Public Broadcasting for Nation Building: The Nigerian Television Authority Example

Abstract

The Nigerian Television Authority, (NTA), is the only Nigerian broadcast media facing constant disparaging criticism by contemporary Nigerian youths. However, these criticisms are mostly one-sided as they only point to the drawbacks of the state-owned television. Scholarly studies conducted into the media house have shown that the government-owned television has done more for the general public in terms of uniting the diverse Nigerian populace and promoting collective cultural heritage than any other agent in the country. Using the descriptive content analysis, and hinged on Development Media theory, the paper attempts a justification of the NTA programmes as it uses Media Discourse Analysis to highlight the themes, programme formats and types of programmes aired by NTA in a space of 2 years (2021-2023). The paper recommends, among other things, series of field researches to learn about their programme preferences and nuances of the contemporary Nigerian youth, particularly the Generation-Z and Generation-Alpha, and create a sustainable plan.

Keywords: broadcasting, cultural heritage, nation building, normative theory, state-owned media,

DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/111-03

Publication date: April 30^th 2026