MASS MEDIA IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE:

TELEVISION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

INTRODUCTION:

Television as a mass medium of communication has become very important and most effective medium of communication ever since its invention. It synchronous transmission of audio and visual signal enable it to exert enormous influence on the society thereby making it more compelling enable it to command great respect and attention than the other media.

Its significance is that it has become a nerve linking the society and its activities together. This explain the reason why government of developing countries, especially Nigeria are enchanted by the power of television, thereby using it to publicize most of their programmes to promote unity and cultural upliftment  of the people.

Television creates awareness of different life style in a society. In doing this, emphasis are placed on similarities in life style and this is beneficial to developing nations like Nigeria where loyalties rarely extend beyond the village, tribe or religion.

Therefore, television and community plays the role of creating sense of identification through the propagation of common cultural values and symbol by giving interpretations to events that will aid and promote unity of the nation. However the television medium should desists from interpreting events in such a way that it may rise to disaffection, inflame tempers and course disunity among the people with diverse cultural norms, belief and values.

It can therefore be held that television due to the role it plays in limiting people with different culture, religion, tribe and even race reflects the value pattern of the society because it determines where and when information flows.   

1.1:  THE CONCEPT OF MASS MEDIA.

Concept is an abstraction or generalization from experience or the result of a transformation of existing concepts.

Concepts in mass media can be more of television, radio, newspaper and magazine to pass information.

According to Livesey (2011) says:

Mass media refers to channels of communication that involves transmitting information in some way, shape or form to           large numbers of people.

Mass media can also be seen as a diversified media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication.

Chegg Says that:                           

Mass media consists of the various means           by which information reaches large numbers of people. These means or             channels could be television, radio, magazines and newspapers.

Sociologists study mass media especially to see how it shapes people's values, beliefs, perceptions and behaviour. For example, mass media contributes to socialization including gender socialization as movies teach young people. Mass media also affects social movement; for example, news coverage of the U.S-Vietnam war helped to spark the 1960s anti-war movement. Therefore, the mass media can be referred to as different channels which are used to convey messages or information to a large group of people in the society.

Okunna and Omenugha (2012) posit:

That mass communication messages are transmitted to a huge audience through artificial channels or machines called the mass media.

These mass media are referred to as artificial persons because they have been set up to act as persons, they are institutionalized channels and are generally considered to be newspapers, magazines, radio, film, television and books.

1.2:  THE BRANCHES OF MASS MEDIA.

There are different types of mass media . They comprise of the Print and Broadcast media.

A: THE PRINT MEDIA.

The print media is the oldest of the mass media which has been in existence for a very long time. Starting from ancient times, the print media have proliferated all over the world because of their many advantages, they have also remained popular channels of mass communication, in spite of the phenomenal development of the electronic media in the modern world. It can also be seen as light-weight, portable, disposable publication printed on paper and  circulated as physical copies. Such as books, newspapers, magazines and so many others.

This day, many books, magazines and newspapers publish digital electronic editions on the internet.

TYPES OF PRINT MEDIA.

THE BOOK.

A book is a set of written, printed or blank pages fastened along one side and encased between protective covers. It is also a bound publication.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BOOK.

a.     Books are the oldest medium of mass communication.

b.    The preparation and production of a book can be in months.

c.      Book is a medium of education

d.    A book is used for storing and retrieving of information

e.      According to Google, there may be 130 thousand books in circulation.

THE NEWSPAPPER.

A newspaper is an unbound printed publication that is issued at regular intervals which present information in words, often supplemented with pictures and they are also collections of printed pages folded together.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWSPAPER.

a.     Their content is mostly on public affairs and events information reporting with some entertainment.

b.    The preparation and production of a newspaper take hours.

c.      It must offer freedom of access to all readers. (that is, it must be available to everyone to purchase). 

THE MAGAZINE.                                

A magazine is a bound of publication or pamphlet issued more or less       regularly containing variety of reading matter.

The word magazine is derived from the French word 'magasin' which means storehouse. In its earliest form, the magazine had a very wide variety of content, thus serving as a real storehouse of reading materials for its audience.

CHARCTERISTICS OF MAGAZINE.

a.     A magazine content is mostly entertaining

b.    The preparation and production of a magazine can take weeks or   months.

c.      A magazine has variety of contents or reading matters.

B: ELECTRONIC MEDIA, THE BROADCAST MEDIA

THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA:

The electronic media which is also known as the ''NEW MEDIA'' came to existence first with film, next radio, finally television. (sandman et al. 1976, p 57). All electronic media depend on electricity for the transmission of their messages to their audience.

THE CINEMA:  The twentieth century signalled the era of electronic communication. First to develop was the cinema . The word 'cinema' originated from 'kinema' the  Greek word for 'motion'. This is why the cinema is also called motion picture or movie. Many people often do not of the cinema as an electronic medium but the cinema or film realise on electricity for it operation. Moreover, film has very much in common with television because both of them use visual imagery. In the contemporary world, although the presence of television has more or less weakened movie- going, the cinema as a mass medium is still available to large audiences in different part of the world. For instance, in Nigeria we have cinema theatres where people go to watch their favourite movies. In cinema's like Silverbird Cinema, Genesis Cinema, Leisure Mall Cinema, Ozone and Cine Afrik etc. Cinema industry is waxing very strong in Indian, United State of America and Japan. The three top movie producing countries in the world as rated by cable news network (CNN). Till date one of the movies that garnered one of the most phenomenal audiences in the modern history of the cinema was the "TITANICS" in the United State in 1998.

The broadcast are electronic media of communication to which large and wider audience receive message or information simultaneously.

The broadcast and electronic media today are portable sources of entertainment and information distributed  by wired and wireless radio, television station networks, sound and video recordings and the mobile internet.

The broadcast media offer informative and entertaining content of both general and special interest. However, today many radio and television stations and networks publish digital electronic editions or versions on the internet alongside the publishers of books, newspapers and magazines. This coming together on global networks is called convergence.

TYPES OF BROADCAST MEDIA.

RADIO.

Radio is an audio medium and a mass medium. Radio broadcasting is a one-way communication to a broad or large audience. As a mass medium, it has capacity to cut through the barriers of illiteracy and poor infrastructural facilities which could limit the ability of the print media to reach large audiences. In addition, radio has other peculiarities which make it the true mass medium, in terms of reaching a mass audience in the developing world. Radio  is relatively cheap and can operate without electricity; makes it capable

of being within the reach of third-world populations than television which can also transcend such barriers as illiteracy and infrastructural facilities. Radio is portable, and transistor radio sets are widely owned all over the third world, even in remote rural areas. In most developing countries, radio is by far the mostly widely used mass medium. Rural dwellers prefer radio because it is cheap and portable. It can be used by both the educated and illiterate. And some radio stations broadcast more than 80 percent of their programmes in their vernacular language. Most radio stations broadcast music while some transmit news, sports talk and religious programmes.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RADIO.

a.     Radio media transmit audio content wirelessly. 

b.    Radio stations can be linked together in networks.

c.      Radio is portable and affordable

d.    It informs and entertain people.

MOBILE WEB OR MOBILE INTERNET.

Mobile web or mobile internet employs a web browser or a mobile device such as smart phone, laptop or tablet computer to access the internet via wireless network.  

1.3 THE CONCEPT OF TELEVISION IN NIGERIA

Television broadcasting in Nigeria started with the initiative of the first Western Region premier, Chief Obafemi Awolowo on October 31, 1959 launched television broadcasting at Ibadan the headquarters of the region.

The western region government went into partnership with the overseas re-diffusion Limited. The western Nigeria radio vision service limited was created with the responsibility of radio and TV broadcasting under one management.

 A small transmitter of 500 watts power was mounted on mapo hill in Ibadan and another at Abafon near Ikorodu. The television was therefore established to disseminate information and entertain viewers. The radio and television stations in the western region pioneered commercial broadcasting in Nigeria to supplement government subvention.

In 1962, the western region government took full control of WNBS/WNTV by buying over all shares held by the overseas re-diffusion limited.

In the same year, the Nigeria television service was born in Lagos with the radio corporation of American (RCA) and the nation broadcasting company international limited managing the station. But the management was eventually handed over to Reverend Victor Badejo, who was the acting director general of the NBC.

The NTS later changed its name to NBC/TV. The federal military government of Nigeria under general Olusegun Obasanjo took the television station in Nigeria in 1978 and changed its name to Nigeria TV Authority (NTA). Today, Nigeria has thirty-six states with each aspiring to set up her own TV station. The federal government is also making effort to establish a branch of NTA in each state.

In 1976, TV stations started beaming colour programmes thus, however, opened in the history of TV broadcasting in Nigeria with the federal government take over of all TV services in 1978.

All TV stations are made to beam network programmes. Many states government established more TV and Radio stations since then most of the state television stations have been competiting favourably with the federal government station.

1.4  THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION.

The invention of television was the work of many individuals in the 19th and early 20th century. Television involves the process by which information is disseminated through audiovisual medium. The global history of TV came into existence in the year 1920 although its begins in the nineteenth century. Television developed from a combination of the ideas of film theatre and radio. The development of modern television technology began with the invention of the iconscope and the kinescope. These device were the basis for television transmission and reception respectively  and were invented in 1923 by a Russian immigrant in the united states of America, named Vladimir Zworkyin. The iconscope tube used electrons to detect and transmit pictures instantly. His invention transformed TV into electronic medium. Before, this time, television technology depends on the mechanical reproduction of visual images.

THE CHRONICLE ACCOUNT OF TELEVISION IN NIGERIA.

These days, what people think about in every issue, be it politics, religion,      government, fashion, culture is almost exclusively influenced by television.

Akpan ed: 2008) says that:

Television is a new medium that would not         only convey messages but convey it accurately with the audio and visual details of the message.

Ajibade 2010 states that:

No news medium anywhere in the world exists in a vacuum. News media operate within clearly defined environment, which influence the environment and growth of the mass media and are in turn influenced by the mass media. Television broadcasting in Nigeria started with the initiative of the first Western Region Premier, Chief Obafemi Awolowo on October 31, 1959. The legendary Chief Obafemi Awolowo established the Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) in Ibadan. It was the first station in African. The establishment of this Africa's first television station in Ibadan was as a result of the urgent need for the press coupled with the protest borne out of the socio-political disagreement between the leader of opposition, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the central  government.

In 1953, Chief Obafemi Awolowo the leader of the Action Group, who controlled the Western Region, criticized the newly introduced Macpherson constitution for falling short of the expectations of the nationalists.

The then British Governor General Sir, John Macpherson went to Nigeria Broadcasting Service (NBS) and made broadcast in defence of the constitution and accused Awolowo of unfaithfulness. Chief Awolowo wanted NBS to give him equal time to make a rebuttal of the allegation against him but his request was not granted. This event led to the demand for the establishment of separate individual regional broadcasting station. Fortunately, the 1954 Nigeria constitution provided that regional governments could establish broadcasting services.

The Western Region blazed the trail on October 1, 1959 by establishing the first television, the former eastern region followed suit in October 1, 1960 by establishing its own television broadcasting stations. Both Western and Eastern Regions went into partnership with British Overseas Re-Diffusion limited, which constructed and managed their broadcasting systems. They eventually paid off the company.

In 1962, the Northern Region established its own  broadcasting systems.

The regional broadcasting systems were completely independent of the federal government. The only relationship between them was that region needed to get frequency allocation from the federal government. The regionalization of the broadcasting later led to ethnic or tribal loyalties. These modern mass media were used as instruments for the circulation of regional interests, which were sometimes conflicting. Regional integration and awareness were given priority above national integration and unity.

During political crises, regional media became more powerful than NBC.

Moreover, NBC had been  moddled after the BBC as a public service corporation. But for the fact that the state broadcasting system had gone commercial so as to subvert some of its huge expenses. In November 1960, NBC began to accept advertisements when the act of incorporation was amended while during the Murtala/Obasanjo military administration, the NBC was barred from accepting, advertisement and getting involved in commercial broadcasting.

1.5 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TELEVISION.

1.     Television is an audio-visual medium.

Television as an audio-visual comprises of sound and visual. This audio visual character of television makes it a magic medium which allows us to watch the world from our room or homes. This audio-visual also makes television images more memorable.

2.     Television is a mass medium.

It is a mass medium because there are large number of people who cannot read a newspaper but can watch television and anyone with a television receiver can access the information shown on television. This makes it an ideal medium to transmit messages to a large audience.

3.     Television is a lively medium.

It  is a lively medium because the live nature of television allows it to transmit visuals and information almost the same time.

For instance, an earthquake that happened in Indonesia can reach our television set in an hour. This capacity of a medium makes it ideal for transmitting live visuals of news and sports events.

4.     Television is expensive.

It is expensive because most people in rural and urban areas cannot afford to buy a television set.

5.     Television is seen as a domestic medium.

To watch television we don't need to leave our room or go to a cinema to watch films. We can watch television in the comfort of our home with our families. This is more reason why television is regarded as a domestic medium. It provides entertainment and information right inside our homes and it has become part of our everyday lives. Even some families make it a point to watch their favourite serial at a particular time and adjust their dinner timings accordingly.

We have noticed that a newspaper report has an impersonal tone, whereas the television anchor addresses directly.

CHAPTER TWO:

2.0: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Community development in Nigeria is as old as history itself, it could be traced to the early men and his settlement into community which was brought about by the discovery of fire and farming.

Before the coming of colonial masters, Nigeria as a whole has employed commercial efforts as the means for mobilizing community resources with the aim of developing her localities.

However, in as much as development is meant to advance the total well being of the individual and social economic advancement of the nation at large; it must take into account the enlightenment of everybody through education. Since Nigeria's independence in 1960 till date, the vast rural communities of the country are in deportable state, it is an established fact that majority of Nigeria's that lives in rural community are characterized by illiteracy, disease, exploration, neglect and equality being oppressed by the nation they belong to.

According to Anyanwu (1992) that says:

Most of our rural areas suffers from inadequate provision of social infrastructures, employment opportunities, low life expectancy, malnutrition and diseases.

Adelemo 1993: says that:                                                                   

As regard to the level of economic    development, quality of life, access to opportunities, facilities, amenities,                        standard of living, general liability and the gap between the urban and rural communities in Nigeria is very large and noticeable.

Still on the same ground Omosuji (2004) disclosed that:

Rural areas is a geographical location or an         area which is inhabited by a population which is less than five thousand (5,000) people, majority of whom are farmers and whose economy is predominantly agrarian in nature.

However, it is virtually impossible for the poor to acquire the bare essentials of life, let alone contributing meaningfully to the growth of the society within a national setting.

Adebayo Adedeji (2002) says:

By enlightening a man you are developing the community. Therefore community development have to be man's oriented. 

And when a man's needs are met, he strives for other higher needs which brings self actualization. Community as a political entity is always influenced by the politics of who will be the leader within the members based on the level of community development. Most of the leaders of community development are illiterate who may not know how to use modern equipment for development purposes.

2.1:   MASS MEDIA INFUENCE ON THE SOCIETY.

Over the past 50 years, with the advent of the internet, media influence has  grown exponentially with the advance of technology.

Firstly, there were books, newspapers, magazines, photograph, sound recordings, films, radio, television, the new media of internet and now the social media. Today, just about everyone depends on information and  communication to keep their lives moving through daily activities like work, education, healthcare, leisure activities, travelling, personal relationships and other. It is not unusual to wake up check your phone for messages and notifications, look at the newspaper, listen to radio or watch television for news, make phone calls, read emails, chat with friends at work, eat meals with family and make decisions based on the information we gather from mass media and interpersonal media sources. We need to be aware that the values we hold, the beliefs we harbour and the decisions we make are based on our experiences, education and what we know for a fact. We rely on mass media for the current news and facts about what is important and what we should be aware of and we trust the media as an authority for news, information, education and entertainment. The degree of influence depends on the availability and pervasiveness of media. All of the traditional mass media still have great influence over our lives.

Books once were supremely influential because they came first before newspapers magazines, radio and television. Newspapers and magazines became great influencers after they were developed. Sound recordings, films, radio and television are also very influential because we are being entertained and informed through them. As the 20th century closed, television exposed us to untold numbers of images of advertising, marketing, violence, relief, celebrities, drama and much more.

New media and social media distributions channels have appeared in the 21st century and it is been delivered via the world wide web (WWW) across the internet, we are daily influenced by blogs, wikis, social networks and myriad forms of content sharing.

2.2:  COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION.

Community development  seeks to empower individual and groups of people by providing them with the skills they need to effect in their own communities, these skills are often created through the formation of large social groups working for a common agenda. Community developers must understand both how to work with individuals and how to affect communities positions within the context of larger social institutions.

This goal can only be achieved if the people's problems  are made known publicly and it can be achieved by means of communication. In any development there must be communication, this is to say that development is synonymous with communication because communication is the rock of any development. 

In support of the opinion that communication can oil the machines of development Schram (1964) expressed optimism about the role of mass media in community development. ''The mass media can contribute substantially to the amount and kinds of information available to the people of a developing country, they can widen horizons and thus help to build empathy and focus attention on problem  goals of development, they can also raise personal and national aspirations directly''. The need for the use of mass media in quickening community development are re-echoing significantly.      

Akpan (1986) hit on the point when he emphasize on the additional role of mass media that communication media serves as a community link by binding the people together.

That is not necessarily getting the people to agree with everything that is done but suggesting different points of views and solutions to a point. It could be seen from foregoing roles that the mass media provide information and education, personal identity, entertainment and social interaction by giving insight into the circumstances of others as well as by helping with the development of social empathy and this information leads only a few to change behavioural and development is concerned with behavioural change.

In other words, articulated  and proper communication framework aimed at incorporating both the ruralities and their own channel of communication towards development, should be uppermost in the minds of our policy makers. This entails adopting media programming technique that will ensure efficiency and vibrancy.

Communication as we all know in the world of today has developed over a number of centuries. The sophistication and complexity which characterize human communication in the modern world are the result of a very long and sustained effort by human beings to improve on one of the most fundamental aspects of their existence.

Referring to evolution, the MacBride commission (P.27) notes: ''As the world has advanced, the task of communication has become even more complex......In explaining this complexity, MacBride and his colleagues.

MacBride etal (1981: P.3) have this to say;

Throughout history, human beings have sought to improve their ability to receive and assimilate information about their surroundings and at the same time to increase the speed, clarity and variety of their methods for transmission of information. 

In addition to being complex, communication is also very old; in fact, communication is old as humanity. The first human beings to inhabit this earth lived in caves, they looked and behaved more like apes. Even during those pre-historic times, some forms of communication existed. Before the development of language, this communication was mostly through touch (tactile communication) and vocal signs. 

Communication has been defined by different scholars in different ways.

J.A SAMBE in introduction to mass communication practices in Nigeria defines communication as a process whereby information, ideas, feelings, opinions are exchanged between two parties or more.

JAYAWERA defines communication as an interaction process through which persons or group relate to each other and share information, experience and culture.

FISKE defines communication as a social interaction through message. In all these definitions we see that the basic idea is that something is transferred and transmitted from one person to another during the communication process. This  also means that without the people there won't be anything like communication because there must be a transfer or transmit of something between people.

To communicate ''basically means to share ideas, information, opinions or experience between people''. This is what (Hovland etal 1953) mean when they said ''communication is the process by which an individual (the communicator) transmits stimuli (usually verbal) to modify the behaviour (the audience).

Communication simply means to pass on a message or information, formal or informal, to getting a feedback communication.

A philosopher named Thayer shares this common view when he said, '' the way in which we relate to each other communicatively determine the kind of society we are going to have'' whether it is person to person or mediated, formal or informal, verbal or non-verbal, written or unwritten communication is a phenomenon larger than life which connects us instantly to the rest of the world.

2.3: THE PRIVATIZATION OF TELEVISION IN NIGERIA.

Privatization is the process with the government either partly or wholly

transfers equity investment of ownership in a business enterprise to private investors.

Between 1959 and 1992 broadcasting organizations had been part and parcel of public service. The industry was subjected to high degree of control and interference by the government and was used as public service instrument designed to propagate government activities. The broadcasting stations were, therefore committed to giving air time to government agencies which have no commercial value.

This monopoly of government ownership of electronic media was sustained due to the following assumptions. Among them was the argument put forward by a one-time information minister, Prince Tony Momsh, that privatization is likely to affect the unity of the nation as well as our national security.

Again Chief Alex Akinyele, as a one - time information minister said that since Nigerian were not starved of information by reason of the non-existence of such private electronic media, it could not be said to constitute a priority for the common man. He feels rather very strongly that private television and radio is patently dangerous and that it is a costly diversion.

Furthermore, there has also been the supposition that Nigeria is not ripe enough to own private electronic media.

But the advantages of a privatized media outweigh that of government ownership. This ranges from broadcasting service characterized by high degree of aggressiveness, pragmaticism, technical competence to placing top priority on the generation of more revenue maximization of profit and be in a comfortable position to execute its programme. Babaginda deregulated the broadcast industry by granting licence to private individuals and organizations to setup radio  and television broadcasting stations.

2.4:  THE ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.

A medium is the channel through which message travel from the source to the receiver. Mass media include not only the mechanical device that transmit and sometimes store the message e.g television, radio, microphone and printing press etc but also the institution that uses these machines to transmit the message. In other word, when we talk about mass media we are referring to the people, the organization and the technology that goes into producing mass communication.

Research into mass communication effects indicates that the mass media are more powerful at the learning and information levels than at the persuasive level.

As early as the 1940s, the renowned social researcher and media scholar Paul Lazarsfeld noted the power of the mass media to confer status on people and public issues merely by reporting them. Through these functions, when people appear in the media, such appearance enhances the personalities of the people to whom media attention is so given.

The power of the mass media to perform this function has been exploited and sometimes abused by journalists and peoples in different societies or communities.

According to Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary, International Student's Edition says that mass media is designed as information and news such as newspapers, radio, television and magazine to reach and influence large number of people.

It is well known that most raw material is provided for the urban community and despite this, the contributions of the rural community have not received adequate attention which they deserve.

The significance for human life cannot be underestimated. This is true because beyond the physical requirements of food and shelter man needs to communicate with his or her fellow human beings. This urge for communication is a primal one and in our contemporary civilization a necessity for survival. That is to say without communication no society can exist, much less develop and survive.

For the existence as well as the organization of every society communication is a fundamental and vital process. Mass communication deals with messages addressed from one to many persons mediated by elements in mass media such as radio, television, film, newspaper, magazine and books etc.

Mass communication is the technological means of sending information, ideas and opinions from a mass communicator to a complex audience. sIt is also defined as comprising the institutions and techniques by which specialized groups such as broadcasters, film producers and publishers employ technological devices to disseminate symbolic content to large heterogeneous and widely disperse audience.

Mass media must serve essential functions in the society by  accepting and fulfilling certain obligations to the society. These obligations are mainly to met by setting high professional standards of informativeness, accuracy and objectivity. In accepting and applying these obligations the elements of the mass media should be self regulating within the framework of the society. 

2.5:  THE PROBLEMS FACING TELEVISION IN NIGERIA.

Some of the problems facing television in Nigeria includes:

a.     The high cost of television sets.

b.    The poor or complete absence of electricity supply.

c.      The problem of poverty, most people in the urban and rural areas are so poor that they cannot afford to buy radio batteries not to talk of television sets.

CHAPTER THREE:

SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION.

SUMMARY.

In summary three findings were made; Firstly television has certain peculiar qualities that give it unique effectiveness as a medium for achieving community development.

Secondly, the fact that Nigeria people view their government with certain level of instruct would continue to have negative impact on the government sponsored pro-development message and programmes given out through television.

Finally, television with its growing popularity and greater sophistication is seriously challenging radio in its long-standing status as a uniquely effective tool for community development.

RECOMMENDATION:

Based on its findings this long essay, made numbers of recommendation. First, members of each community should be made to realize the importance of communication in the process of community development. In realization, this community members should be made to see the importance of choosing the right words for use in the context so that ideas or opinions on community development as expressed by each community  would be understood and eventually lead to collaborate efforts.

Community leaders should endeavour to engage in clear communication so as to enlist the participation of everybody in the process of community development. 

Community development agents or community leaders should ensure effective circulation of information among different participants by using communication tools and channels appropriately to the group involved.

Secondly, government should be alive to its responsibility by ensuring that there is an adequate provision of amenities in the community to stand them in better position to interact and participate actively in the communication process that concerns them.

Radio should also be brought in to supporting television in community development and it should in this regard adapt to demands or community journalism.

Finally, Government should create a program to eradicate illiteracy in rural communities and should also tackle the problem of poor or complete absence of electricity supply. They should reduce the cost of television set so that people in the grass root areas can afford to buy television.

CONCLUSION:

This long essay has investigated the impact of television in community development. The long essay through its findings affirmed the unrivalled effectiveness of television as an agent of community development. It equally highlighted the clear relevance of radio as a means of alter nature and partner to television in development journalism.

REFERENCES:

Adebayo A. (2002)

Adelemo (1993)

Ajibade O. (2010). Some socio-political and economic factors that shaped the                           history of Nigerian Newspapers. (1932-2012) p. 248 Lagos Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos.

Akpan Floyes (Prof)  A seminar paper titled "journalism and community development" 1986.

Anyanwu (1992)

Hovaland etal (1953)

Livesey (2011)

MacBride, S. (1981) Many Voices, One World (Nigeria Edition). Ibadan University Press.

Okunna C.S (1990) Introduction to Mass Communication New Generation Books Enugu.

Omosuji (2004)

Schram Wilbur (1964) mass media and national development.

World Wide Web. W.W.W. com