CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The media are saddled with the onus of bringing to people’s assessment and perception issues they have to be informed about. The way and manner of their reportage of issues that are rooted in crisis have attracted a lot of discourse. People have almost always believed that their presentation is informed by the need to protect those in a disadvantaged position irrespective of whose ox is gored in the long run. Hence, they are seen as devotees of a bias reportage. (Otsuka, 2006, p.28)
In any crisis situation, the role of the media is so crucial. Information is regarded as a critical factor in escalating or reducing the tension. If information is not disseminated carefully about the crises to the populace, it may portend negative consequences for the nation in question. This is because, the media based on their reports in times of crises, can set the whole nation on fire. (Asemah, 2011, p.240). This is where the social responsibility of a journalist needs to be tested. Thus, Sankore (2001, p.15) note that:
Nothing defines the character of a media establishment more sharply than any crisis that pitches nation against nation or one section of the society against another. In times of crisis, the responsibility of the media is manifest tenfold by the society’s demand for more news, information and analysis and therefore, its increase capacity to influence debate and shape public opinion. Every word written or spoken by the media is a potential matchet, bullet or Bomb in the hands and minds of the perpetrators and victims of the crisis. This Raises serious questions on what should be the role of the media in time of war and crisis. The ethical, moral and professional obligation is to provide the public with accurate and balance reporting that does not distort or suppress information.
Crisis therefore, characterizes the dynamics of humans interaction; it is a universal phenomenon that can occur between individuals, groups, and nations. As defined in the Long Man Dictionary of Contemporary English (1995), crisis is a state of disagreement or argument between people, groups, countries, etc. it is more usual with laymen to see crisis as associated with violence. Violence however, is only an extreme manifestation of crisis. Crisis is a fight, a struggle, a disagreement between people with different ideas or beliefs. (Asemah, 200, p.240)
However, one fundamental impediment to the advancement of any society is conflict. Conflict encourages stagnation as well as retrogression of the socio-economic constructions of any given society. It equally engenders acrimony and hatred amongst the inhabitants of such society. Scholars versed in Development Communication have contended that no development agenda (be it political, economic, social, etc.) can thrive in the face of crisis. They further avert that crisis dethrones developmental quests, while further improvising the people. (Bright,2011,p.84).