Impact of the News Agency of Nigeria and Foreign News Agencies on the News and Information Flow of the Nigerian Press
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Impact of the News Agency of Nigeria and Foreign News Agencies on the News and Information Flow of the Nigerian Press By GODWIN EHIAREKHIAN OBOH Abstract The federal government, on May 10, 1976, set up the News Agency of Nigeria to redress the lopsided nature of the global news flow in the interest of Nigeria, promote national unity and lend support to government programmes and activities. The agency was, however, expected to achieve these objectives by complementing the role of the Nigerian media. This study examined all the issues published in the month of May 2004 by The Guardian, Punch, This Day and Vanguard to determine the number of news stories NAN supplied to these papers. The findings revealed that of the 271 news agencies' stories used by the papers, NAN only supplied 20. An evaluation of these findings with chi-square disclosed that NAN had no significant impact on the Nigerian press. Introduction diplomats and publishing houses". News agency journalism, otherwise But Havas later expecded his scope of known as wire services, came into coverage beyond the French territory existence as a strategy to substitute for by employing Julius Paul Reuters and the inability of most newspaper houses Benard Wolff to translate news items to cope with the financial involvement from French into English and German of having to employ sufficient languages respectively. Havas' news correspondents to cover events in areas bureau later evolved into the revitalized remote from their operational Agence France Presse (AFP) in 1944 environments. Nevertheless, history and Reuters' news outfit became a recorded that news agency journalism cooperative trust, owned by the British began through the efforts of a young Press, Australia and New Zealand. Frenchman and one-time banker, (Kruglak, 1975: 1-8) Charles Louis Havas. But the Associated Press (AP), According to Alan (1974:212), the biggest wire service world over, was ".. Havas designed a means of sourcing established in the United States news from remote sources for his through the cooperative efforts of subscribers, which were mainly newspaper houses. Similarly, in 1958, businessmen, financial institutions, the United Press International (UP!), the first private owned news agency, Internationul Journal ofCommunication No.3 April 2005 I/'.JPACT OF NAN AND FOREIGN NEWS AGENCIES 208 was founded in the United States, and foreign issues for the Nigerian while the Soviet Union government mass media. (NAN, 1989) established TASS (news agency) to promote and sustain socialist Purposes of NAN ideologies in the region. Although the • To sell and distribute news to initial objective for the establishment of media houses these transnational news agencies was • To complement their coverage of to increase the reception for the news and information coverage of global events being distribution disseminated by the international .• To compensate for the inability media systems, subsequent of some of the Nigerian media communication researches, however, houses to hire correspondents disclosed that the existence of an in order to adequately cover imbalance in the global news flow was both national and international consequent upon the activities of beats foreign wire services. It was upon this • To make Nigerians' voices/views premise that the Mac Bride heard; but equally important, to Commission was set up by UNESCO, serve as an attentive source of basically to investigate the external/foreign news for the communication problems of the Third Nigerian media World countries. MacBride (1980:260) • To facilitate the unity of the in his recommendations advised that, various regional blocs in Nigeria "the promotion of news agencies should as well as to help to promote be integrated within the tradition, the policies and programmes of culture, development objective and the the Federal Government of social political system of each country." Nigeria It was in response to this advice • To counter and redress the that the Union of Africa News Agency global information imbalance in was established in 1963 in Tunis; the favour of Nigeria. Caribbean News Agency in 1976; the Pan African News Agency in Dakar on Statement of the Problem Mav 25. 1983; and Ghana News NAN was set up to complement the Agencv in 1957. But either owing to activities of the Nigerian mass media as logistic problems or indecision, the well as to redress the imbalance in the federal government of Nigeria did not global news flow, which was said to immediately see the need for a national have been created by the five dominant news agency. But following the foreign wire services (AP, AFP, UPI, unfriendly foreign media reports on the TASS and REUTERS). Unfortunately, activities of the federal government recent observations bv some Nigerians during the Nigeria civil war, between revealed that most newspaper houses 1967 and 1970, coupled with the still prefer to use news stories sourced fragile national unity left behind by the by foreign news agencies, thereby war. the federal government decided to dominating the pages of the Nigerian establish the News Agency of Nigeria to newspapers with foreign news that solve those information problems. might not necessarily be relevant to Among other things, NANwas expected our immediate information needs as a to promote our national unity, redress developing nation. the perceived imbalance in the global news flow and source news on local An Interdisciptinary Journut ofConununication Suulie» 209 GODIYIN E. OBOH Objectives and Significance of Participant Media Theory in the Third the Study World nations. This research examined the degree of significance of the news stories sourced Operational Definitions by NAN with those sourced by foreign PreSs: The concept was used news agencies for the same newspaper. interchangeably with The study also assessed the preference newspapers In this NANgave to local, national and foreign study. events in its coverage. Obviously, the Local Events: These were events that findings of this research will help us to occurred in Nigeria know if NAN is "living" in fulfilment of ou tside the Federal its stated objectives. Capital Territory, state Null Hypothesis capitals as well as local HO: There is no significant difference government between NAN stories used by the headquarters. Nigerian newspapers National EventS: These were events that from those of the foreign news occurred within the agencies used by the same papers. Federal Capital Territory, state capitals and all the local Theoretical Framework government Denis McQuail's (1983) Democratic- headquarters in Nigeria. Participation Media Theory offers a Foreign EVents: These were events that useful explanation on the importance took place outside of news agency journalism in media Nigeria. practice, particularly in Third World countries. McQuail completely Review of Literature disagrees with the extreme The idea of news agency is a very commercialization of the private media simple and obvious one. It is natural as well as the bureaucratization of the that a number of individuals or public media system. The theory organizations need some kind of proposes that the existing bureaucracy, information on a regular basis and it coupled with the commercial and makes sense to gather such professional hegemony in media information cooperatively. Indeed, this practice, be broken down to allow easy was what led to the formation of media access to everyone (Folann, Reuters, Associated Press and all other 2002:23-24). major well-known wire services of the The idea of news agency world (Rampaal, 1995:36). journalism tends to suit the suggested The studv conducted by Agba answer to the problem of undue (2002:258) revea.'ls that "the news flow restrictions to media institutions in the imbalance is traceable to the Third World countries. Basically, wire monopolistic grip, which the five services complement media activities transnational news agencies and grant access to people who do not Reuters, UPI, AP, AFP in the West and possess newsworthy personality, like the former Soviet Union's TASS -- have rural dwellers, to contribute to media on mass communication sourcing debate on topical national issues. The globally." It was upon this discovery relevance of wire services to media that most Third World countnes operation is credence to the usefulne~s established wire services, if for nothing and application of the Democratic else, to use them to counter the lnternutionul Journut ofCommunicution No. .1 Apri! l005 IMPACT OF NAN AND FOREIGN NEWS AGENCIES 210 unfriendly foreign media reports on the rural dwellers and lending su pport to Third World and to increase the government policies and programmes. coverage on the events of developing Mgbemena (1989·.169} lends his countries, being reported by the support to this view. He said, "The international media systems. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) is According to Maida (1996: 162), " the expected to boost the coverage of establishment of national news Nigerian affairs which the global media agencies in the developing world has system neglect, and to assist in been largely inspired by the perceived addressing the imbalance in the need for a "free and balanced flow" of present international order". information in the global context." This becomes necessary, Research Design because the news on the technological The research design for this study is breakthroughs of the industrialized content analysis. The rationale for nations of the world are constantly choosing this research design is being disseminated by