AN APPRAISAL OF THE APPLICATION OF ICTs IN THE NIGERIAN MASS MEDIA
ABSTRACT
This study was on “The Application of ICTs in the Nigerian Mass Media: A Study of NTA and The Guardian
Newspapers”. The researcher sought to find out the current level of ICTs use in the Nigerian mass media, using
the NTA and The Guardian newspapers as a case study. The work made attempt to identify the factors
responsible, the likely implications, as well as some measures for an improved adoption and enhanced application
of ICTs in the two media. The survey research method was used. The questionnaire and semi-structured
interviews served as instrument of data collection. A total of 400 respondents were selected from the population;
200 from the head offices of the NTA and The Guardian Newspapers on equal proportion, (i.,e. 100 apiece), and
another200 from those members of the public who have access to the two media under review; 100 from the
North [Gwagwalada area of Abuja (50) and Bida L.G.A. in Niger state (50)]; another 100 from the South [Surulere
area of Lagos state (50) and Enugu North L.G.A. of Enugu state (50)]. The stratified and simple random sampling
techniques were used. The data generated were analyzed using simple descriptive and statistical tools such as
simple percentages, tabular presentations and frequency distributions. The study was anchored on the Diffusion
of Innovation theory. At the end of the study, the findings revealed that, although the Nigerian mass media (NTA
and The Guardian newspapers) have adopted the new ICTs to an extent, yet, the level of adoption and application
still falls far below expectations, especially when compared with what is obtainable in the western world. The
findings attributed the under utilization of ICTs in the two media to lack of infrastructure e.g. electricity, few trained
or skilled ICTs personnel, poor knowledge of ICTs at all levels, from suppliers to users, financial constraints,
corruption, poor planning and lack of political/ideological will. The study further revealed that the under utilization
of ICTs in NTA and The Guardian newspapers has greatly hampered the quality and quantity of their programmes
and contents respectively. Based on these findings, recommendations were made. One, government should
intervene by providing enabling environment and basic social amenities e.g. electricity, that would assist in the
smooth operation of the new technologies and discourage the re-occurring brain drain in the country. On their
part, the media organizations should invest in ICTs development and acquisition, and maintain a regular training
and retraining of their staff in computer literacy and on the use of the latest ICTs in the media world, among others.
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has brought tremendous innovations in all
spheres of human endeavours. The media of mass communication – radio, television, newspapers, magazines,
etc, have definitely not been spared from the great revolution. The satellite in particular has made news most
instantaneous and simultaneous, especially for the broadcast media. The new technologies have therefore made
the job of media practitioners very effective, interesting, easy, cheaper, faster, more reliable and perhaps most
profitable.
Writing about this development in the media industry, Maida (1996), cited in
Idemili and Sambe (2007:181) states that:
The invention of some electromagnetic technologies such as microcircuiting, micro-graphics, holographic memory,
micro-electronics, opticfibre-satellites, video discs, telex, view data, digital broadcast systems, facsimiles,
videophones, computers and micro processors, etc., has no doubt revolutionized information gathering,
processing, storage, retrieval and transmission; making information available ever more widely, rapidly and
less expensive.
Today, television broadcasting for instance has undergone a lot of transformations, from the era of monochrome
to colour television broadcasting; from low quality VHS cameras to Dvcam, Videophones, Electronic News
Gathering (ENG) and Satellite News Gathering (SNG) gadgets, among others.
The new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have improved TV productions and presentations.
Gone were the days of linear editing. Editing is now done digitally with the aid of the computer. This is known as
non-linear editing.
This ensures effective editing and high quality post-productions.
Also, there are modern sophisticated studio facilities such as Digital Lights,
Special Effect Machines, Character Generators, Teleprompters, Digital Studio Cameras of various sizes, Digital
Playback Machines, etc.
The radio too, is not left out in the revolution. The radio industry is introducing High Definition radios. The HD
radio in the words of Akpan (2009) is “a digital service that greatly improves signals/sounds quality of terrestrial
local stations. With HD radio, an FM station now sounds as good as a compact disc, while an AM station sounds
as good as a current FM station, aesthetic free and without atmospheric interference”.
In the print industry, the production and distribution of newspapers today is greatly facilitated by the new
technologies that offer efficiency, speed, quality and reliability. Many big newspapers in the advanced world now
engage in satellite publications – a situation whereby a newspaper edition is published simultaneously in different
cities across the country and beyond. Dominick (1993) cited in Ufuohu
(2007:240) gave examples of such newspapers to include – The International Herald Tribune, The Washington
Post, USA Today, The Financial Times of London, The Economist, the Wallstreet Journal, among others.
In Nigeria however, satellite publication is still relatively new in the country and yet to be popularized in the
nation‟s print media. According to Okorie (2008:170), “Thisday is the only Nigerian newspaper that produces
simultaneously in Nigeria and
South Africa at the moment, and still not consistent”. Thus, we still have early editions and late editions as Ufuohu
(2007:2007) rightly explains:
If one buys a newspaper with national circulation in the West, Edo, or even Delta state and one buys another copy
of the same newspaper same day, as soon as one crosses the Niger Bridge into the East, one would discover
differences in the contents, one is early edition, the other is late edition.
Writing further on the problem of distribution and circulation of journalism products in Nigeria, Ende (2003:42)
reveals that:
Many of our so-called national dailies are read in arrears, as some others (prominently Vanguard and The Punch)
repackage old news and send it up north in current dates under the euphemism of northern edition, while in fact,
the news is read a day or two in southern editions of the tabloids…
Presently, editions of Thisday and The Guardian reach Markurdi, a day late – a town of just 820 kilometres from
Lagos and 323 kilometres from Abuja.
With the satellite technology, such problem in newspaper production and
distribution is completely erased.
Also, many Nigerian television stations are yet to adopt the non-linear editing which is digital. They still rely
on linear editing which is very clumsy.
Again, many electronic media in the country are yet to adopt the use of Electronic News Gathering (ENG)
gadgets, which enable the crew to broadcast, live from the scene of an event directly to the station. In the same
vein, they have not adopted the use of Satellite News Gathering (SNG) gadgets. The SNG with its specially
equipped technologies uplinks the signals live from the venue of an event to a communication satellite and back
to the mother station which makes it possible for those with the receivers to receive the signals live across the
world. The only similar thing many TV stations in the country have is the outside Broadcasting Van
(OB.Van).
Similarly, many FM and TV station in the country are yet to be fully equipped with the state–of–the–art facilities.
The few available studios are stocked with obsolete equipment resulting in constant breakdown.
Again, the modern lithographic machines and printing machines have gone digital, thereby, eliminating time
waste. The machines print faster, collate, count and do other necessary findings. Colour separation is also done
on digital equipment as against the previous analogue ones. Thus, making print journalism less clumsy and more interesting.
With the ICTs, photography has ascended to heights that were not previously imagined. In the past, the darkroom
was used in developing pictures for news stories or broadcast journalism; today, photo-cropping is done
electronically with the use of computers. Also, there are now digital cameras in various sizes, which replace the
analogue ones. There are inbuilt digital cameras in mobile phones in today‟s society. The Nigerian mass media
are catching up gradually with these explosive information and communication technologies. For instance, the
NTA, MBI, AIT Channels, Silverbird and a few other TV stations in the country have gone satellite. Some of them
have adopted a system similar to CNN and BBC World in their news broadcast. With the aid of the new
equipment, two newscasters from two different locations far apart could be brought on screen simultaneously
(split screen) and discuss with each other briefly before one is faded out. Though the method is not as perfect as
that of the advanced media organizations, but it is commendable.
However, apart from the NTA, AIT, MBI, Channels, Silverbird, and a few others, many TV stations in Nigeria
still operate with low quality equipment; thus, the quality of their broadcast is still very poor.
Also, there are still some television stations in the country that use only one camera, and most times, VHS
camera to record programmes such as discussions and interviews. This is evident in the rapid turning of the
camera from one discussant to another or from the interviewer to the interlocutor. Enahoro (2002:66) describes it
this way:
at present, if one visits a television studio in Nigeria, he will only see a Panasonic camera Mounted on a Philip
tripod with a Beltec microphone on an Aiwa amplifier link with Thompson cable and a Sony headphone.
Again, most TV stations in the country still rely on physical delivery of stories from their correspondents in distant
places instead of sending them through the Internet, the cell phone or the satellite. This makes many stories to be
stale. For instance, during the January 27, 2002 Ikeja bomb blast, it was reported that most of the television
stations in Lagos were still running dry commentaries of the mishap three hours after the event as Egbuchalam
(2005) in Terngu and Ende Ternenge
(2007:281) recounts:
On the night of the Lagos bomb blast, a viewer in Lagos while contributing to a phone–in programme on a private
TV station queried the anchorman why his station was telecasting the bomb blast of three hours ago without any
actuality pictures. The reply was that their cameramen were already at the Ikeja cantonment scene and would
bring back the film later.
A comparison of the above statement with the BBC World live reports on the
September 11, terrorists‟ attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, and the burial of Pope John Paul II in
Rome, Italy, leaves much to be desired.
Preliminary investigations reveal that many radio stations in the country especially the state-owned stations are
yet to be equipped with the state–of–the–art facilities. Many of them do not have computers fitted with MP3
software and CD writes. Many still operate studio equipment manually instead of using the console. Again, many
of their transmitters are obsolete thereby resulting in constant breakdown. Unlike the FRCN and the big private
FM stations such as Ray Power 100.5, Cool FM, Rhythm FM and Radio Continental, many state–owned radio
stations do not broadcast correspondents‟ reports directly from the venue of an event. They do not broadcast for
24 hours. The reason perhaps is that they do not posses the technology to do so.
There are still some state radio stations stuffed with cartridge machines, reel–to– reel machines, turntables
and cassette players. While in the real digital modern studio, one expects to see CDs, VCDs, DVDs, computers
fitted with MP3 software and CD
writes.
Preliminary investigations also revealed that in the print media, many Nigerian newspapers have introduced
online news services courtesy of the web technology. The online services make it possible to access the
newspapers worldwide. Newspapers like
The Sun, Thisday, The Vanguard, The Guardian, The Daily Independent, The Newswatch and Tell magazines are
all connected to the internet. They make available to subscribers summaries of full text versions of their contents.
However, the absence of satellite technologies that enable simultaneous publication of newspapers in different
cities still poses a great problem to newspaper distribution and circulation in the country.
The above observations show that despite the relative growth in the use of some of the new ICTs in the Nigerian
mass media, most of the available technologies are still grossly under utilized.
Consequently, the researcher intends to critically evaluate the level of adoption and application of the new
technologies in Nigerian mass media with special focus on NTA and The Guardian newspaper. The two giant
media in the country were
consciously selected to ensure equal representation of the print and electronic media, as well as private and public ownership.
1.2 Statement of Problem
The emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has brought a tremendous change in the
media industry all over the world. The media in various countries especially in the Western World are seriously
adopting and utilizing the numerous opportunities provided by the new ICTs for greater efficiency, better quality,
faster production, and delivery of more reliable and cost effective service.
However, preliminary investigations show that most print and electronic media in Nigeria and Africa are yet to
fully catch up with the trend. According to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), only “very few countries in
Africa have embarked on the ICT policy formulation process, while in many, the mechanism still falls short of the
required standard” (ECA, May,1999).
The mass media in Nigeria are also faced with the problem of adopting foreign technologies to suit local
needs. Again, there are still serious lapses in infrastructure especially in the areas of electricity and
telecommunications, as well as in the training of media personnel to handle some of these new sophisticated
operational tools. Thus,
Mbachu (2003) cited in Ogah (2007:197) observes that:
The newly emerging trends regarding Technology and the mass media globally indicates that the mass media in
Nigerian will increasingly be left behind unless the country breaks the chain of economic stagnations and
achieves a higher level of development that will guarantee its citizens a higher standard of living that will be a
strong stimulus for production and consumption of the new technologies.
Meanwhile, it suffices to state categorically at this juncture, that the problem of this study is not to ascertain the
relevance of ICTs in the modern mass media. Of course, it is a known fact that the new ICTs are very relevant in
the media. Rather, the issue of serious concern is to empirically determine the extent to which these relevant
technologies are utilized in the two media under investigation (NTA and The Guardian Newspapers). This is
particularly important as prior investigations show that there is already a dichotomy in information diffusion,
resulting into a digital divide between the “information haves” or & Fin
AN APPRAISAL OF THE APPLICATION OF ICTs IN THE NIGERIAN MASS MEDIA