Tuesday, May 12, 2015

The Impact of Traditional Media (Such as Television) on Nigerian Democracy through the Presidential Electoral Process and How The Media Indirectly Affects the Nigerian Educational System

The media plays an indispensable role in the proper functioning of a democracy. The media's functions within the contexts of elections would be described as a "watchdog" role. A watchdog role means the media uses unfettered scrutiny and discussion of the successes and failures of candidates, governments, and electoral management bodies to inform the public of how effectively they performed to help hold the electoral candidates accountable for their actions. The media also plays an important role during the elections by covering every detail of the elections like they did covering the 2015 elections. In a world dominated by mass communications, it is increasingly the media that determines the political agenda, even in less technologically developed countries. The media plays a major role in raising awareness of various issues in any society.The media also has an extremely significant impact on the public's views and ways of thinking by shaping, and sometimes manipulating, the public's opinions. The task of the media during elections is to enlighten and educate the public and act as a neutral, objective platform for the free debates of all points of view. 

The role of media especially television media as campaign platform on the national controversies related to the electoral process. 

Presidential candidates, and the parties supporting the candidates, use mass media outlets like television for campaigning through political advertising, presidential debates, and sponsored direct access spots. 
Ph.D. Student James Gachau, Philip Merrill College of Journalism,  provides insight into some ways in which the presidential elections can be supported by using traditional media as a campaign platform in the video below
Gachau explains that the electoral candidates can influence the news by the campaign messages the media conveys as a result of the platform and the policies the candidates proposes as a plan of action after the election. This explanation is an example of the importance of media during the election process because the media creates a platform for the candidates to express their ideas and plans. Candidates and parties use media like television to enhance their opinions and chances of winning the elections through political advertising. Political advertising on television informs the voters of the intentions of the electoral candidates. Candidates and parties also provide their electorate information regarding their political agendas and proposed plans through the media. The first role of the media as a campaign platform is to create a level playing field which consists of equal access to broadcasters and other state resources. 

The traditional media shapes the coverage of the election by subverting it thereby influencing democracy. 

Traditional media can also influence the elections by how the news received by the voters is framed. Traditional media has a huge influence on the public by helping the public to determine their role in the society. Through the  news coverage and details of the electoral candidates, the voters would then use that information to decide on their candidate of choice. Traditional media can influence the decisions of the media based on how the news coverage like the political advertisements are framed.
An expert, Professor Christopher Hanson,  Philip Merrill College of Journalism, whose research is based on the way in which news content is shaped,  explains some ways in which the presidential elections can be subverted by the traditional media in the video below:
The media could also convey incorrect information about the political candidates due to corruption. Corruption is recurrent in Nigeria and the media is not immune to this, leading to misrepresentations of the candidates. Misrepresentation of a particular candidate can lead the voters to select the unsuitable candidate for the position. If the unqualified or more corrupt candidate is chosen for the position, the democracy of Nigeria would be impacted and the functional educational policies of Nigeria would also be skewed. 

The Election process Indirectly Affects the Educational System in Nigeria Through the Policies of the elected Government Official. 

Both the sociopolitical and the economic development of Nigeria and any other country is dependent on the quality and level of education received by the population, especially the youths. Studies show that Education in Nigeria is not headed in the right direction due to the political policies of the elected political leader. The elected candidates decide on the amount of money allocated specifically to education and to the educational programs used. The media plays a role in the educational system by influencing the decisions of the voters on the candidate to choose. If the media is corrupted and bribed by the presidential candidate to frame the political advertisement in a way that gives that candidate an advantage, then the government system would be corrupt when that candidate is elected. Most of the educational programs in Nigeria have served as a way to transfer money to the political leaders, which is the reason why the educational system is in turmoil. Nigeria's educational institutions are in dire need of attention and help. In order to improve the educational systems, the federal government would have to employ more qualified teachers and purchase more effective school suppliers.

In order to do so, more money would have to be allocated to the Nigerian education compared to the amount of money that have been allocated to education in the past. The graph on the left shows how much money by percentage was allocated specifically to education from the year 1995-2001. This shows that the government officials do not place their budgetary focus on the educational systems, thereby causing the terrible quality and level of education in Nigeria. Corruption in the government and in the media is the main contribution to the depletion in the quality in the Nigerian educational institutions. The media has a huge role in the effective operations of a country, although it might not be very obvious. In this case, if the media is corrupted and influences the decisions of the voters wrongly, then the corrupted government officials chosen would then embezzle the money meant for other resources such as education.

The electoral candidates influences how the media frames the coverage of the elections through their personalities and policy operations.

The presidential candidates during the elections in Nigeria would have an influence on the framing of the news through their personalities, political policies, and the amount of funding they have. A presidential candidate with a large amount of funding would have a much better coverage due to the fact that the person would be able to pay the media an enormous amount of money to cover their political campaign and the candidate would also pay the media to convey their political policies and intentions to the public.
Professor Hanson explains how the presidential candidates can influence the way in which the media frames the news coverage.
The presidential candidates in Nigeria have an influence in framing the news coverage because they feel that the media has the greatest influence on the decisions of the voters. Influencing the news through factors like money would help favor the candidates and it will set them apart from other less funded candidates. Traditional media could have a positive and a negative influence on the Nigerian elections. Without corruption in the media, there will be an effective order of operations and the roles would be carried out efficiently, thereby influencing the decisions of the voters positively. The role of the media during the elections can greatly affect the democracy and education of Nigeria due to the appropriate candidate chosen for the position. Nigeria is a country with a growing democracy and the media can affect the way in which the democracy grows by influencing the decisions of the public. 



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