CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Work
The emergence, growth and development of Information Communication Technology (ICT) all over the globe have improved communication a great deal. Of course, communication has a long history as the existence of man but the invention of ICT has brought information to the finger tip of people. One cannot dispute the fact that the emergence of computers and mobile phones coupled with the corresponding internet facilities has aided the development and the way people communicate with each other.
Throughout history, telecommunications have had transforming effects on the people who use them and the societies in which they live. The story of the infrastructure is the story of how great civilizations create the means to communicate at a distance- the essence of telecommunication. Efforts to overcome the limitations of the early phones led to inventions that make telecommunications possible today (Adamu, 2011).
Accordingly, the telephone, since its invention, has always been a useful tool for the journalist. Even in the days, when it could only be found in offices or in a few elite homes, it was an important feature of any newsroom, which journalists used to not only file and receive stories, but also to get in touch with contacts, or to get tips from contacts who would phone in to the newsroom with important news tips or breaking stories (Ganiyu & Akinreti, 2011).
However, the advent of mobile phone has revolutionized not only how journalists use the telephone to get news but also how media audiences receive or access the news. Today, the mobile phone is a multimedia tool used for multimedia and online journalism. It is no longer a simple mechanism for sending and receiving voice messages as the fixed landline. Just as you can receive and send voice, text and data on mobile phones, so also has it uses changed in journalism.
These changes are important as perceived in some statements like one made by Vartan Gregorian, the President Carnegie Corporation of New York. He discerns that journalism has come to a crossroad, a time in history when it cannot continue as it was. There are too many new ways now that news is delivered and so much information being communicated (Brown, 2006). Thus, there is an aching need for journalists to use new approaches to news distribution in Nigeria, especially to students. SMS are believed to be one of these new approaches.
Many electorates have been known to break away from conventional practices in society and SMS breaks away from the conventional means of news transmission available in Nigeria today. However, an outright assumption that they will embrace SMS as a new channel of political news dissemination will be erroneous. Hence, this work looked at the acceptability of this new phenomenon by students.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
According to Brown (2006), the practice of journalism is changing in ways that challenge the historic function of the news business and raise fundamental questions about the practice of the profession in future. He maintains:
There is a dramatic revolution taking place in the news business today and it isn’t about TV anchor changes, scandals at storied newspapers or embedded reporters. The future course of news, including the basic assumptions about how we consume news and information and make decisions in a democratic society are being altered by technology –perceptive young people no longer wedded to traditional news outlets or even accessing news in traditional ways (Brown 2006, pp.42-55)
In line with Brown’s statement, Mindich (2004) explained that, what has changed is that young people globally no longer see a need to keep up with the news. In short, the future of the news industry is threatened by the movement of young people away from traditional sources of news. This is evident in a survey of youths launched by Carnegie Corporation of New York and carried out by Frank N. Magid Associates in May 2004. The goal was to assess where youths get their news today and how they think they will access news in the future. One of the major findings of the survey of news-related habits of the demographic age of youths is that there are fundamental changes driven by technology and market forces. Data indicate that this segment of the population intends to continue to increase their use of the internet/ new media as a primary news source in the coming years. Newspapers and national television broadcast news fared poorly with the youths (Connell, 2006). Though the scenarios above might seem dated, there are strong indications this trend is still the same today.
The survey above is just one out of many examples of research that show the seeming lack of interest in traditional news sources by youths. Hence, given this state of affairs with the negative consequences on political awareness of youths and widespread availability of GSM, a research on the viability of text messaging as a source of news to electorates in Ilorin metropolis is important. This necessitates a work of this nature. This work therefore seeks to know the acceptability of SMS for news dissemination to students, as well as to investigate the extent of interest if there is still any in traditional mass media in this part of the world because these group of people who are also the leaders of tomorrow need to be aware of political matters in the country. Students were chosen for this work because they are known to accept new technological ideas in society quickly and GSM SMS are one of such. In agreement, Elvis (2009) asserts that mobile phone SMS service has developed rapidly since its introduction and is very popular throughout the world, especially amongst young urbanites as it allows for voiceless communication, useful in noisy environments.
These young urbanites are mostly students. Thus, at the end of the work, it is expected that the acceptability of SMS as a political news channel by electorates will be determined.
1.4 Research Questions
a. What are the levels of access to mobile phones by electorates in Ilorin metropolis during the 2015 general election?
b. What are the sources of news for electorates in Ilorin metropolis during the 2015 general election?
c. What is the attitude of electorates to traditional mass media sources of news?
d. Are electorates aware of GSM SMS as a channel of news during the 2015 general election?
e. What is the opinion of electorates on use of SMS as a channel of political news during the 2015 general election?
1.5Objectives of the Work
The study has the following objectives:
a. To find out the use of SMS as a news channel to electorates in Ilorin metropolis during the 2015 general election
b. To determine the acceptability of SMS as a political news channel to electorates in Ilorin metropolis during the 2015 general election
c. To ascertain if electorates in Ilorin metropolis have access to mobile phones.
d. To know the opinion of electorates in Ilorin metropolis on news dissemination through SMS during the 2015 general election
e. To examine the uses of SMS as a channel of political news to electorates in Ilorin metropolis during the 2015 general election
1.6 Significance of the Work
Many books like this focuses on how journalists can explore the use of GSM for news dissemination. However, this work looks at its uses from the perspective of the audience, with particular reference to electorates in Ilorin metropolis. Hence, this book will be of importance to media organizations by enabling practitioners know if SMS will be useful tools for political news dissemination to students and if so, they could possibly think of how these uses can best be explored.
Also the book is of importance because, like every academic work, it seeks to add to existing body of knowledge by providing relevant literature for researchers who may want to carry out related studies and also showing data on receivers’ (youths) perspectives of this form of news dissemination.
1.7 Delimitation/Scope of the Work
This work covered 300 selected electorates in Ilorin metropolis. In addition, it was limited to only the text message service offered by GSM.