READERS PERCEPTION VIEW ON BUHARI’S ELECTION ON VANGUARD NEWSPAPER WEBSITE

READERS PERCEPTION VIEW ON BUHARI’S ELECTION ON VANGUARD NEWSPAPER WEBSITE

ABSTRACT

This study analysed comments posted by readers on Vanguard newspaper website relating to news reports of President Muhammadu Buhari‘s election victory and whether such comments are positive, neutral or negative. It also examined if readers used appropriately or abused the comments section of Vanguard newspaper website as provided to serve as a feedback mechanism between the news medium and the public. The study was guided by research questions which bothered on what the connotations expressed by readers indicate about their understanding of news reports on the election of Buhari in relation to the way they used the comments section of Vanguard newspaper website. The reception theory was used to explain how readers receive media reports and how such content of the reports make them to post positive, neutral or negative comments on any media content related to Buhari‘s election based on individual differences and preferences. The theory is concerned with the effect a text has on its readers and how such readers behave after assessing its content. The research method used in this study is content analysis and the duration of the research is from March to June, 2015. The population consisted of 1,135 reports published in 122 online editions of Vanguard newspaper between March to June, 2015. The study used simple random sampling method to select 20% of the population; this resulted to 227 news stories which were coded under the following units of analysis: straight news, feature article, column, opinion and editorial. Also, various content categories were derived and analysed by four coders using established criteria, including the four most frequently used keywords and phrases used by readers to describe Muhammadu Buhari which were purposively sampled from the 14,934 comments attached to the 227 news stories. The collated data was quantitatively and qualitatively presented and analysed using tables. The findings of the study indicate the following: that majority of the comments, keywords and phrases posted by readers on news reports related to Muhammadu Buhari on Vanguard website had negative connotations. This suggests that the comments section is misused as a feedback platform; the comments section was dominated by readers who did not react to issues in the news as presented but used the platform for their own motives regardless of whether or not their comments will cause division or even scare away other readers from the website; the level of tolerance among readers of Vanguard newspaper website is extremely low especially considering Nigeria‘s multi-ethnic/religious society and if left un-moderated, commenters on newspaper websites like this can resort to use of injurious words and phrases that could spark crises in the country; and that despite its abuses, the comments section of newspaper websites remains a veritable tool for free speech, feedback, sharing of ideas, posting eyewitness pictures or videos and providing more facts on news items. Therefore, the study recommended that despite the poor finances of most media outfits in Nigeria, Vanguard and other newspaper websites should consider the use of moderators that should review comments, not in a censorship format, before they are posted on their platforms or else they risk losing readers and potential visitors thereby affecting their online traffic and advertisements. Such moderators should edit comments that do not promote national unity or morality by prohibiting the posting of comments with abusive, ethno-religious, pornographic or foul language by readers.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

 

This study examined readers reaction to published news reports through their views posted on the comments section of newspaper websites. The introduction of online news publishing by many newspapers have led to citizens across the globe reacting to such news content with immediacy on the Internet via websites and blogs. These reactions often come in many forms such as correction, commendation, confrontation, abuse, displeasure, division, anger, explanation and advertising. These forms of reactions often led to a better understanding of the news item in focus or a denunciation of the report as false, public relations (PR) or biased item. (Harper, 2010)

Most online newspaper readers are those in their late teens and mid-forties and several studies have established facts that the most conspicuous users of the Internet are adolescents and undergraduates. (Kausar & Zobia, 2006). Reading (online or offline) has often been an interesting phenomenon across all ages and generations and serves as a vehicle for assimilation of knowledge whether in form of information, ideas or culture. Generally, reading enlightens the mind, makes the intellect sharper and makes an individual to travel far without any motion. Reading has been accepted as an interactive process, a communication process, an active process and a meaning- induced process. (Braunger & Lewis, 2006)

Reading is not just about printed matter but also about the ability to interpret anything that is intended to convey a message so as to facilitate communication. Thus, online reading of published news content differs a bit from printed (offline) matter in the sense that the former is device-based through a computer, smartphone, tablet or other micro-devices while the latter is presented in scrolls, books, slates or other hard surface. Reading and commenting in digital formats have been made easier with Web

2.0 tools that allow for note-taking, highlighting, editing of comments or formatting while reading online materials such as the type of news content presented on newspaper websites.

Okonofua (2012) states that Nigeria has a vibrant newspaper industry with a number of active print outlets, and that as at 2004, there were about 95 reasonably regular newspapers: 20 national dailies, 23 national weeklies, 10 regional dailies, 19 regional weeklies, 6 provincial or local dailies, and 17 provincial or local weeklies. As at 2012, the number had almost doubled with Ayankunbi (2012) positing that the total number of newspapers in the country is presently within the neighbourhood of 150. Majority of these newspapers now have websites where they post their news content or post breaking news as it breaks.

The print media is very agile in the transformation process to serve new readers who feed on its content via the Internet due to either the lack of their physical presence in Nigeria to purchase a hard copy of the newspaper or who prefer reading the papers online in a digital format. Most newspapers in Nigeria now have an online presence and have gradually been placing about two-third of their daily content for their online readers who although do not purchase a copy but serve as traffic flow from which marketers of the medium often use to attract advertisers to the website.

When the Internet got a foothold in Nigeria, most publishers were initially weary and jittery as they felt it would take a sizeable portion of the reading public. Gradually, most publishing companies embraced the medium half-heartedly, placing only headlines and lead-ins for their online readers. But over time for example, Punch

 

newspaper started publishing full content on its website and shortly after asked readers to subscribe to it if they hope to read the full content of the news story. The online readers were asked to open an online account with the website after paying a subscription fee at a designated bank. (Mobilityng, 2009)

The infiltration of the Internet by online-based discussion platforms, citizen forums and e-newspapers like Sahara Reporters via www.saharareporters.com, Nigerian Village Square via: www.nigerianvillagesquare.com, Premium Times www.premiumtimesng.com, The Cable via www.thecableng.com, The Will via www.thewillnigeria.com and Nairaland via www.nairaland.com among others who continued to offer free news services and attracting more online advertising revenue through their readers later made Punch and other mainstream newspapers to dump the Financial Times of London (via www.ft.com) model for subscription-based online newspaper services. (Giwa, 2006)

The Punch experience made most mainstream newspaper websites to open up their portals freely without any surcharge and this has gradually returned traffic to the newspaper websites. A cursory observation shows that some of the popular mainstream newspaper websites in Nigeria as at 2016 are: www.vanguardngr.com, www.punchng.com,                               www.dailytrust.com,                                                     www.leadership.ng, www.thenationonlineng.net, www.thisdaylive.com, www.pmnewsnigeria.com among others.

Driven by user-friendly Internet applications and better connectivity, the introduction of Web 2.0 tools have led to an explosion and expansion of the use of the Internet. Web 2.0 tools now allow readers of a website not only to read but also to make comments, post pictures/audio/video‘s, blog and form communities openly or anonymously with other readers thereby making reading the news an interesting phenomena. This has made reading fun and is gradually increasing literacy levels across the globe. (Fernando, 2013)

The downside of online interaction however seems to be that some people who comment on the Internet and especially on the comments section of newspaper websites often use their anonymity to aggressively twist the news, commend, abuse others, engage in defamation of character or throw-up divisive issues for debate using religious, ethnic political or tribal sentiments thereby leading to members abusing themselves.

Statement of the Research Problem 

Commenting on news items posted on newspaper websites has grown in recent times due to the availability of web 2.0 tools that have made the Internet more interactive and user-friendly. Mainstream newspapers have embraced technological innovations over the years that now allow them to present news content in an interactive format using web 2.0 tools to create attached platforms for commentary, posting of pictures/videos, blogging, download of public reports/documents and job services among others.

Readers reaction to published reports on newspaper websites have however taken a new dimension in recent times. A cursory view of comments posted on Nigerian newspaper websites often shows sharp division among readers. They abuse or commend newsmakers who are the subject of published reports, cast aspersion on the journalists or news medium, post outrageous comments with ethno-religious sentiments meant to spark debates under an atmosphere of high tension or post comments with sexual and pornographic implications.

There are also hate speeches, use of swear-words, racist remarks and other forms of distortions such as illegal advertising by small business owners and illegal advertisements by the popular conmen known as 419. Some also advertise the sale of imported used cars at ridiculous prices allegedly as a result of custom auctions among many others who write provoking jargons in capital letters.

The increasing rate of abusive and antagonistic reactions or unprofessional adverts posted on the comments section of such websites by other readers have resulted in disillusioned online readers. Many perceive that there is misuse of the comments section of newspaper websites through postings that are not meant for that section thus derailing conversations there. (Brodesser-Akner, 2010).

Thus, this study assessed whether or not comments posted by readers of Vanguard newspaper website on published reports of Buhari‘s election are positive, neutral or negative especially on such news items that generated heated debate on the website. It also examined whether or not readers abused the comments section of Vanguard newspaper website as provided to give them a voice and serve as a feedback mechanism between the news medium and the public.

Aim and Objectives

The aim of the research is to understand website readers‘ comments on news content and how their connotations lead to use or misuse of the comments section of newspaper websites. In this case, the study examined online readers who reacted to news reports on the election of Muhammadu Buhari as President of Nigeria as published on Vanguard newspaper website between March and June 2015.

The objectives of this study are as follows:

  1. To analyse readers comments on Buhari’s 2015 election news reports on Vanguard newspaper website and whether such comments were positive, neutral or
  2. To understand how the opinions expressed by readers lead to their understanding of news reports related to Buhari’s election on Vanguard newspaper
  3. To examine readers use or misuse of the comments section while reacting to published reports of Buhari’s 2015 election on Vanguard

Research Questions 

This research was guided by the following questions:

 

  1. What are the comments expressed by readers to reports of Buhari‘s 2015 election victory on Vanguard newspaper website?
  2. What do the comments expressed by readers on Vanguard newspaper website indicate about their understanding of news reports on the election of Buhari?
  3. How have readers comments reflected a use or misuse of the comments section of Vanguard newspaper website while reacting to news reports of Buhari’s 2015 election?

Significance of the Study

The gap this study aims to fill is the near-absence of research on the online reading habits and connotations of readers who comment on newspaper websites in Nigeria. Since the introduction of Web 2.0-enabled websites in Nigeria, many citizens have embraced the innovation of attaching comments section to such websites as can be seen by the huge numbers of commenters on such platforms (Giwa, 2006).  This online study becomes necessary in view of the fact that many Nigerians showed a huge interest on published reports by several newspaper websites on the campaigns of the two major contenders of the 2015 presidential election with emphasis on the opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, who eventually won the election. The news of Buhari‘s victory generated both positive, neutral and negative connotations from his supporters and opponents alike, based on divisive interests.

Thus, the study focused on the benefits of access to newspaper websites and use of feedback platforms by readers with a view to bringing out their divergent views on the electoral victory of Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential election. It also shows the nature of comments by readers and how such comments aid the understanding or misunderstanding of reports by fellow readers and whether the comments section of newspaper websites is a necessary tool for a better reading experience of news or not.

There is scanty research in this area, especially within the Nigerian socio-cultural context, hence the need for a study to document the nature of posted comments on newspaper websites; to investigate whether or not readers‘ comments are serving the purpose for the establishment of comments section in line with Harper (2010). Also, the study will determine whether new alternative needs are being served to readers through the feedback platform.

The study will be of benefit to communication scholars, news content researchers, Internet users, readers of newspaper websites among others on the motivating factors for readers‘ reaction to reports on newspaper websites and how such reactions, comments, observations, eyewitness accounts and criticism or commendation educate and boost the understanding of the news story or scare people away from newspaper websites.

It will contribute to policy formulation by those in government or private sector on how readers‘ feedback on reports published on Nigerian newspaper websites can help the dissemination of targeted communication messages to different segment of the society. It will also add to the existing body of knowledge and serve as a benchmark for future research on the use of the Internet as a news medium by Nigerians.

Scope of the Study 

This study limited itself only to online readers of news stories related to the electoral victory of Muhammadu Buhari as President of Nigeria as duly announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which were specifically published on Vanguard newspaper website and not general comments by users of the social media, blogs, groups or the Internet as a whole.

The study covered four months from March 1st to June 30th 2015, which is before the election, during the election and after the swearing-in of Muhammadu Buhari as President of Nigeria by INEC.

The study is limited to Vanguard newspaper website because it has consistently remained the most visited newspaper website in Nigeria for years, recording about

21.3 million visitors monthly (Alexa, 2016). A cursory survey among Nigerian newspaper  websites  shows  that  it  has  the  highest  number  of  comments  on news reports published on its website; has an effective online archiving system that promotes research unlike other websites that lose content in months; features breaking news; is interactive; uses latest information technology features; and has effective social media integration tools that help to annex comments to it.

Based on these huge advantages when compared with the fewer comments on other Nigerian newspaper websites and their lack of proper archiving of stories or easy retrieval for research, the study resorted to using only Vanguard newspaper because the outcome of the research could become heavily tilted or skewed against any other newspaper website picked for comparism which does not have same parameters for evaluation and content analyses like that of Vanguard newspaper.

1.7 Operational Definition of Key Terms

 

Use – In this context, the word refers to the positive aspect of posting comments that contribute to the debate and tolerating the views of others irrespective of ethnicity, race or nationality.

Misuse – Refers to the abuse or illegal use of the comments section of the newspaper website in such ways that may not have been intended by the medium such as posting abusive comments, illegal advertising materials or distorting other commenters through trolling.

Readers Comments – Refers to views or opinions of what is presented in the news as expressed by readers of Vanguard newspaper website in form of texts which are posted on the comments section of a news story.

Analysis – It refers to the detailed examination of the elements or structure of the

study in trying to research the variables used which are: reader‘s comments, Buhari‘s election and Vanguard newspaper website. It means separating the research subject into its constituent elements for a proper investigation, comparism and understanding.

Buhari’s Election – Refers to the presidential campaign period of Muhammadu Buhari between March to June 2015 where the candidate contested and won the general election under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Vanguard Newspaper Website – As used in the study, this refers to all news stories related to Muhammadu Buhari‘s 2015 presidential campaign and published on the website of Vanguard newspaper. It does not mean all news stories published on the website.

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Did Nigerian Press report on Bakassi Boarder dispute between Nigeria and Cameroun? What was the nature of press reportage on the dispute? To what extent did press reports on the dispute help or mere Nigerian’s chances of claiming the disputed areas? These questions are necessary because the press can play a vital in conflict management and resolution; especially through objective reporting. There are instances where press reports may have to form good evidence in resolving disputes over issues, and land territories.

Investigative and interpretative reporting have provided journalist a good strategy and skill to engage through information seeking and giving in the area of conflict. Hence, Nigerian press was expected to contribute to the peaceful resolution of the dispute between Nigeria and Cameroun, especially, as regards Cameroun claim that area was created to her by gowns administration at weak of Nigerian civil war.

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1 Ascertaining the story, sources, types and depth on the Nigeria – Cameroun order dispute

2 Identifying the prominence and directionality of the stories on the dispute.

3 Outlining the content categories of the press reports on the dispute

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RQ2: What are the directionality and prominence of the Nigerian press reportage on border dispute?

RQ3: What are the content categorizations of reports on Nigeria – Cameroun border dispute?

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It has been established that there is a very strong relationship between media performance and the conduct and vibrancy of politics and political activities in democracies. It is often said that in democracies, “the media have a complex relationship with sources of power and the political system” (McQuail, 2005). Both politics and the media have the singular aim of promoting the individual and collective interests of the general society.

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A responsible nationwide democratic system requires a media system which is coterminous with it and which can generate discussion of issues of public concern in a way which does not favour partisan interests; whether these be the interests of particular political parties, the interests of media bosses or media professionals (Boyd Barrett, 2001).

In Nigeria, the performance of the mass media in the democratic process at various phases of our history has been well documented (Omu, 1978; Ogbondah, 1994; Yusuf, 2001 and Nwosu, 2003). Arguably, the mass media have remained in the forefront in the struggle to promote the rights of our people through a credible democratization process. After all, the media too find it quite difficult to operate in a non democratic environment. However, this is not to suggest that the media have been perfect in all circumstances. They have been severely criticized for complicity in truncating and subverting the democratic process at various times. For instance, Enahoro once observed that “whoever and whatever ruined the first republic did so with the active connivance and collaboration of the greater part of the Nigerian press”. Similarly, James (1984) had decried the high degree of professional rascality exhibited by the media during the second republic as manifested through “character assassination, false accusations, blackmail and misrepresentation of facts ….. to the extent that facts were muzzled and whole media organs became megaphones and machineries of propaganda to political parties and vested interests to the extent that the unity of this country was shaken to its very foundation”. Several other writers and scholars have expressed similar opinions (Pate, 2003; and Akinfeleye, 2004).

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Portrayal and Participation of Women in Nigerian Media

Portrayal and Participation of Women in Nigerian Media

The millennium declaration and MDGs opened a new door for the advancement of gender equality in the world. In 2000, 189 member states of the United Nations met and made a declaration to advance a vision of improving the condition of humanity throughout the world in the areas of development and poverty eradication, peace and security, protection of the environment and human rights and democracy. One of the critical areas of achieving this vision was the advancement of women’s right to gender equality. The realization of women’s human right is a development goal in its own right and an essential means of achieving poverty reduction and sustainable development. Eight of the key commitments set out in the Millennium Declaration came from the MDGs, the third of which is to promote gender equality and empower women. The MDGs are accompanied by 16 global targets and 48 global indicators. These were created to provide concrete measurements of the extent to which countries are making progress towards achieving the goals and the progress is being assessed on a regular basis at the country level through national MDG reports. (Waldorf, 2005, p. 5).

      Gender equality advocates have labored tirelessly to ensure that obligations and commitments under Convention on the elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women CEDAW and Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women are fulfilled and the results are now evident globally, in the form of gender sensitive laws constitutional provisions, judicial decisions, policies, government structures and resource allocations.

      However, after four world conferences on women, Nigerian women continue to experience marginalization in every sphere of human endeavor. In spite of the general belief, that an estimated 50% of Nigeria’s population is made up of women and girls (UNSN, 2001), the gender disparity in access to paid employment is still very much alive. This disparity which dates back to the pre-colonial era finds its roots and continues to thrive in the African traditional culture, Christianity and Islamic religion both of which preach submissiveness on the part of women. Traditional African society has stipulated clearly different roles for men and women and both sexes grow up knowing exactly what society requires of tthem. As Mattelart puts it “This division of labour finds expression in a definition of masculine and feminine qualities, transmitted, reinforced and rearticulated by the different institutions of society.” (Mattelart, 1986, p. 66). As boys herded their stock, hunted and went fishing, girls would fetch water, firewood, cooked, nursed the sick and took care of the young and aged. The boys would eventually become husbands performing the functions expected of tthem by society and the girls would become wives- both performing functions according to the norms of society but not necessarily to suit their individual aspirations.  While society places the woman in the home, specifically in the kitchen, it places the man in the hunting and fighting fields, both playing these roles thrust on tthem towards the success of society.

            Essentially women were victims of injustice in the African society not because of what society did to tthem, but what it did not do to tthem. Boys grew up knowing that they had to be strong, hardworking and wise so that they could take care of their wives, children and society. Girls on the other hand grew up knowing that they had to be hardworking and submissive so that they could find good husbands who would take good care of tthem. In other words, it was not up to tthem to make their lives successful but up to their future husbands and this notion robbed them of the initiative, ambition and creativity to make a choice which would make a difference. And Haskell sums it up thus: “How ironic that it was in the security of this enlarged image of himself, an image provided by wives, or more often mothers, that men went forth to fight, conquer, legislate, create. And women stayed home without so much as a room of her own, her only fulfillment, the hope of bearing a son to whom she could pass on the notion of male superiority.”

Gender inequality keeps women at a disadvantage all their lives and stifles development prospects of their societies. This perhaps justifies the situating of gender equality issue by the Beijing Platform for Action, at the core of the achievement of the MDGs. From improving health, fighting diseases and lowering child mortality to reducing poverty and mitigating hunger to expanding education, the MDGs hold a firm promise of empowering women as unhealthy, illiterate and poorly educated women are less able to care for their children. When a country educates its women economic productivity tends to rise, maternal and infant mortality rates usually fall, fertility rates decline and the health and education prospects of the next generation improve.

      The educational sector appears to be recording giant strides towards the attainment of gender parity in school enrolment. In Nigeria the establishment of more government schools and provisions of bursary and scholarship awards by some states and federal government to students in tertiary level were adopted in order to facilitate access to education by all including female students. The policies seem to have yielded positive results in terms of increased participation of girls in the educational system and the imbalances in the gender ratios at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education seem to have reduced greatly. At the primary level the gender ratio increased from 0.76 in 1990 to 0.96 in 2000, while at the secondary level the ratio increased from 0.75 in 1990 to 0.92 in the year 2000, and at the tertiary level from 0.46 in 1990 to 0.82 in 2002. The ratio of literate females to males between 15-24 years was 0.89 in 1996 and 0.93 in 2000, (National millennium goals report 2004-Nigeria), another indicator of increased women’s participation and reduction in gender imbalances in the education sector.

The above actions should have ideally set the stage for the attainment of gender equality in the economic, political and social arena but in Nigeria and indeed most of Africa gender equity goes beyond educational parity. Women, even those who do get education face embedded disadvantage in labor markets, property ownership and inheritance rights, and sexual and reproductive choices. Culture and religion help keep them in the chains of poverty, silencing and excluding them and allowing men to take the large share of resources.

 

Women Invisibility in the media

Gender inequality appears to be supported by the media treatment of women who are mostly ignored, denied or invisible. When they do attain visibility it is done with biases and negative stereotypes, since all they do is to play supportive roles for the natural order. They are given little voices, demeaned through various forms of behaviors which further increase their vulnerability. In agreement, Ukozor (2004), observes that an x-ray of media coverage of gender issues in Nigeria depicts an inglorious image of women’s exclusion or marginalization and that rather than give fair and balanced reports of issues from women’s and men’s angles, the news media exclude women’s voices or portrays them as objects who do not have opinion or only fit for advertising models. He concludes that they are almost never key players in media issues. Women’s exclusion from the media is not surprising since the media in Nigeria serve as government mouthpieces or the mouthpieces of their owners who more often than not are men. This seems to legitimize their focus on government activities and male subjects since very few women occupy government positions.

      Since independence, Nigeria has grappled with the problem of creating a fair, just and equitable political arrangement among its various ethnic groups, while the past three decades have witnessed a global emphasis on women’s issues related to empowerment and gender equality.

      The arrival of capitalism in African traditional society introduced the factor and institutionalized the sale of labour power and segregation of sex roles in the productive process. It reserved for the male the most prestigious and best rewarded jobs while restricting women to the worst.

Today in Nigeria the status quo appears to be holding out. The World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Gender Gap Report (n.d.), which ranks 128 countries according to the size of their gender gaps, rates Nigeria as one of the lowest ranking countries with 107th position as against countries like South Africa which occupy the 20th position.

Similarly the Media and Gender Monitor posits that of all the millennium development goals the least progress has been made towards achieving gender parity in most spheres of human endeavor including the media where women’s participation in the news is still very minimal. This perhaps explains the low status of women in the Nigerian society.

      The media, in addition to being agents of socialization, are believed to be the main setters of public agenda. They choose what they consider important enough for the society to at least think about. Consequently it may not be out of place to consider the media powerful enough to change the imbalance in gender relations in Nigeria as they can through sustained advocacy, serve as veritable tools for dismantling the patriarchal structures which seem to be the root cause of the imbalance by placing the issues high on their agenda. However scholars argue that the reverse seems to be the case. Okunna (2005), asserts that women are made invisible through the non representation of their points of view or perspectives of the world and citing Gallagher, She further submits that even when women do achieve visibility in media content, the manner of their representation reflects the biases and assumptions of those who define the public and therefore media agenda, a phenomenon she described as mediated invisibility. Similarly, Gerbner and Gross (1989), identifying this invisibility as symbolic annihilation, arguing that those who are at the bottom of the various power hierarchies will be kept in their places through their relative invisibility (p. 303)

      These theoretical assumptions are given relevance in a study conducted by Okoye on school textbooks for teaching core subjects like mathematics and English, published by four reputable academic publishers- Longman, Heinman, Macmillan and University Press. Results of the study revealed that sexism manifested in the dominance of boys in pictures and illustrations, stereotyping activities and family roles, and non representation of women in important and tough occupations which can only be done by the strong, brave and intelligent (men). (Cited in Okunna, 2005, p.11). Similarly, another study of a pamphlet titled Career Guidance for Children: Different Trades and Professions” conducted by Okunna in  2001, lists 31 trades and professions, fully illustrated with sketches representing: Accountant, Architect, soldier, Artist, Barber, Carpenter, Dentist, Doctor, Driver, Engineer, Farmer, Footballer, Geologist, Journalist, Lawyer, Mechanic, Mason, Musician, Nurse, Painter, Pharmacist, Photographer, Police, Priest, Printer, Publisher, Surveyor, Tailor, Teacher, Trader and Vulcanizer. Of these 31 occupations, only 2 of them have sketches of women- Nurse and Teacher. The other 29 have sketches of men (Okunna, 2005, p.9)

       On the heels of the Beijing Fourth World Conference where the MDGs were projected, the World Association for Christian Communication WACC, whose sole aim is to promote democratic structures of communication and seek full and equal participation of women in communication, through its monitoring and advocacy program, the Global Media Monitoring Project, GMMP, conducted a study to determine the extent of women participation in the media worldwide. Results revealed that in Nigeria, men produce an overwhelmingly majority of the messages in the mass media. A staggering 95% of the journalists reporting the news in the country’s radio, television and newspapers were male (GMMP, 2000, p. 78). Participation of women as news subjects remained at 17%, In terms of people in the news women are equally invisible as findings show a very low participation of women as news subjects. Women appear as news subjects in major topic areas such as politics and government, 17% of the time, Business and Economy 3% of the time and as total news subjects 7% of the time. They are also quoted in newspapers 13% of the time, while they appear in photos 20% of the time. (GMMP, 2000, p. 88).

      Equally revealing is the study of 8 broadcast stations conducted in three states in Nigeria by Okunna, which results reveal an employment ratio of 7:1 of males as against females in the state Radio stations and Federal Television stations. The three states covered has an aggregate population of 4.3 million women, with only 231 of them in the broadcast media with most of them at the lowest rung, often relegated to reporting women and social issues rather than news and current affairs. (Okunna, 2000, p.110). This appears to be a reflection of the patriarchal system, which has given birth to and continues to nurture male chauvinism in Nigeria. Against this background, this paper examines the extent of progress made by Nigeria in the last eight years towards the advancement of the millennium development goal3, particularly in the area of women participation in the media, both as journalists and news subjects. It also examines the portrayal of women in Nigerian home video films, to determine the degree of negative stereotyping, where same exists.

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