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. 

The influence of Mortal Kombat, a video game franchise, on young teenagers of the Twientieth century through its excessive, bloody violence and Fatalities

• According to an interview with one of the producers of Mortal Kombat, Tobias, by gamelogical, it was stated that Mortal Kombat influenced game graphics and paved way for the common gaming systems we have today.
• Studies show that violent content video games such as Mortal Kombat and Doom have a smaller effects on aggression with adolescents than the violence on television. 
• As of 2013, Mortal Kombat was the most successful American-made franchise in the fighting game genre. 

As a child, I was a very intense gamer. Gaming helped me frame my mind more and it helped me represent myself and take out my anger by doing something productive. My favorite video game to play as a child was Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat is a video game franchise originally created by Midway Games' Chicago in 1992. Mortal Kombat was an enormous success and was acclaimed by most critics, receiving many annual awards.The Mortal Kombat game is a series with 20 sequels after the first one was created. The development of mortal Kombat began in 1991 with only four guys, Ed Boon, John Tobias, John Vogel, and Dan Forden. The creators of the mortal kombat game franchise were originally approached to create a video game adaptation of the 1992 film, Universal Soldier. The producers of the game were then motivated to create a more edgy and serious video game after the project with the film industry. According to John Tobias, the inspirations for the game's story came from the Chinese mythology and some of the rumored events about the Shaolin monks. Mortal Kombat had a positive impact on my life contrary to the beliefs that violent games have a negative impact on the lives of adolescents. Mortal Kombat was so distinct from every other violent video games I have encountered because it was so unique. I liked Mortal Kombat so much because I loved the competition and the rush I experienced after winning a game.

The gaming systems in our society today used Mortal Kombat as a foundation for the gaming graphics and mortal kombat was used to pave way for other game systems.

According to an interview with one of the producers of the Mortal Kombat game, John Tobias, pushing the boundaries in terms of the graphics used in creating the mortal kombat game paved way for the graphics and technology that exist in gaming today. According to Tobias, as technology improved, the processing power for enabled realistic 3D graphics to take over in the gaming industry and Tobias explained that digitized graphics had a problem due to it's limitations in storage capacity. The graphics in mortal kombat improved drastically from when it was created in 1992 until now. The game was a foundation for other game producers because it helped other game producers visualize the graphics needed to improved gaming.

I really liked video games like FIFA and call of duty but as a child I was especially interested in Mortal Kombat but it was so different and unique from other games that I had played. The embedded video is a clip of a fight from the Mortal Kombat 4 and the graphics here is exceptional for the time period in which this version of the game was released.


Studies show that the influence of violent video games such as Mortal Kombat and Doom does not have a significant influence on the violence and aggression of adolescents

According to a study by John L. Sherry,it was proved that violent video games such as Mortal Kombat does not have as much influence on the aggression of adolescents as people like parents tend to think. according to the study, "results suggest that there is a smaller effect of violent video games on aggression than has been found with television violence on aggression." This means that the violence seen on the television has more influence on the aggressive behaviors and aggression of the adolescents than violent video games. This result would be due to the fact that the violent video games are not reality. rather the violence seen on television are more realistic and most of them actually occur. When interviewed by gameological on the influence of the violence in Mortal Kombat, John Tobias stated that the game was originally created for the typical college-level student. He also stated that the game was not intended for the younger home game players. He also stated that the inception of Mortal Kombat was not about the violence and they were concerned about the core of the product rather than the surface level violence. It has also been argued that violent video games like Mortal Kombat are the cause of school shootings and increase in bullying but video game advocates have found no causal relationship between video game and social violence. Video game advocates also argue that violent video games may reduce violence by serving as a substitute for rough play by providing a safe outlet for aggressive and angry feelings. Violent video games do not cause real-world violence rather they have positive effects on adolescents by providing them with a way to express their feelings through competition.

Mortal Kombat was one of the most successful American-made franchise in the fighting game genre as of 2013

The sales of Mortal Kombat sky rocketed after its release. more people began to purchase the game due to it's uniqueness. Mortal kombat II was an even bigger success and it proved to be a commercial success and a cultural phenomenon. An unprecedented number of more than 2.5 million copies were shipped to be distributed, with the best opening-week sales in video game history at that point. Mortal Kombat was one of the best selling games which was one of the reasons why I loved the game so much.

The video game industry is a very large industry and video games sold strongly in the 2000s. It is obvious that the video game industry has had a significant impact in the society and video games has help people to feel more connected and stimulated. I personally preferred Mortal Kombat because although it was violent, it helped stimulated my mind and it served as a relaxation technique for me. It also served as an interactive medium for me and I had control over he actions of my character. The video game industry has entertained the wide market and it has connected billions of people together through user interface.

Answer to question number 6 in the textbook

27 People were Slaughtered at 2 separate Bus Stations in Kano and Yobe State, Nigeria by Unknown Suicide Bombers on Tuesday February 24th, 2015

According to the local police in the state of Kano, Nigeria, 10 people were killed in a suicide bombing just a few hours after the same incident which killed 17 people occurred in Yobe state. It was speculated that the unknown suicide bombers could have been the extreme Islamist group, Boko Haram due to the numerous attacks the Islamist group have carried out in Kano state previously.

This effects of the attacks and bombing on Kano state has been very catastrophic. This photograph depicts the devastating result of the suicide bombings and attacks on Kano state. The photograph portrays the tragedy through the use of secondary elements like the police men standing in the back and also the items on the ground. The scorched and blackened bus, which is the primary element, is off center, and it is supported by the burned car and also by the ashes and trash on the floor. The remains of the bus station clearly shows how devastating the explosion was. The elements in this photograph portray the tragic event of a bombing attack without any explanatory text needed. Another element that would also contribute to this photo would be the expressions and body language of the police officers hovering around the crime scene. For example, the officer in all black has his arms crossed and his head tilted, which represents sadness and frustration. This photograph goes beyond just a "show and tell" shot because it genuinely explains the tragic event without needing any text.

About me

Hi there, I'm Isioma!

I'm currently a sophomore mathematics major and i hope to add a second major in Economics. I was born and raised in Nigeria and I speak 2 languages. I moved to the U.S in 2009 and I love it here to some extent. mathematics and the economy in countries like Nigeria are my educational interests and I absolutely love my tv shows more than anything well besides my education. I'm on an African dance team here at UMD and I also love soccer and tennis. Plantains are my absolute favorite thing to eat in this world.I hope to one day change the economy and government in Nigeria.