EVALUATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF TELEVISION IN POLITICAL EDUCATION: A STUDY OF NIGERIAN TELEVISION AUTHORITY
ABSTRACT
This study is targeted at examining the ways in which NTA political education programs influence its audience. The study which was premised on viewers from Awka metropolis seek to find the available NTA’s programs that are targeted at political education of Nigerian citizens; respondents’ level of exposure and their perceptions of these political education programs aired in the station. Social responsibility and agenda setting theories were adopted to provide theoretical background to the study while survey research design was used as the method. Based on empirical findings, the political educational programs increase knowledge of political issues among respondents but did not encourage political participation among them. Findings also revealed that rather than understand political education programs as public services, the audience see it as a separate program meant for the politicians alone. The study therefore concluded that the due to negligence of end of programs evaluation among media organizations, the reason for audience non-compliance to programs requirements are not divulged. It was also concluded that political education programs does not transcend to political participation among respondents. From the above findings and conclusion, the researchers recommended that media organization should understand programs dissemination as a research based activity which requires evaluation once aired and that rather than detaching themselves from being part of the contents of political educational programs, the citizens should see it as a public service made for everyone’s consumption and utilization.