An Assessment of the Utilization of Information and Communication Technology in the Enhancement of Journalism Practice in Nigeria.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background of Study

The world in which we live today is a world dominated by technology. We may not realize it but we now live in a world where our live are shaped and reshaped by technology.

One area where technology has made much impact in journalism practice in Nigeria, is the area of communication and, precisely, communicates to a heterogeneous, undifferentiated, mass audience.  Technology advancement in communication has brought about fundamental shift in human society and created changes in the way we live, work and even play. It has become so interesting that the gadgets we use even in our homes as means of communication have been affected by technology, we no longer feel comfortable rising from the sofa to adjust the volume of our television sets. Therefore, remote control has become essential for almost every gadget we acquire. Due to technological advancement in communication, the world we are in today has shriveled into one big neighborhood where the lives of the people have become so enmeshed that every nation now forms part of the day to day reality of every other nation. A situation where different countries are able to share ideas and exchange pieces of information with another as if they were next door neighbors.  

Nevertheless, it is pertinent to note that this advancement in communication has not always been this way.(2002,pg  61 – 62) Ekwelie and Okonkwo record that “At one time, man depended on the tom-tom, the “runner” or courier for exchange of vital news and information.

A great leap from this tasking mode of information dissemination came during World War II. The period saw the arrival of the mechanical method of transmitting messages or news, which was considered more advanced than the traditional mode by its users. Olukola (2003:pg 22), states that a world war scout would cross into an alien territory with a walkie-talkie and report information back to headquarters. Today under a similar circumstance the reverse is the case, a world war scout would take pictures with a portable television camera hawing a self contained transmitter. In the instances of live transmissions by the world big networks pictures taking by that portable camera may be beamed simultaneously to the homes of hundreds of millions all over the world.

With technological innovations in communication, people now communicate with each other from any part of the world through audio and visual aids. Information has also become more easily accessible to the people and the business of communication as the result of new technological equipments inventions which includes; the satellite, electronic news gathering (ENG), teleprompter, video phone, fiber optics, and the internet. These inventions have brought about tremendous changes in the past methods of disseminating messages. This communication process is now what is commonly used in the developed nations of the world such as Japan, Britain and America.

 Although the use of information and communication technology has become a reality in some developing nations of the world. Its use however has not yet become has regular as it is in the case with the developed world. The differences in the level of use of information and communication technology between the developed and developing nations attributed to the gap between the two worlds, Nwunali (2003:pg 201) described an underdeveloped country as one. “Which cannot assure the basic necessities of life for its citizens and also which lacks the financial base to build necessary infrastructure to a modern?”

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