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The Impact Of Government Ownership And Control Of Anambra Broadcasting Service (radio) On Media Objectivity
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This can be traced to the political experience of the western region of
Nigeria in the first republic, where; during the 1962 – 1965 political
crisis in the western region, broadcasting was employed freely by the
government of the day as an instrument for waging an offensive
opposition.
Following the activities of major political actors, the
government saw its powerful ability then decided to only trust
broadcasting media into the care of its loyal. it therefore toyed with
the idea of tying the radio and television to what why Edochie of ABS
called “its apron.â€
The government‟s insistence on moving and
controlling the electronic media is in contravention of the universal
declaration of human rights article 19 of the UNO. The article 28
stipulates that; Everyone has the right to freedom of opinioned
expression, this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and seek, receive and impact information and idea through
any media.
Nevertheless, Nigerians are increasingly, decrying
government ownership and control of radio and television stations
because the stations are increasingly losing its credibility.
Ugo (2008) attributed the fear of the government as;
Factor
underlying the restlessness of government of free radio and television
from its contribution is nothing but fear. But government has defence
against this; it claims that the private ownership would lay volatile
Nigerian publics open to selfish manipulation. Hence, it can only trust
such big responsibilities into the hands of its loyal.
Due to the
government control of the electronic media, they lack credibility and
objectivity. This can be accounted in the calibre of workers they
parade. Poorly educated editor and reporters who are easy target for
manipulation by the government and its agents.
Media ownership
pattern has become central to the discussion on mass media and society
because Edeani (1985) printed out that; The nature of ownership of any
press system determines to a great extent whether that press is dynamic,
vigorous and responsive press; or an emasculated, timid, spineless,
ineffectual or irresponsible press.
However, we have three main categories of media ownership namely;
1. Government ownership
2. Private ownership
3. Mixed ownership.
But the researcher will be constrained to government ownership of media.
Government
ownership implies that the medium is completely financed by the
government e.g. Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS radio), Enugu State
Broadcasting Service (ESBS), Radio Nigeria, etc. In government
ownership, the government not only finances the media house, but also
lay down policies for the media and helps in implementing them. The
government previews the news content and news programmes to see if they
agree with their policies and what they (the government) want. Also, any
news that the government does not want to be made known to the public
and is in the news content, the government will erase out of the news
content.
Also, the government further controls the media by their
decision to invest or not to invest. The government‟s interest will be
reflected in their appointment of competent staff.
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