Jos Metropolitan Residents’ Perception of Government-Owned Broadcast Media Coverage of the 2011 Gubernatorial Electioneering Campaigns in Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

The paper examines Jos residents’ perception of the broadcast media coverage of the 2011 gubernatorial elections in Plateau State, Nigeria. The rationale behind the study was to find out how Jos metropolitan residents perceived the way and manner the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA, Jos) and Plateau Radio Television Corporation (PRTVC, Jos) covered the elections of 2011. The study adopted a quantitative research method employing questionnaires as instruments of data collection. The findings show that the Plateau state-owned PRTVC, Jos, paid more attention to the gubernatorial electioneering campaigns than the federal government-owned Nigerian Television Authority in Jos. The data show that PRTVC covered the gubernatorial electioneering campaigns to a very great extent. Findings further show that the ruling party (PDP) received more coverage than the other political parties. Respondents were dissatisfied with the way and manner the media covered the 2011 gubernatorial elections because parties were not equally covered. The paper, therefore, concludes that even though the government-owned broadcast media in Plateau State covered the 2011 gubernatorial elections in Plateau State, more coverage was given to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). They were not fair in the coverage of political parties that contested the 2011 gubernatorial elections. Based on the findings and conclusion, the paper recommends that the media should endeavour to give equal treatment to political parties that contest any given elections. Only then can the mass media be seen as credible.