Amodu, L. O. and Yartey, Darlynton and Ekanem, Thelma and Oresanya, Toluwalope and Afolabi, Oluwafolafunmi (2016) Assessing the Media’s Watchdog Role in Ensuring the Accountability of the Nigerian Government. In: 3rd International Conference On African Development Issues (CU-ICADI), May 9- May 11 2016, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria.
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Abstract
This paper attempts to assess the performance of the media in their watchdog role as it relates to ensuring the accountability of the government to the electorate in Nigeria. The 21st century media are saddled with the responsibility of providing the citizenry with substantial information to help them make informed decisions. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) synergized with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have aided freer flow of information from the media to the electorate. To ensure a successful democratic governance and sustainable development, the media have the responsibility to communicate the actions of the government to its citizens and relaying the feedback to the government through opinion pages and public affairs programmes, among others. Since inhibitions on the path of freedom of information have been removed with the hopes to enhance media capacity to freely divulge information, this paper, therefore, examines how well the media are living up to the expectation of grooming an informed populace. It explores how well informed the citizens are about their rights to demand greater accountability from the government, as a result of media messages. It also investigates the citizens’ views about the media’s fairness in reporting government activities. The study would employ the survey research method. The social responsibility theory and the development media theory will be the axles around which the study will revolve. Suggestions will be made on how the media can further enlighten the citizens to become active participants in national development
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | media, good governance, watchdog, accountability. |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Mrs Hannah Akinwumi |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Jun 2017 08:56 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Jun 2017 08:56 |
| URI: | http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/8214 |
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