The ambition of this project is to find out if the media is an agent for democratization using newspaper and other news materials as a case study.
The researcher in the course of this research used the survey method which requires the assigning of coding sheet (questionnaire) to each different newspaper publish daily from January to September 2006.
Data has been collected using coding sheet and personal observations presented and analyzed in percentages. From the analysis it was found that the media is an agent for democratization.
Therefore in other to improve the democratic state of Nigeria the researcher made recommendations to facilitate the media.
The media as an agent for Democratization is so vital just as air is important to the men. As the fourth estate of the realm in the society, the media acts as the watchdog, the of the society.
It is believed that after the executive the legislature and the judiciary then come the media. According to their respective functions, while the executive runs the day to day affairs of the state, the legislature make laws the judiciary interprets s well as adjudicates in disputes, then the media on other hand watch over the activities of these three organs and report to the general public.
However, just as dogs are kept to guard against an intruder or invader, same way the media are there to watch over the activates of the government in relation to the needs of the citizens and society in general and if at any time the need or right of the people are violated the media bark so as to protect these interest. This is why the media are seen as the crusader for social justice, public morality, civil liberties and human progress.
According to Wiliam Ruler (1978: page 109)
The media serve as the bulwark
Of the citizen against tyranny of
The majority the intoxication of
power the grinding operation of
authority and the mindless
expectation of the underprivileged
by privileged specifically the mass
media particularly. The print media
have a clear and unshirnkable
duty of criticize and appraise the occurrences
of the monument
Watchdog does not only reflect public opinion but guides and leads it. Surely, the media is an agent for democratization. Not only does it help ushering in democracy, they play a crucial role in nurturing and sustaining it.
In addition, the role of the media in democratic setting cannot be over emphasize, it provides the much needed communication bridges that faster society together and ensure an enduring democracy by averting those seeds of discord as suspicion, distrust and confusion, through its function of gathering and disseminating information. In doing this. It’s surveillance on the environment.
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