TABLES OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER TITLE PAGE
Fly Leaf
Title Page – – – – – – – i
Certification – – – – – – ii
Dedication – – – – – – – iii
Acknowledgements- – – – – – iv-v
Table of Contents – – – – – – vi-viii
List of Appendices – – – – – ix
List of Tables – – – – – – x
List of Appendices – – – – – xi
Abstract – – – – – – – xii
- INTRODUCTION – – – – – 1
- Background of the Study – – – – 1-2
- Statement of the Study – – – – – 3
- Objectives of the Study – – – – – 4
- Research Questions- – – – – – 4-5
- Scope of the Study- – – – – – 5
- Significance of the Study – – – – 5
- Limitations of the Study – – – – 5-6
- Definition of Terms – – – – – 6
- REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE – 7
- The Concept of News – – – – – 7
- History of News and Sources – – – – 7-12
- Elements of News – – – – – – 13-15
- Concepts of Credibility – – – – – 15-16
- Media Credibility – – – – – – 16-19
- Media Credibility Measures – – – – 19-23
- Concepts of News Sources – – – – 23-26
- Types of News Sources – – – – – 26-27
- Advantages and Disadvantages of News Sources – 27-29
- Evaluating News Sources – – – – 30-31
- Possible Solutions to Challenges Associated
- The Concept of News – – – – – 7
with News Sources – – – – – 32-34
- Brief History of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic – 34
- Theoretical Framework – – – – – 34
- Use and Gratifications Theory – – – – 35
- Applicability of Uses and Gratification Theory – 36
- Social Categories Theory – – – – 36-37
- Applicability of Social Categories Theory – – 37
- Review of Study – – – – – – 37-40
- Theoretical Framework – – – – – 34
- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY – – – 41
- Research Design – – – – – – 41
- Population of the Study – – – – – 41
- Sample and Sampling Procedure – – – 41
- Instrument for Data Collection – – – – 42
- Validity and Reliability – – – – – 42
- Method of Data Presentation and Analysis – 43
- DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND
DISCUSSION – – – – – – 44
- Data Presentation and Analysis – – – 44-54
- Discussion of Findings – – – – – 54-57
- SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION – – – – 58
- Summary – – – – – – – 58-59
- Conclusions – – – – – – – 59
- Recommendations – – – – – – 59-60
References
Appendix/Appendices
ABSTRACT
The study was on “Credibility of News Sources among Academic Staff of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic”. In carrying out this research, certain objectives to achieve the purpose of this work were formulated. The objectives among others sought to find out the media/medium which academic staff have access to regularly for news of national interest and the media/medium which is more credible. This study used a survey research design and the population of the study was 253. A census and accidental sampling procedure was adopted to draw a sample of 230 for the study. A questionnaire was also used to collect data for analysis. The theories used in this study were uses and gratification theory and social categories theory. The findings of the study among others showed that book is the more credible news source while the internet is the regular news source among academic staff of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic where the source news of national interest. Among the recommendations of this study were that, government should set out policies to enable the internet service providers (ISP) or telecommunications companies to lower their internet service charges in order to increase access to their services. Also, that news sources should improve their news content and make more credible.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background of the Study
News is information about current events. News is provided through different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, and electronic communication and also on the testimony of observes and witnesses to events.
Human exhibits a nearly universal desire to learn and share news, which they satisfy by talking to each other and sharing information. Technological and social developments often driven by government communication and espionage networks have increased the speed with which news spread as well as influenced its content (Pettegree, 2014).
Anything that provides news information for a period of time is said to be news source. News sources can be a moving person or still documents. There are several news sources such as official documents, government officials, witnesses of the crime scene, the victim itself etc. News sources are required for both journalist and for the audiences.
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In earlier days, many rulers used the technique of drum beat and people carved their messages on the walls and rocks to convey or deliver their message, but later in the modern world, all these news sources were eliminated and the press took new elements of news sources. In today’s world, we can see there are totally different news sources. Such as television, radio, press release, press conference, newspaper, internet press interviews, institutions such as hospital, schools, police stations etc. (Uga, 2008).
In academic setting, one may assume automatically that academic text books are the primary source of information when staff and students are engaged in a formal study programme. This may be true to a degree; usually there is need to question the credibility of such texts that have probably been recommended by a lecturer. There are however, many other sources of information which should not be overlooked. Such sources includes: The internet, newspaper, journals, transcripts from radio or TV programmes, leaflets, photographs and other artifacts (made objects) (Pettegree, 2014). It is on this background that this research seeks to know the sources of news that is more credible among academic staff of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua.