A Comparative Study Of Newspaper Coverage Of Rural/urban Problems In Imo State
[A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF DAILY CHAMPION, THE SUN AND VANGUARD NEWSPAPERS]

not far from the point when he noted that lack of media resources    such        as    man    power,    tra nsportation    and communication    equipment    was        mainly        responsible    for    low coverage of rural news by newspapers in developing countries such as Nigeria, his findings were a confirmation of that by francis Voelker (1972) in his “Mass Media Forces in our society ” as well as that Kimio Uno (1982) in is study on “The Role of communication        in        Economic    Development:    The    J apanese Experience.”
Consequent upon their studies, Francis Voelker (1972)and Kimio Uno (1982) pointed out that shortage of manpower, inadequate transporter facilities and communication equipment, editorial policy and set goal were responsible for the infinitesimal coverage of rural development problems.
J erry Gana’s (1988) assessment of the “Role of the coverage of Rural News in Development” leaves nobody in doubt that adequate coverage of rural development programmes or activities is the basis for greater productivity, economic growth and industrialization of rural areas.
Similar findings were mad e by Patricia Sharp (1988( in her note on “The Role of Modern Media and Newspapers in Development communication.
As events over the years, greater percentage of the insignificant rural news found in Nigerian newspapers were not development-oriented. This view is shared by J .F J amis (1975) in his “Reading in Development communication”., ie Nwosu(1987) in his “Writing for Rural Development” and Rogers (1971) in his “communication of innovation”.
2.4    SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW
By and large, the influence and findings elicited from related works discussed in the literature review provide useful and appropriate answers to some of the research questions raised in this study, such as, Is there ny relationship between newspaper ownership and coverage of community development problems? To what extent does location of a newspaper affect its coverage of rural development problems? To what limit do media resource at the disposal of a newspaper affect its reporting of rural development pr ojects? What impact have the quality of rural news covered by Nigerian newspapers on grassroots development? To what extent is proximity to rural communities accountable for the coverage of more rural development problems?
Indeed, there is no gainsaying th e indispensability of the works of Idowu Sobowale (1985) Digwu (1984) and Alfred Opubor (1985) which corroborate the fact that the concentration of newspaper houses in the cities with considerable social amenities and high readership culture has been highly responsible for the wide publicity given to urban problems in contradistinction to news from the grassroots.
Besides, it is obvious from the foregoing literature review that the poor quality of life and utter neglect of the rural areas in the scheme of things is partly attributable to the low coverage of rural development problems by Nigerian newspapers. This assertion derives from the result of studies by Patricia Sharp (1988), Rogers Everett (1969)and Onuora Nwuneli (1987).
Moreover, as investigations c arried out by Emile McAnany (1980), Francis Voelker (1972( and Kimio Uno (1982) have shown, shortage of manpower, inadequate transport facilities and communication equipment, editorial policy and set goal, were responsible for the fleeting coverage of rura l development problems.
On the question of the impact of the quality and quantity of rural news covered by Nigerian newspapers on grass roots development, it is advisable to concur with Oton (1973) who discover in his study that Nigerian newspaper focus mo re on negative stories from rural communities at the expense of developmental news emanating there from.
Armed with the foregoing retinue of scholarly research works and findings, this study, therefore, promises to go a step further in disbursing the government, policy formulators as well as media proprietors of their notions and false assumptions about rural development, which certainly, will remain a pipe dream, unless it gets the attention it has long craved.
To this extent, it is the resolve of this stu dy to ensure that the answers provide for the research questions, pass muster (are satisfactory).