Buike Oparaugo

Mass media and Politics in Nigeria Buike Oparaugo

The media represent an essential and integral part of the democratic process in any political community. Their statutory functions of enlightenment, education, and entertainment have placed them on a pedestal of alertness and vigilance such that they have become an indispensable part of social governance. This book focuses on mass media and the political process in Nigeria with emphasis on politics, democracy, and elections. This paper was anchored on the agenda-setting theory of the press. The mass media helps in the consolidation of democracy by criticizing the military juntas, mobilization the citizens to participate in entrenching democratic values, exposing cases of corruption, and making public officers accountable to the people. The mass media are, however, generally regarded as a channel of communication that is capable of reaching heterogeneous audience simultaneously with a uniform message.