Impact of news and media on political advertising. A study of 2020 governorship election in Edo State

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Communications - Mass Media, grade: 4.00, , course: Mass Communication, language: English, abstract: This study examines impact of news media in political advertising in Edo state governorship election. The study was anchored on the uses and gratifications theory. The survey research method was used. The work recommends urgent review of the various media laws to address the peculiar technicalities involved in monitoring and moderating the use of different social media platforms. Findings show that whereas many used the technology to make vital input in the political discourse, others used them to attack opponents, spread false rumours, hate and inciting messages which were believed to have contributed in the violence and tensions witnessed before, during and after the elections in many parts of the country.

The following research questions have been drawn to guide the study: What is the impact of news media in political advertising in Edo state governorship election? Do political parties in Nigeria recognise and make use of the new media in their political campaigns? What are the factors that hinder the use of the new media for political campaigns in Edo State?

The new media have become veritable tools for political campaigns, because they break boundaries and frontiers, reaching every part of the world. The new media have consequences upon the social, political and economic values of people. New media hold out a possibility of on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as, interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content. What distinguishes new media from traditional media is not the digitising of media content into bits, but the dynamic life of the new media content and its interactive relationship with the media consumer. This dynamic life, moves, breathes and flows with pulsing excitement in real time. It is against this backdrop therefore, that we investigate the impact of news media in political advertising: a study of 2020 governorship election in Edo state.