significance of Study
The significance of this study is that it will help media and non – media people to know if advertising plays critical role in the sustenance of Nigerian mass industry. And if it plays and role has this role been played or properly played. The study will help media practitioners and the advertising practitioners to find ways of improving the role. It will also help them to appreciate each other problem to their mutual benefit.
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Sustenance of Nigerian Mass Media Industry.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definitions of Terms
Mass Media
Conceptual: Channels of information and news such as newspaper, magazines, radio and television.
Operational: It is modern Charnels of mass Communication used to disseminate News and information to very diverse Cum large numbers of people Simultaneously.
Target Audience
Conceptual: Target any object aim at audience fathering of people for the purpose of hearing a speaker.
Operational: Placement of advert by the advertising Agencies in the media to make the Advertisement research the target audience.
