An Assessment of Massmedia and the Management of Human Rights in Nigeria
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study sets out to see what extent the mass media had been able to manage human right abuses in Nigeria.
- It is aimed at putting in the right perspective the order of management of human right abuses by the Mass Media.
- This study sets out to know whether religious and ethical consideration are responsible for how the Mass Media in Nigeria Manage Cases of human right abuses.
- Finally, it is to find out whether ownership factor plays any role in the Management of human right abuses in Nigeria.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
What are the real constraints on press freedom?
Although the media could be seen to be entitled to the right to freedom of expression, in reality, this right is not totally free. Becker and Vlad (2009) have noted some factors which pose as threats to press freedom including censorship and political instability. In the case of censorship by government, authoritarian regimes characteristically tighten their control in monitoring media contents. Contents which question their policies are often removed. Media outfits may either be owned or subsidized by the government whereby the government reads or views the contents before they are published. In some cases, they are involved in the appointment of the editorial board of media organisations. For instance, in China, the communist party owns the media which serve as its „mouthpiece‟. Only positive stories are free to be published (Hong, 2008). As a result of the tight control of the media, some journalists lost their jobs (Branigan, 2011). In self-censorship, media outfits on their own decide to publish or broadcast their news stories depending on how the contents might impact on their survival as organisations. Political instability13 and economic consideration14 can limit the exercise of press freedom. The concentration of media into groups as a result of the influence of oligarchs whose economic and political interests displace those of the public and the society at large also impinges on press freedom. The application of the legal system can deter the media from exercising their freedom fearlessly. Unlawful practices meant to be uncovered through investigative journalism could be hindered by privacy laws; however, these should not be used to displace important developments which are beneficial to the public interest (Human Rights Education, no date). It is still problematic to determine what the public interest is, or to determine exactly what the public wants. Laws on libel and defamation which have legal consequences may also discourage them from doing so. Any constraint on press freedom is a constraint on human rights, except in cases where such freedom might violate human rights. According to Cohen-Almagor, „the values of not harming others and respecting others should play a prominent part in the consideration of journalists‟ (2001: xvii).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to an assessment of mass media and the management of human rights in Nigeria
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA
One hundred and sixty (160) questionnaires were distributed and one hundred and forty (133) were returned. This figure was the sample size. Out of the one hundred and thirty-three, only one hundred and twenty (120) were properly responded to. As a result, the researcher used one hundred and twenty for this study when more than 50% of the respondents agree to the questions, the answer is taken as valid for the purpose of this study. In analyzing the data, the approach that will be adopted is to find out the percentage and positive and negative answers to the question posed.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was on an assessment of mass media and the management of human rights in Nigeria. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenge of mass media and the management of human rights in Nigeria
Summary
This study was on assessment of mass media and the management of human rights in Nigeria. Five objectives were raised which included: It is aimed at putting in the right perspective the order of management of human right abuses by the Mass Media, this study sets out to know whether religious and ethical consideration are responsible for how the Mass Media in Nigeria Manage Cases of human right abuses and finally, it is to find out whether ownership factor plays any role in the Management of human right abuses in Nigeria.. In line with these objectives, five research questions were formulated and were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staffs o selected mass media in Uyo. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made managers, editors, production managers and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The media have been shown to play a dual role – as a promoter of human rights in view of their coverage of human rights abuses, and, as abuser of human rights as shown in the Rwandan genocide. Should the media then stay put in the promotion of human rights in view of the power they wield, or, should they stay out of human rights because of their occasional violations of human rights? But it seems the positive role of the media far outweighs any violations which might have marred their role. As indicated by the action of the media in producing a documentary on child labour in Nigeria, the media will continue to be important in human rights promotion because they are needed to enthrone and nurture democracy which is in turn needed to guarantee respect for human rights. The media, in addition, create awareness on human rights and human rights abuses to help individuals whose rights have been violated to seek redress.
Recommendation
Media institutions should be interested in human rights promotion by formulating their policies to make them conducive for human rights coverage. They should be prepared to invest in human rights programmes and also encourage their staff to get acquainted with the various human rights instruments to be able to effectively engage in human rights reporting. They should also devise feasible techniques for reporting human rights issues to make them receptive to media audience just as journalists did by using chocolate to convince chocolate consumers that they have the duty to promote human rights by paying for a fair price for the products to help in stopping child labour
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