Media Research

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Stephanie Austin

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Jun 5, 2013, 11:00:14 PM6/5/13

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Hey y'all. I've been travelling for 13 hours (delays in Chicago) and I JUST landed in NYC. Here's what I've got on media stuff so far. Sorry its jumbled but I wanted to email this out before it got way too late.

See ya tomorrow!

General Background that I just found as I researched.

May 2013- Pres Johnson declares a state of emergency in three northern states: Yobe, Borno and Adamawa and sends in troops to combat Boko Haram Islamist militants.

The largest religious group is Muslim, making up about 50 percent of the population. Christians account for about 40 percent, while the remaining 10 percent of the people follow traditional beliefs or some combination of the two major groups.

The nation has the 15th highest infant mortality rate in the world.

Life expectancy is 56 years.

In 2000, a $19.9 million agreement was signed by USAID to assist Nigeria in reforming its educational policies. The goal was to encourage civic participation on a broad basis. Under the plan six Community Resource Centers would be built that would provide increased Internet access to every region in the nation. The U.S. Education for Development and Democracy Initiative provided $4.5 million to establish the centers. Local education would receive training at the centers, which would also be used to support distance education to Nigerian universities, provide computer and targeted vocational educational training to local communities and support adult literacy and AIDSeducation. An additoinal part of the initiatve is $500,000 which allowed girls who would otherwise not have access to educational opportunities.

Very high rates of illiteracy.

Overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector.

Censorship is a recurring problem.

The international nature of news flow on the internet makes it more difficult for government to control content distributed through this means.

the largest department for acquiring a degree in media studies in West Africa is the University of Jo. Over 500 students are enrolled.

Among the programs encountered in Nigeria's educational systems were: poor funding, inadequate facilities, admission and certificate racketeeering, personnel problems, examination malpractice, frequent strikes, lack of discipline, the emergence of secret cults, and a general abandonment of academic standards. Possible solutions: dedicated teachers, adequate facilitites, staff and support personnel in sufficient number and a democratically elected government.

Nigeria seems to always be in a state of transition.

Power in the media of mass communication to serve as effecitve tools for mass mobilization against oppressors- this scares the gov.

Film Censorship occurs too.

Media Background

Nigeria's media scene is one of the most vibrant in Africa. State radio and TV have near-national coverage and operate at federal and regional levels. All 36 states run at least one radio network and a TV station. There are 100 radio stations and 147 terrestrial TV stations, as well as cable and direct-to-home satellite offerings.
Radio is a key source of information. International broadcasters, including the BBC, are popular. However, rebroadcasts of foreign radios are banned.
Television viewing is concentrated in urban areas.
Local press titles champion ethnic interests.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Nigeria 126th out of 179 countries in its 2012 world press freedom index. - almost daily arrests and assults of journalists. In 2013, it was ranked 115.
By December 2011, more than 45 million Nigerians were online- around 29% of the populations. Most are young, educated and urban. Facebook is the most popular social media platform and BBC Hausa's Facebook page is one of the most popular.

(STEPHANIE has a ist of press/tv/radio/news agencies)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) partnered with others to bring messages/educational content to English teachers throughout Nigeria via mobile phone messages.

Limited resources for radio and television. Growth of satellite TV (long preferred throughout the Afrian continent due to the infavorability, geologically and financially, of laying ground cables).

Virtually all Nigerian newspapers have an internet presence. However, the current low penetration of the internet in Nigeria means that radio and newspapers remain the primary means of consuming information in the country.

Nigeria has over 250 different ethnic groups!

Dominant languages:English, Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo and Fulani.

Social Media

Nigerians use social networking more than they send emails.
Social media sites were chosen as the most popular channel of communication (over email and SMS and chat messengers)
Top 5 Social Media Savvy Companies (as of April 2013):GTBank MTN (telecomm) Nigeria, Etisalat (Telecomm), Jumia (retail), Konga (retail).
Social media is an efective use of building brand awareness, loyalty and growth in modern business. With the introduction of new technologies and a general move towards media fragmentation, the use of social media platforms in marketing is definitely set to grow even more.
Majority of Nigerians are using Facebook, Twitter and other social media more for entertainment than for tasking the government on good governance efforts towards national development.
2013: There was a three-day social media retreat in Uyo with the theme: "Using Social Media for Improved Democratic Governance and Citizen Participation" organized by the Democratic Governance for Development Project, the European Union, the Department of International Development, the Canadian International Development Agency, the United Nations Development Programme and Youth Action Initiative Africa.
According to a report by the Applied Physics Lab of the Johns Hopkins University- between April 2010 and October 2011, 131 million tweets were collected from 633,217 users in Nigeria. Nigeria has 586,820 Facebook users, with 87.9 percent mobile penetration. Most users are between 18 and 24.
Executive Director of the West African NGO Network (WNAGOnet) urged Nigerians to emulate youths of other countries who exploit the social media to promote good governance.
Big things: rise of mobile web along with continued dominance of radio and TV for news.

Tuned in and reactive: As soon as the BBC noted that the Woolwich (London) attack was done by people with alleged Nigerian heritage, the people of Nigeria reacted quickly.