Media Access and Exposure as Determinants of the Political Knowledge of Nigerian Undergraduates

Abstract

Media scholars and political scientists alike are concerned about the issue of the impact of the mass media on the political behaviour of the people as consumers of media texts and output. In Nigeria, this curiosity is the same. The few studies that had been conducted along this direction had differing outcomes while most of them focused on the situation with the adult population. This study therefore examined the predictive relationship between media access and exposure on the political knowledge of undergraduates in selected universities in South West Nigeria. Using the descriptive survey design through a carefully constructed questionnaire, data were obtained from respondents selected across the study locale, to measure and test five hypotheses in the study. Findings showed, among other things that exposure to the electronic media predicted higher political knowledge and behaviour among respondents than the print media. Most of the respondents also chose television as the most preferred and dominant medium of political information in the country. Based on the findings it was recommended that Government and media proprietors should collaborate to widen the access of youths to the print media through reduced costs and attractive contents. Because of its increasing popularity among the people, practitioners in the broadcast media were enjoined to adhere to strict professional standards in order to sustain the patronage of the audience while taking advantage of emerging benefits of the Internet for wider reach and more appealing programmes and programming.