EXPOSURE AND PATRONAGE OF ONLINE NEWS SOURCE AND INFORMATION CONSUMPTION AMONG UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT STUDENTS

ATTENTION:

BEFORE YOU READ THE ABSTRACT OR CHAPTER ONE OF THE PROJECT TOPICS BELOW, PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW.THANK YOU!

INFORMATION:

YOU CAN GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT OF THE TOPIC BELOW. THE FULL PROJECT COST N5,000 ONLY. THE FULL INFORMATION ON HOW TO PAY AND GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE. OR

YOU CAN CALL: 08068231953, 08137701720, 09070569307, 08154275408

WHATSAPP US ON: 08137701720

EXPOSURE AND PATRONAGE OF ONLINE NEWS SOURCE AND INFORMATION CONSUMPTION AMONG UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Until the advent of the social media, media scholars and researchers seemed to be in consensus with the fact that the emergence of any of the new medium of communication has not caused the extinction of the existing one, but complemented their existence. This statement holds true according to Fidler (1997) and Nwammuo (2011) among other scholars in the field of communication. In the history of the mass media, the emergence of the first newspaper generally believed to be Acta Diurna (Daily Acts) around 59 BC was complemented with the invention of radio by Gugliemo Marconi in 1896. Subsequently, television finally came onboard in 1911 when Vladimir Zworykin perfected the works of others and created a system that used a mechanical mirror-drum scanner to transmit crude images over wires to the Braun tube (Nwafor, 2019). At each point, the emergence of these mainstream media kept complementing the other in information dissemination around the globe.

However, the rapid growth in technology which brought about the advent of the Internet gives room for interactivity on web-enabled platforms. With the emergence of the social media which is an Internet-enabling platform, users access news online with ease and less cost. Consequently, arguments abound in literature that the advent of social media rather than complementing the existing media is causing their extinction due to the decline in patronage of the mainstream media. Fidler (1990) has referred to transformation of communication media as mediamorphosis, which according to him is the united way of thinking about the technological evolution of communication media. The transformation came with numerous benefits of the social media. Okon (2015) observes that “through the social media, friends, families, colleagues and people of convergent ideologies build networks of interactivity and social exchange with a view to transferring and sharing information even on the go” (p.132). He adds that the beauty of it all is that the social media platform allows the voiceless to be heard and the seemingly uneducated to contribute to rational discourse because the rules for structured language appear a bit flexible. Okon agrees that the audience of social media are heterogeneous in nature since social media followership transcends socio-cultural boundaries. In their submission, Udoudo and Nwosu (2022) point out that social media enable producers to send messages to others and on the other hand, enable them to be consumers of messages sent by others or by interacting with others through feedback process.

Several scholars including Udoudo et al (2023); Oyeleke et al (2023); Udeogu (2023) have established the fact that youths are more exposed to the use of the social media to get and disseminate information. According to Lasswell (1948), the main functions of communication in the society are surveillance of the environment, correlation of the parts of the society to its environment and the transmission of the cultural heritage. McQuail (1994) notes that one of the basic ideas about media tasks is information dissemination. The society will be in total disarray without information dissemination. Since it has been established by several scholars that the youths are more favourably disposed to using the social media to obtain information than the use of the mainstream media which consist of newspaper, magazine, radio and television, this study is centred on ascertaining the online news sources which students in tertiary institutions use to obtain and disseminate information. The study sought to investigate the online news sources which students in tertiary institutions are exposed to and to ascertain their level of patronage of the online news sources to obtain and disseminate information in the society. If they patronise the right news outlets, then they would be seen to be engaged in contributing to free speech, while if they patronise the wrong news outlets, it may mean that they are consciously or unconsciously contributing to dissemination of fake and false news in the society.

Statement of the Problem

Researchers have continued to dig deeper into the use of social media as sources of information in the society with some of the studies attesting to the fact that the social media are a veritable source of information. This is with the added advantage of providing a forum for equal access to information and the opportunity for free speech among all segments of the society. Social media also provide the forum for interactivity among heterogeneous users and the message further have the advantage of spontaneity.

However, several other scholars have established the fact that social media messages are not always properly edited as there are no formal gatekeeping processes. The information dissemination is left in the hands of citizen journalists who lack basic journalistic training in the rudiments of reporting. Most of the news sources are immersed in the circulation of fake news just to attract readers to their outlets.

The dissemination of unfounded and false information would undoubtedly contribute to misinforming the public and possibly raise unnecessary tension and panic. It goes against the ethical code of conduct of journalism to disseminate false information to the public. Therefore, it is a problem when news sources do not authentic their stories before publishing. The matter is made worse when a number of people are made to patronise a news outlet which disseminates fake and false information to the public. The foregoing as a problem statement, therefore, the study is to investigate the level of exposure of students of the University of Port Harcourt to online news sources and to ascertain the extent to which the students patronise the online sources.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to examine the exposure and patronage of online news information among students of University of Port Harcourt. The objectives of the study are to:

identify the online news sources which students of the University of Port Harcourt are exposed to for information consumption;
find out the extent in which students of University of Port Harcourt are exposed to the online news sources;
ascertain the frequency of patronage of students of the University of Port Harcourt to online news sources;
ascertain the most patronised online news source for information consumption by the students of the University of Port Harcourt.

Research Questions

What are the online news sources which students of the University of Port Harcourt are exposed to for information consumption?
What is the extent of exposure of students of University of Port Harcourt to online news sources?
What is the frequency of patronage of students of the University of Port Harcourt to online news sources?
Which is the most patronised online news source for information consumption by the students of the University of Port Harcourt?

Scope of the Study

The thematic scope of the study covers the exposure and patronage of online news sources and information consumption among students. The geographic scope is the University of Port Harcourt. The study is limited to only regular undergraduate students of the University of Port Harcourt. This means that students on part-time and postgraduate programmes in the university are excluded from the study. The justification for their exclusion is premised on the supposition that as adult members of the society either as workers in different organisations or former students as applicable, part-time and postgraduate students are mature students who must have been exposed to various mass media unlike the undergraduate students.

Significance of the Study

In theory, the study validated the technological determinism and uses and gratifications theories and media arguments used in this research. The study will contribute to available literatures in the field of new media studies.

In practice, the study will be useful to Ministries of Information in Rivers State and Nigeria at large. It will be beneficial to the Ministry of Youth Affairs, National Orientation Agency, the University of Port Harcourt, the media, young people and even parents who would want to their children and wards to be exposed to certain information.

Operational definition of terms

Exposure: Exposure, as used in this study means having the knowledge of the existence of news through online sources which supply information for consumption.

Patronage: This has to do with the subscription of the audience to online media outlets for the purpose of getting information.

Online News: This means the information of topical events that are available on the Internet. The online user gets the news once he or she logs in to the social media.

Information Consumption: This has to do with obtaining data or stories on events happening in the society.

HOW TO RECEIVE PROJECT MATERIAL (S)

After paying the appropriate amount (#5,000) into our bank Account below, send the following information to any of the numbers below

08068231953, 08137701720, 09070569307, 08154275408 (1) Your project topics

(2) Email Address

(3) Payment Name

OR you drop them on our WhatsApp, 08137701720

We will send your material(s) after we receive bank alert

BANK ACCOUNTS

Account Name: AMUTAH DANIEL CHUKWUDI

Account Number: 0046579864

Bank: GTBank.