Communication & Language Arts
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Item Influence of mass media exposure on knowledge, attitude and practice of COVID-19 preventive strategies among Nigerian mass media users(Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigerisa (AMCRON), 2022) Onyechi, N. J.COVID-19 pandemic is a serious public health problem that has resulted in unprecedented human and material losses globally. Although the mass media play critical role by providing people with information for its infection prevention control (IPC), public media exposure during health emergencies can be a double-edged sword in influencing citizen’s knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of preventive strategies. This study investigated influence of mass media on knowledge, attitude and practice of COVID-19 preventive strategies among Nigerian mass media users. The study adopted health belief model (HBM), cross-sectional online survey and snow-ball sampling technique in administering questionnaire to 432 respondents. Descriptive statistics were employed in analyzing the data while Spearman’s rho was used to establish relationship between the variables. The overall KAP findings showed good knowledge(n=424;98.1%), positive attitude(n=428;99.1%) and good practice(n=245;56.7%) of preventive practices. Exposure to mass media information on COVID-19 did not have any significant influence on respondents’ knowledge, attitude and practice of COVID-19 preventive strategies. The findings raise concerns about misinformation and fake news that trail COVID-19 pandemic and call for closer collaboration between media practitioners and stakeholders in the health sector in ensuring Nigerians are provided with accurate and persuasive information about the recommended practices for COVID-19 control and management.Item Status of HIV/Aids in Nigeria: communication issues, trends and challenges(Department of Mass Communication, Imo State, Owerri, 2021) Onyechi, N. J.Decades after HIV/AIDS appeared on global public health arena, it has remained a major public health issue that has social, political and cultural implications. Considering that there is no vaccine and cure for HIV/AIDS, globally countries (including Nigeria) have continued to deploy the tools of communication in providing its citizenry with key information about the disease and how and where to access available treatment opportunities This paper examined the current status of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, communication issues, trends and the challenges. Although Nigerian government and relevant stakeholders have deployed mass media tools in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the prevalence in the country appears not to be abating. The paper identified some barriers to communication efforts that need to be addressed in order to contain the disease. The paper also argues that communication effort should not only be stepped up and the tempo maintained, but it should also target the most vulnerable groups in the society (the youths, men who have sex with men, those who inject drugs). Furthermore, the paper identified the potentials inherent in the social media that could be tapped into in reaching the youth population. The success of any communication efforts depends on the extent to which those who plan the communication campaigns identify and address the needs of the target population, with a view to effecting a behavioural change and achieving the desired health outcomes. It is important to note that education and communication remain the only viable weapons in the fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic.Item Taking their destiny in their hands: Social media, youth participation and the 2015 political campaigns in Nigeria(UNISA Press, 2018) Onyechi, N. J.The issue of youth participation in political activities, including campaigns, has dominated scholarly discourse across the globe. The youth’s seeming apathy towards politics has continued to resonate among researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders. However, the emergence of social media has opened up new frontiers for citizens, especially for youths who are known to be social media savvy, to engage in political participation. This study investigated the relationship between social media use and University of Ibadan students’ participation during Nigerian political campaigns in 2015. Anchored on the uses and gratification theory, the study used a survey and focus group discussions (FGD) as the research design. Respondents, systematically selected (N = 588) took part in the survey while discussants, purposively selected (N = 24) participated in the FGD. Results revealed that cognitive, social and tension-free needs were motivations for using social media during the 2015 political campaigns by the respondents. Results also showed that there is a significant relationship between social media exposure patterns and students’ participation during the 2015 political campaigns. These results provide an important window of understanding on the relationship between social media use and political participation amongst Nigerian university students and have implications for the political development of Nigeria.Item Facebooking ethnicity in the political storytelling of Nigerians(Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 2016) Egbunike, N.; Onyechi, N. J.After the so-called “Arab Spring”, the capacity of social networking sites to change communicative spaces and political landscapes has been studied with increased attention. The #OccupyNigeria Protests and #BringBackOurGirls campaigns manifested the influence of social media on civic engagement of Nigerians. On the other hand, Nigeria as an ethnic fault line state has experienced political tensions of brutish magnitude that have hindered nation building as well. However there is paucity of scholarly investigations that peer into the influence of social media mediated political storytelling in enhancing ethnic stereotypes or galvanizing ethnic cohesion within the context of nation building. This paper investigated the influence of ethnicity on political storytelling of Nigerians on Facebook. This study employed survey by administering online open-ended questionnaires to respondents. Data suggests that respondents' political storytelling was not affected by the ethnicity of their Facebook friends. Findings also showed that the political storytelling of their friends on Facebook was laden with ethnocentrism and that Facebook mediated political storytelling promotes ethnic stereotypes. The findings were discussed based on the meso- storytelling proposition of the Communication Infrastructure Theory, notions of nation building in the African context and reviewed literature on social media.