Abstract: The role of the mass media in societies has always been to inform, educate and entertain. Thus, the mass media are tools for accelerating development, it is therefore, not surprising that the concept of development communication has been brought to bear on society by communication scholars. While the mass media have been variously used for development communication, this study examined how local newspapers have been used in the development process in Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the extent to which local newspapers reported development and Non - development Information. It is in this context that the study investigated the incidences of development - oriented and Non development information in five Nigerian Local Newspapers, hypothesizing that the newspapers would present more development - oriented than Non development information and that the development - oriented issues would be diversified. The result of the content - analysis aspect of the study revealed that the local newspapers were more Non developmental in their orientation than developmental. The interview aspect of the study, however, did not sustain the hypothesis that the issues of development would be diversified as findings/result indicated that the papers presented political issues as the leading/ dominant coverage. Indications from the findings suggest that sustained development in the localities in Nigeria requires reportage of diverse development - oriented than Non development issues.
Keywords: Development Communication, Development Information, local newspapers, Owners/Editors Positions.
Title: DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION IN NIGERIA’S LOCAL NEWSPAPERS
Author: ALEX ELOHO UMUERRI, EBENEZER OLUDAYO SOOLA
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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