PATTERN OF MEDIA PRACTICE IN POST-NWICO: THE IMPLICATION FOR NIGERIA UNDER DEMOCRATIC DISPENSATION

Abstract

No doubt, the New World Information and Communication Order was a failure on the part of the
developing countries, the Post New World Information Order has taken media practice to another
heights. The paper is an empirical study of the trends of media practice in Nigeria with emphasis
on democratic dispensation. The study made use of in-depth interview of practicing journalists
from broadcast and print media houses. The finding from these media practitioners revealed that
with the emergence of democracy in 1999, media practice in Nigeria witnessed series of changes
which include: the establishment of more F.M stations; the commercialization and privatization
of media services; the use of computer and internet technology in radio, television, and print
media houses; the commercialization of news; the continuous sustenance of the News Agency
of Nigeria as purveyor of Nigeria Foreign Policy; the emergence of entrepreneurship practice in
Nigeria media; the passage of Freedom of Information Act ; and the use of smart phones as tool
of news reporting and writing.