scholarly journals A Theoretic Perspective on Critical Communications, Mass Media and Effectual Democracy in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Aaron Ola Ogundiwin ◽  
Joel N. Nwachukwu ◽  
Funminiyi Jacob Babajide

In contemporary times, democracy has become the political buzzword and, indeed, the basic acceptable form of government with the emergence of liberalism which links democracy with freedom, consent, and political and legal equality. The mass media – which include newspapers, radio and television – play a prominent role in governance and democratic sustainability of any state. In fact, it is a truism that the media serve as the watchdog of governmental activities, ensuring that quality information with which the governed can hold their leaders accountable is made available. The mass media were actively involved in the struggles against colonialism and military rule, as well as the eventual restoration of democratic government in Nigeria. However, in Nigeria, the mass media are fast becoming a pawn in the hands of the government and party in power in particular, and are found in conspiracy with the political elite class in general. This article takes on the contributions of the mass media to effectual democracy in Nigeria. Using agenda setting theoretical framework, it x-rays the effectiveness and shortcomings of the media in delivering on its mandate as the fourth estate of the realm towards ensuring that democratic practices in Nigeria produce the intended result of promoting good and inclusive governance. The paper adopts qualitative research design with data drawn from secondary sources only. It equally uses descriptive and content data analysis. It is found that the mass media have indeed been the middlemen in entrenching democracy in Nigeria but these efforts are being undermined by pecuniary, ownership, political and structural-institutional influences. It is concluded that while the mass media strive to ensure the general inclusion of the populace in the process of governing which fulfills a core democratic tenet, they can do more to overcome the challenges. Among other things, this paper recommends that the government should be deliberate in guaranteeing the freedom of the press to allow for free transmission of information between the government and the people without fear or favour, and likewise, the press should be professional, objective, critical and independent in their reportage, embracing the virtue of investigative journalism.

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 110-120
Author(s):  
Oksana Olshevskaya

An attempt to define the degree of media freedom in contemporary Russia leads to contradiction between the declaration of the mass media freedom provided by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Soviet Union heritage of unequivocal control of the press by the government, described by Siebert et al. (1984) as the Soviet-Communist Press Theory. The reason for this ambiguity could be explained by the great deal of different factors that exert an influence on the journalism, such as features of mass media legislation, governmental control of the media, the diversity of media ownership, sources of media incomes, and traditions of censorship in Russia.  The current development of the media legislation in Russia shows no improvement regarding the freedom of speech. In the beginning of the third presidential term in 2012, Vladimir Putin has signed several laws that reduced the freedom of speech through the limitation of public assembly, criminalization of defamation in the mass media, and intensification of governmental censorship on the internet. On the other hand, the contemporary press freedom that appeared in conditions of the new market economy in the beginning of the 1990s has brought discredit as to the conception of an exclusively positive impact of unconditional freedom on the mass media since the newspapers, television and radio channels were controlled by several powerful oligarchs who used the owned mass media to spread and support their political influence. However, after the authorities’ reference in the 2000s the balance was not regained. As a result, the majority of the media outlets in Russia became co-owned or fully controlled by the government. Another crucial aspect of the mass media freedom as the cultural phenomenon should be kept in mind: seven decades of severe censorship could not be erased from the journalism professional community’s memory in several years. The negative experience of predecessors transforms censorship into self-censorship in modern Russia.


Author(s):  
Stefaan Walgrave ◽  
Peter Van Aelst

Recently, the number of studies examining whether media coverage has an effect on the political agenda has been growing strongly. Most studies found that preceding media coverage does exert an effect on the subsequent attention for issues by political actors. These effects are contingent, though, they depend on the type of issue and the type of political actor one is dealing with. Most extant work has drawn on aggregate time-series designs, and the field is as good as fully non-comparative. To further develop our knowledge about how and why the mass media exert influence on the political agenda, three ways forward are suggested. First, we need better theory about why political actors would adopt media issues and start devoting attention to them. The core of such a theory should be the notion of the applicability of information encapsulated in the media coverage to the goals and the task at hand of the political actors. Media information has a number of features that make it very attractive for political actors to use—it is often negative, for instance. Second, we plead for a disaggregation of the level of analysis from the institutional level (e.g., parliament) or the collective actor level (e.g., party) to the individual level (e.g., members of parliament). Since individuals process media information, and since the goals and tasks of individuals that trigger the applicability mechanism are diverse, the best way to move forward is to tackle the agenda setting puzzle at the individual level. This implies surveying individual elites or, even better, implementing experimental designs to individual elite actors. Third, the field is in dire need of comparative work comparing how political actors respond to media coverage across countries or political systems.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Agus Toto Widyatmoko

Abstract :The mass media had great influence in conveying a message against their common. The values of the message was set out in the text and images are presented by the media. The message may contain meaning positive and inspiring in describing events, so that is not interfere psychological of audience.  In the context of photojournalism, the expression that the power of the image can be far beyond the message conveyed through text. Because the meaning of the message, the essence of photojournalism must pay attention to the rules of journalism were set in the Press Law and the Code of Ethics of Journalism. An understanding of the ethics of photojournalism is not only for internal media, but also to a audience. Thus, the public can judge the mindset of media displaying photographic work does pay attention to aesthetic aspects or ignore the rules of journalism. Keywords: Photojournalism, Press Law, the Code of Ethics Journalism, the Power of Image


Communicology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-111
Author(s):  
S. A. Vorontsov ◽  
F. I. Sharkov ◽  
A. V. Ponedelkov

This article examines the problems of communication between the government, society and the mass media in the field of extremism prevention through a systematic information policy aimed at identifying the causes and factors that determine radical manifestations, determining measures aimed at their localization, and forming a persistent rejection of illegal behavior of citizens and their associations in society. The competent organization of interaction between the government, society and the media makes it possible to synthesize their efforts in the field of extremism prevention. This approach encompasses not only basic security-based counter-terrorism measures, but also systematic preventive steps to address the underlying conditions that encourage individuals to radicalize and join violent extremist groups. It is necessary to develop specific recommendations and action plans at the federal, regional and local levels of both state and municipal authorities in active interaction with the mass media, in particular, focusing on the root social reasons why some people are attracted to extremist organizations and what measures to combat extremism are most effective.


Author(s):  
Indrie Harthaty

Language in politics is directed towards the achievement of political objectives, that is gaining power or maintaining power. The language of the politicians is aiming to attract the attention of voters which can be seen in various campaign media, such as banners, advertisements, social media, and excerpts from interviews in the mass media. This research is descriptive research. This research describes the choice of words spoken by the political elite in representing their power. The data in this study are Donald Trump's remarks relating to power. The data source in this study is the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The results of this study found that the choice of words used by Donald Trump is the use of sentence structures in the form of modal lexical.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Agus Toto Widyatmoko

Abstract :The mass media had great influence in conveying a message against their common. The values of the message was set out in the text and images are presented by the media. The message may contain meaning positive and inspiring in describing events, so that is not interfere psychological of audience.  In the context of photojournalism, the expression that the power of the image can be far beyond the message conveyed through text. Because the meaning of the message, the essence of photojournalism must pay attention to the rules of journalism were set in the Press Law and the Code of Ethics of Journalism. An understanding of the ethics of photojournalism is not only for internal media, but also to a audience. Thus, the public can judge the mindset of media displaying photographic work does pay attention to aesthetic aspects or ignore the rules of journalism. Keywords: Photojournalism, Press Law, the Code of Ethics Journalism, the Power of Image


Author(s):  
Francesc-Andreu MARTÍNEZ GALLEGO

LABURPENA: Lan hau komunikabideen eta ustelkeria politikoaren arteko harremanei buruzkoa da. Lanaren estrategia komunikabideek gobernatzaileen eta gobernatuen arteko harremanak hedatzeko bitarteko aktiboak bezala duten jarrera agertzea da, hau da, komunikabideek ustelkeriari buruz emandako informazioa izan ez dadin prentsaren jatorrietatik datorren ataza soila, hots, askatasun publikoen eta gobernu onaren watchdog or atari-txakur lana. Gauzak horrela, komunikabideak aktore politikoak dira, interes partikularrak dituzte eta egitateekiko elkarrekintza dute, eta egitate horiei garrantzia ematen diete (edo ez), interesen arabera. Ustelkeria politikoko eskandaluak kazetaritzako argitan, komunikabideen enpresen interesen arabera eta sistema politikoaren eta komunikabide sistemaren arteko harremanak kontuan izanda aztertu behar dira. Horrela soilik ahal izango diogu lana honen funtsari ekin, alegia: zer egin dezakete komunikabideek demokraziaren kalitatea handitzeko, hau da, ustelkeria politikoa bertatik erauzi edo, gutxienez, mugatzeko? RESUMEN: El presente trabajo es un estudio crítico sobre la relación existente entre medios de comunicación y corrupción política. La estrategia del mismo consiste en desvelar la posición de los medios de comunicación como mediatizadores activos de la relación entre gobernantes y gobernados, de manera que la información sobre corrupción producida por los medios no se vea como el mero cumplimiento de una tarea asignada desde sus orígenes ilustrados a la prensa, a saber, su labor de watchdog o perro guardián de las libertades públicas y del buen gobierno. Vistas así las cosas, los medios se configuran como actores políticos con intereses particulares que interaccionan con los hechos y a los que confieren (o no) la entidad de noticiables en grados diversos. Los escándalos de corrupción política deben estudiarse a la luz de las narrativas periodísticas, a la luz de los condicionamientos empresariales de los medios y a la luz de la configuración de las relaciones entre el sistema político y el sistema mediático. Sólo así podremos encarar la cuestión de fondo que se plantea al final de este trabajo y que pregunta qué pueden hacer los medios de comunicación para acrecentar la calidad de la democracia extirpando o al menos limitando en ella la corrupción política. ABSTRACT: This work is a critical analysis about the relationship between mass media and political corruption. Its strategy is to unveil the mass media position as an activ mediator in the relationship between governers and governeds so that information about corruption by the media cannot be seen as the simple fullfilment of an assigned task to the press since its Enlightment origins, i.e. their job of watchdog or guard dog for public liberties and good governance. As things stand, mass media are configured as political actors with particular interests that interact with facts to which the give (or not) a gradual entity of political newsworthiness. The scandals of political corruption should be studied in the light of journalistic narratives, corporate constraints of the mass media and the setting of relationships among the political and the media system. Only this way we will be able to face the underlying issue that arises at the end of this work and that questions what mass media can do in order to improve the quality of democracy by removing or at least constraining within the political corruption.


Author(s):  
Subir Sinha

COVID-19 is the cause of the greatest pandemic of the century that affects almost every nation of our globe. In India, mass media has played a significant role in this pandemic situation. The media coverage revealed fearlessly the condition of COVID-19 and provides a pictorial view of the situation in front of the readers and viewers. The main objectives of these fearless journalistic works were to provide the public valuable authentic information, create awareness among the public, eliminate fake propaganda and fake news, highlight the problem face by the ordinary public, and to provide the government a medium to speak with the public for the public interest. Mass media served as a vital weapon to fight against COVID-19. The valuable information and instructions provided by mass media created awareness among the public and which played a major role to deescalate the graphical representation of active COVID-19 cases. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the dogmatic approaches of the mass media in the pandemic situation have recalled the concept of media as the third pillar of democracy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Ratke-Majewska

AbstractThe main aim of this article is to answer the question of how populist governments of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia affected the freedom of the media in countries governed by them. The text discusses actions made by the leaders who wanted to secure their unrestricted access to the mass media, stifle independent media and make them obedient to the government in order to build a positive image of the authorities. This article also made an attempt to perceive an analogy between Chávez’s and Morales’ decisions and to make a comprehensive assessment of the effects of these interventions


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-41
Author(s):  
Martina Plantak

Abstract This paper analyzes the relationship and correlation between propaganda and the mass media on the example of turbo-folk music as the most influential cultural model in the 1990s in Serbia. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence and spread of turbo-folk music through various propaganda techniques and through the mass media. The primary aim of the research is to understand the related propaganda and the media, while the starting hypothesis is that turbo-folk music served the political interests of the ruling elites as a distraction from the gloomy political and economic situation in which Serbia was. My intention is that turbo-folk music could be considered as the primary cultural model of that age, just as much as the culture of escapism.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document