Impact of ownership structure on the objectivity of private broadcasting stations in Nigeria

Description

Abstract

Impact of ownership structure on the objectivity of private broadcasting stations in Nigeria. The assertion that says he who pays the pipers dictates the tune agreed more with this study because there are lots of government controls and influences on Nigerian journalists, especially those working with the state media. Government dictates to journalists what they should and should not broadcast. It is believed that most of the government media journalists have been turned to their secretary and public relations while the government has also turned media to her extension of the ministry of information that cannot but support her activities dogmatically. The survey method was adopted with the use of 150 questionnaires out of which 120 were returned upon which the analysis was based. Despite the fact that private media ownership has lots of influence on the objectivity of their media yet many audiences still prefer them to government media which they described as government megaphones or government propaganda tools to fool the public. It is therefore recommended that media owners should not allow the commercial interest to drive them from the media social responsibility expected of it in society. Media owners should allow their employees to exercise professionalism in their day-to-day activities to boost and maintain the media objectivity and credibility of the media because“source is the news” i.e credibility of the information will be determined by the credibility of the media.