The Print Media Impact On Parliamentary Politics (1999-2007

Abstract

The growing concern to ascertain the extent to which the print media

have been influencing the Nigerian parliamentary politics informed

this study. This has become imperative with the restoration of

democracy to Nigeria in 1999. More fundamentally, the need to

determino whether the print media influence on parliament and

politics has in any way advanced the cause' of parliament, democracy

and good governance is an additional reason that propelled the

study. r'

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The study has therefore been embarked upon essentially to provide ·

an insight to the role of the print media, examining how the print

media have been playing the roles expected of them in the current

democratic dispensation. The roles are; guard dog, holding the

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parliament accountable to the people, playing up issues of great

significance and empowering the people through their reports.

Based on the nature of the study, sampling method and content

analysis are adopted ·as appropriate research methods. To generate

primary data, structured questionnaires ara administered to ,

respondents drawn from National Assembly members who were reelected

in 2003 and journalists who have been covering the National

Assembly Hince · 1999. Two national newspapers - Thisday and

vanguard - are studied for conten t analysis. Simple random sampling

method is adopted to select the two newspaper organizations studied

and the sample population. Nine research questions and five·