Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

This paper discusses the trajectory of the Nigerian news media in the entrenchment and expansion of the frontiers of democracy in Nigeria. The discussion begins on the premise that the mass media in Nigeria like their counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa have been playing a significant role in the development and the strengthening of democratic governance in the country. It is however observed that the functions of the mass media have been affected by other arms of the polity, especially the executive whose policies and programmes have an over-arching bearing on the behaviour of the media. Drawing on thematic interpretations of the happenings in the Nigerian polity as documented in texts focussing on the symbiotic relationship between mass media and politics since the pre-colonial days to date, the paper concludes that in Nigeria’s democratic processes, the mass media are not only at the centre of the events but also a major player in their turn out.