The Press And Politics In Nigeria: A Critical Appraisal Of West African Pilot And The news

ABSTRACT

This study is about the role of the press in the pol itical process in

Nigeria; analysing its perception of political power, uses and

interpretation of political realities in the country within the field of

alternative media studies, using West Afr·ican Pilot newspaper

and TheNews magazine as models.

The study reviews relevant concP-pts such as political participation,

democracy, citizen's media, n·.odels of alternative press; its

theories and practice, as well as the two publications used as case

studies with emphasis ot; editorial contents as our unit of analysis.

The central argument in this study is that the social context of the

exercise o f political power by the state is a critical factor in the

analysis of alternative press. This is in contrast with the intellectual

posture in which the alternative press is discussed exclusively in

terms of media hegemony and minority press.

We have argued that alternative press is not an exclusive media

variant, but a political and cultvral reality, which is rooted in the

protest movement against domination in all its manifestations.

The theoretical framework for this study is hat may be called the

alternative theory of social responsibility, which provides the

platform for discussing the sources of political obligations of the

press in the country.