INFLUENCE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNALISM ON CONTENT

CREATION: A STUDY OF SELECT NIGERIAN JOURNALISTS

BY

AKINSELURE, OLAWALE FRANKLIN

MATRIC NO: 151756

A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF

ARTS (B.A.) IN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND

LANGUAGE ARTS, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF

IBADAN, NIGERIA

i

NOVEMBER, 2012

CERTIFICATION

I certify that this research was carried out by AKINSELURE,

OLAWALE FRANKLIN Matriculation Number 151756 in the

Department of Communication and Language Arts, Faculty of

Arts, University of Ibadan under my supervision.

…………………………… ……………………………………….

Date B. R. OJEBUYI Ph.D

Department of

Communication and

Language Arts, University

of Ibadan, Nigeria

ii

DEDICATION

This research is dedicated to God the Father, God the Son

and God the Holy Spirit who has guarded my journey in life

thus far. This research is also dedicated to the memory of

my late dad, Mr Franklin Olawanle Akinselure and late

guardian, Otunba Tony Adebamowo.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

All glory be to God Almighty whose will for my life is being

done by the day. In particular, I thank Him for directing my

life thus far.

With all sense of gratitude, I wish to appreciate my

mum, Mrs Dorcas Arinola Akinselure, for her love and care. I

thank you Mum for your prayers and sacrifices to ensure that

I become a successful person in life. Undoubtedly, you are

the best Mum in the world. I also recognize the support of

my lovely siblings: Yemi, Bode and Elizabeth.

I really appreciate the efforts of my brilliant

supervisor, Dr Babatunde Raphael Ojebuyi who was committed

to ensuring that this work turns out well and meets

professional standards. I wish to thank all the lecturers in

my department that have imparted me with the needed skills

to live a fulfilling life. They are: Dr Ayo Ojebode, Dr E.

O. Soola, Dr. B. A. Laninhun, Dr O. O. Oyewo, Dr Bisi

iv

Olawuyi, Dr (Mrs) Andah, Dr Nkechi Christopher, Dr Yinka

Egbokhare and Mr Pius Omole. I also acknowledge the support

of Mr Demola Lewis of the Department of Linguistics and

African Languages and Dr A. B. Sunday of the Department of

English who offered assistance when requested.

I recognise all my colleagues, (the 2012 undergraduate

graduating set) and pray that we shall all attain great

heights in life to the glory of God. I appreciate the

support of my aunts and uncles: Mr and Mrs Ibukun Olasogba,

Mr and Mrs Akingbasote, Mrs Omotayo and Mr and Mrs Kehinde

Olasogba.

I thank everyone that I have met in the course of my

study in this great institution. I, specifically, wish to

appreciate my four close friends, who exhibited true

friendship all through my three years in school: Peju

Irekiigbe, Deborah Alo, Rasheedat Adekola, Idowu Awoyemi.

v

I also thank Edward Dickson (Editor-in-Chief, Nigerian

Tribune), Yemisi Oludipe, Tunde Badru, Rafiu Adebayo, Akin

Obimakinde, Moses Alao, Ridwan Kolawole, Fisayo Shoyombo who

assisted in the course of this research. May God bless us

all.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Title Page

Certification i

Dedication

ii

Acknowledgements

iii - iv

Table of Contents v

- vii

List of tables

viii - ix

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study 1

- 7

vii

1.2 Emergence of Entrepreneurial Journalism

8 - 13

1.3 Statement of the Problem

13 - 14

1.4 Research Questions

14

1.5 Purposes of the Study

14 - 15

1.6 Significance of the Study

15 - 16

1.7 Scope of the Study

16

1.8 Limitations of the Study

17

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

viii

2.0 Introduction

18

2.1 Theoretical Framework

19

2.1.1 Dramaturgical Theory

19 - 21

2.1.1.1 Components of the Dramaturgical Theory

21 - 24

2.1.2 Gatekeeping Theory

25 - 30

2.1.3 Social Responsibility Theory

30 - 37

2.1.4 Statutory News Values and the Redefinition of

Professional Journalism 37 - 49

2.1.5 Theory of Newsworthiness

49 – 51ix

2.1.6 Relevance of Theories to the Study

52 - 53

2.2 Entrepreneurial Journalism

53 - 63

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

64

3.1 Research Design

64 - 65

3.2 Population

65

3.3 Sampling Technique

65 - 66

3.4 Sample Size

66

x

3.5 Research Instruments

66 - 67

3.6 Validity and Reliability of Instruments

67

3.7 Method of Data Collection

68

3.8 Method of Data Analysis

69

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

4.0 Introduction

70

4.1 Demographic Data

70 - 75

4.2 Non-Demographic Data

75 - 104

xi

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

105

5.1 Summary

105 - 107

5.2 Conclusion

107 - 109

5.3 Recommendations

109 - 110

References

111 - 117

Appendices

118 - 123

LIST OF TABLES

xii

Table 4.1 Distribution of respondents by Gender

71

Table 4.2 Distribution of respondents by Age

71

Table 4.3 Respondents’ years of work experience

72

Table 4.4 Respondents’ Course of study

73

Table 4.5 Academic Qualification of Respondents

74

Table 4.6 Principal Media Organisation of Respondents

75

Table 4.7 News as a marketing commodity for all media

organisations 76

Table 4.8 By-line as a means to sell the journalist

77

Table 4.9 The most influential in news selection and pattern

of news content 77

Table 4.10 Journalists view of content creation being

business-oriented 78

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Table 4.11 Journalists’ underlying motive then they

create content 79

for publication or broadcast

Table 4.12 Extent to which the audience is at the mercy

of gatekeeping 80

decisions and in-house policies

Table 4.13 Most prised interest when content is created

for publication 81

or broadcast

Table 4.14 Extent to which news values determine

newsworthiness 85

Table 4.15 The greatest determinant of news story that

is finally published 86

Table 4.16 Extent to which the mass media is performing

her 87

social responsibility role

Table 4.17 Extent to which professional and ethical

journalism has been 87

redefined

xiv

Table 4.18 The advent of the Internet as a reason for

the profit-oriented 92

nature of the mainstream media

Table 4.19 Ways in which journalists have been able to

tap into 93

advantages brought by advent of the Internet

Table 4.20 Awareness of journalists on the Internet as

an opportunity to 94

carve a niche for themselves by owning a blog site

Table 4.21 Journalists’ ownership of other avenues for

generating revenues 95

apart from working for their principal media

organisation

Table 4.22 Journalists’ disposition towards the adoption

of entrepreneurial 95

journalism

Table 4.23 Journalists’ determination towards owning

their media outfit 96

xv

Table 4.24 Journalists and entrepreneurial education

during their 97

course of study

Table 4.25 The envisaged future of journalism

98

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Aliagan (2006) observes that there is a consensus among

historians, journalists and scholars of Africa that modern

journalism in Nigeria was pioneered by Reverend Henry

Townsend. “Journalism is information. It is also

communication. It is the events of the day distilled into a

few words, sounds or pictures, processed by the mechanics of

xvi

communication to satisfy the human curiosity of a world that

is always eager to know what is new” Adedokun (2006:3).

Consequent upon technological advancement, particularly

since the advent of the Internet in the 1960s and the new

media, the professional practice of journalism has continued

to become more diversified; the now pervasive trend of

participatory or citizen journalism classically reveals this

changing situation. McGregor (2002:1) notes “Journalism

faces a crisis of faith, pressured by technological change,

market forces and its own loss of confidence. Journalism

must reassess its fundamental tenets.”According to Nowacki

(2011:6):

This is a time of upheaval – a revolution,many argue – of the entire journalismphilosophy and newsroom culture. This isthe time to make mistakes, to throw out

xvii

some of the old rules, to accept thatthings won’t go back to the way they wereand that being a journalist right now isscary and murky – and very exciting.

The implication of the foregoing assertion by Nowacki

is that journalists must be dynamic to remain relevant in

our ever-changing world. With current technology, media

personnel are not mandated to report to the newsroom at the

beginning and at the end of the day, but, can send their

reports from wherever they are, to their media houses,

either as moonlighters or freelancers. Similarly, the era of

fortress journalism has been eroded by new styles of

journalistic practice that unfold by the day. Coupled with a

world where members of the public want news content free,

proprietors of media houses are in continuous struggle to

remain in business. Expressing the palpable end of fortress

journalism, Horrocks (2009:6) says:

… the fortresses are crumbling and courtlyjousts with fellow journalists are nolonger impressing the crowds … Internet-based journalism may be the most

xviii

significant to this business collapse. Butthe cultural impact on what the audiencewants from journalism is as big a factor aseconomics.

Evidently, the advent of the Internet has provided the

audience with variegated sources of information. This

threatens the nobility of the profession, bringing about a

new line of operation and outlook. Journalists, therefore,

using different media of information dissemination, must

strike a balance between satisfying the audience and serving

the interests of their proprietors. Bhaskar (2005:3) opines

that,

higher levels of manipulation of news,analysis and public affairs information tosuit the owners’ financial and politicalinterests; prejudice and propagandamasquerading as professional journalism;the downgrading and devaluing of editorialfunctions in some cases; the growingwillingness of newspapers in the drive fordominance to tailor editorial styles totarget the space created by … homogenizinginfluences … in segmented markets; andcreeping corruption are deeply worryingtendencies that media houses have tograpple with.

xix

Communication scholars agree that the socio political

environment affects media content, and that, the news media

reflect the distribution of social and political power in

the society. To remain in business, nowadays, editors must

consider the interests of several stakeholders in both their

immediate and outer society. These stakeholders make the

news and finance the news. Also, the sacredness of the front

page of the newspaper is being eroded as it is not uncommon

to see a well-paid advertorial take the entire front page of

a newspaper. This is in line with the position of media

gurus who note that some media owners or proprietors

actually establish media houses to further their interest

and ambition. This trend is stealthily redefining

professional journalism.

With the continued ownership of media houses by

entrepreneurs, the debate over whether journalism should be

service-oriented or profit-oriented has remained

xx

inconclusive. Siebert, Peterson and Schramm cited by Folarin

(1998) observe that the press mode of operation is dictated

by the social and political structures within which it

operates. However, not only social and political structures

dictate press operation in modern times, but developments in

media technology has mandated media houses to keep up with

time or become defunct. This has led to increasing costs of

running media houses turning journalists to entrepreneurs in

a bid to sustain both themselves and the profession.

As observed by Folarin (2001:27), “… the commercial

development of the press and unforeseen developments in

media technology has tended to limit access to the media for

individuals and groups, and to consecrate media power in the

hands of few businessmen (advertisers) and media

professionals who had the means to set up media empires.”

Evidently, with entrepreneurs at the helm of affairs, the

xxi

preponderant ‘service mode’ of mass communication will be

substituted by the ‘profit motive’.

Schudson (2001) argues that there is a strong

inclination for journalists to pride themselves on having

chosen a profession where money is not god, and are inclined

to think themselves purer than the rest of the world,

untainted by the love of filthy lucre. Furthermore, Schudson

posits that the success of journalism in developed countries

around the world like America is connected with the

preposterous amount of money invested by individual

entrepreneurs.

More than ever, current developments in the profession,

where members of the public want news content free, has

brought up the issue of whether journalism should be

service-oriented or profit-oriented. On the one hand, the

profit motive places the media at the mercy of big

businessmen (advertisers and media conglomerates); on the

xxii

other hand, the service motive obliges the media to pander

to low public taste under the pretext that they are giving

the public what it wants. Also, this need to adapt to

changing times is threatening the nobility of the profession

and the upheld ethics of journalism is being subsumed to

accommodate change. Proprietors of media houses, probably in

a bid to remain in business, now practise entrepreneurial

journalism.

Entrepreneurial Journalism describes afield of media where journalism is theunderlying discipline upon which to createcontent-based business and services thatcan make money. Entrepreneurial journalismoffers the chance to think of contentcreation in business terms. Entrepreneurialjournalism entails a mash-up of freelancer,enterprising beat reporter, nichepublisher, small business owner … the ideaof entrepreneurial journalism is somethingtotally new – new distribution and revenuemodels, more audience engagement, a nicheor hyper-local focus (Nowacki, 2011:17).

Rather than the popular view of journalism as a type of

objective professional public service to be provided to the

xxiii

citizenry of the world, entrepreneurial journalism offers

the chance to think of content creation in business terms;

consequently, media personnel monetise their contents. The

contents of newspapers, therefore, have become commodities

aimed at selling not only the newspaper but also the writer.

As applicable in marketing, journalists cum media houses

also have their target markets whom they try to please and

ensure that such persons remain loyal to the organisation.

As entrepreneurial journalism gains popularity, this field

also has the potential to change the way that we find and

consume information, and change our world in the process.

Entrepreneurial journalism is a mind-set aimed at

creating other avenues to generate money thereby enhancing

the usual revenue stream: advertisement, sales and

subscription (Nowacki, 2011). Consequently, “news content is

merely the bait to attract the audience and add credibility

to the advertising messages that accompany it” Gutierrez

xxiv

(1987:88). This presupposes that the public is at the mercy

of content curators (journalists alongside editors) who

provide them with stories that tilt more towards

entrepreneurial considerations than content based on

stipulated news values.

Galtung and Ruge cited by McGregor (2002) identify

eight factors that determine newsworthiness: frequency,

threshold including absolute intensity and intensity

increase, unambiguity, meaningfulness including cultural

proximity and relevance, consonance involving both

predictability and demand, unexpectedness including

unpredictability and scarcity, continuity and composition.

Also, Tsfati, Meyers and Peri (2006) point out that the

three core news values of the journalism profession are,

“Objectivity, Neutrality and Fact verification.” However,

while the concept of newsworthiness will endure as long as

there is news, core news values are not necessarily

xxv

immutable (McGregor, 2002). In the same vein, Herrman (2010)

posit that ownership is the most important determinant of

the type of news that is presented in the news media.

Herrman further maintains that the media could sacrifice

news objectivity where there is conflict of interest.

The trend of entrepreneurial journalism is growing but

in no time will totally dictate the practice of journalism.

The press in Nigeria, for example, is largely commercialised

due to the requirement of big capital to run media

organisations. “It was recognised that commercialisation of

news influenced fairness, accuracy, unbiased and factual

reports of events” (Momoh 2003:151). Consequently,

journalists and editors are being indoctrinated by their

proprietors to understand and practise entrepreneurial

journalism. However, not only editors but also journalists

allow this entrepreneurial mind-set determine their

selection of stories. The increase in freelancers in Nigeria

xxvi

further lends credence to journalists’ crave for

independence so as to effectively monetize their content and

in turn sell each of their stories. Therefore the long-

standing debate of journalism simply as public service or

for profit making continues.

Nowacki (2011) observes that forward looking professors

of mass communication in universities around the world are

beginning to include entrepreneurial journalism as a course

in their curriculum both at undergraduate and postgraduate

levels, which further attests to the emerging set of

‘journopreneurs’. Notably, there is no widely accepted

definition of entrepreneurial journalism as some media

scholars regard it as just a coinage. Simply put, though, an

entrepreneurial journalist is both a journalist and an

entrepreneur. With the crave for maximum profit by media

practitioners and increasing condescending of core news

values, the content of newspapers, which is the visible

xxvii

product, might be affected by this underlying invisible

factor, resulting in the dissemination of largely padded

stories to Nigerians. This study, therefore, seeks to

discover the extent to which this entrepreneurial mind-set

of media personnel influences the final contents of

newspapers.

1.2 EMERGENCE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNALISM

Journalism can be described as the gathering of information

and subsequent dissemination of packaged contents, via the

print or electronic media, to a large, heterogeneous

audience. Journalism as defined by Agoro and Popoola

(2004:1) “is an art of earning one’s living through writing

for the print and electronic media.” Journalism, which

originally was referred to as the occupation of writing for

xxviii

journals (Agoro and Popoola, 2004), has evolved to be

regarded as a noble profession. The nobility of the

profession boils down to strict adherence by journalists to

ethics of professional practice. According to Hargreaves

cited by Allan (2005), the ethic of truthfulness and

accuracy lies at the heart of journalism.

Over the years, journalism has gone through several

phases of development. Aliagan (2006) citing Steinberg

states that Johannes Guttenberg was the first to print with

the movable type – a technological breakthrough that made

possible an extraordinary communication revolution in the

15th century. This breakthrough, evidently, encouraged the

development of other media of mass communication to meet up

with the pace of societal progress around the world.

Scholars note that the three traditional functions of the

mass media are: Information, Education and Entertainment

(Raufu, 2003). The press represents truth; and publications

xxix

or broadcasts are taken hook, line and sinker by the public.

In fact, it was discovered that media reports on particular

issues influence people’s thoughts, actions and way of life.

The Agenda-setting theory and Uses and Gratification theory

attest to this.

The ‘magic bullet’ power of the press was recognised by

government, corporate firms and private individuals hence

there arose vested interests in the ownership and control of

media houses. Suffice to say that the society within which

the press operates is a key determinant of the effective or

ineffective performance of such press. For example, Ibelema

(2002:156) encapsulates Nigeria’s press history thus:

“The Nigerian early press was inspired bypolitical advocacy, first as a crusader forthe rights of Nigerians under colonialism,then for political independence and then asthe voice of partisan/sectional politicalcauses after independence was within reachor attained. Thus, some of Nigeria’s earlypolitical luminaries were also newspaperproprietors. The most notable were HerbertMacaulay, Nnamdi Azikwe, and Obafemi

xxx

Awolowo … Political divisions, from thefederal government to the regional and morerecently state governments, also own thenews media.”

Evidently, the quest for independence made newspaper

proprietors lose track of their earlier nationalist

struggle. Therefore rather live up to its social

responsibility of informing the public, news contents became

largely politicised stirring up tribal, sectional and ethnic

crisis. Consequently, the press became a tool for

entrepreneurs that can afford to own a media house, to

foster their selfish interests. This development showed that

the Nigerian press could easily adapt to changing socio-

political atmosphere of the country. In fact, till today,

major publishing houses are covertly affiliated with one

political party, movement or government as their political

sympathies are readily discernible if not transparent in

contents of newspapers.

xxxi

Technological advancement, however, has put journalism

on a fast lane. For example, media organisations require

state-of-the-art equipment to align with the demands of

modern journalism. Global media is therefore concentrated in

the hands of few businesspeople. For example, Rupert Murdoch

oversees a media empire that stretches from New York to

Hongkong (Atkins, 2002). In addition, Atkins notes that even

in the world’s largest and most diverse democracy, India,

the press is largely owned by just a handful of business

groups. “The club of media owners is becoming more exclusive

everywhere” (McChesney, 1999:79). Meanwhile, De Uriarte

(2000:21) cited by Atkins sums up the challenge facing

journalists in this global economy:

Obviously, today there are somesimilarities between the role of a pressconstricted by an authoritarian governmentand that of a press constrained by aprofit-driven corporation. In both cases,content and participation are narrowlyconstructed, albeit more by thought-manipulation than by daily brutality.

xxxii

Regardless, such systems both serve theends of those who control.

One can draw from this assertion that there is a thin

line between government and private ownership of the media.

While the government owned media’s contents are loaded with

propaganda, journalists in private owned media organisations

pander to the interests of their proprietors.

The advent of the Internet in the 1980s, blog sites and

more recently the social media has compelled mainstream

media to reshape its ideals. Nowacki (2001) says it is a

development that is more novel than the Gutenberg

innovation. The Internet has foisted a new culture upon

mainstream journalism. And to remain relevant journalists

have to be versed in the use of modern tools of Internet-

based or Online journalism. “So journalists will need

changed culture, changed organisation and an improved

understanding of the modern tools of journalism – audience

insights, blogging, Twitter, multimedia production”

xxxiii

(Horrocks, 2009:18). This meant increased sources of

information. With devices like iPads, iPhones, Blackberry

and smart phones, every one practiced journalism – citizen

journalism. More than ever, news and information were

disseminated as they broke via blogs, facebook, and twitter.

News organisations (newspapers) which peculiarly publish the

day’s stories the following day unsurprisingly began to

lament a decline in newspapers sales. Consequently,

newspapers developed Internet versions of their newspapers

to be up-to-the minute with changing times and increasing

demands of news consumers.

The challenge for the mainstream media is that Citizen

journalism and Internet journalism have come to stay, hence

it is appropriate for media organisations to focus on

carving a niche audience and constantly meeting their needs

and preferences. This means more concentration on market-

driven journalism. In addition, the Internet has opened up

xxxiv

more opportunities for journalists to explore resulting in

the crave for more independence in their operations. Also,

the era of journalists mandatorily putting their stories

through an editorial filter is gradually becoming out

fashioned. Furthermore, students of journalism are faced

with a humbling reality: their undergraduate degrees,

internships, awards, and news clips were not enough to land

a full-time journalism job, at least not the kind of job

they wanted (Berkey-Gerard, 2012). Consequently, cub and

practicing journalists must be imbued with entrepreneurial

skills to make a living out of the journalistic profession.

Entrepreneurship has been defined as the ability to

apply a set of behaviours, attitudes, and skills to a

successful business venture (Herman, 2010). Entrepreneurial

journalism, therefore, means a combination of one’s

journalistic skills with an entrepreneurial mind set. The

entrepreneurial journalist therefore is more of a specialist

xxxv

than a generalist; and must utilize all available platforms

to pioneer new business models. The Internet is a veritable

platform for entrepreneurial journalism. Online journalism

offers journalists an opportunity to carve a niche for

themselves by publishing contents meant for a target

audience, and subsequently attract sponsorship which in turn

generates profit.

Increasing online startups via blogs and the social

media further reveal that entrepreneurial journalism should

be embraced by journalists. The increase in the number of

journalists who work as freelancers and moonlighters further

points to the new trend of journalism. In her research,

Herman surveyed 800 web publications and identified a list

of ‘promising online local news sites’ that demonstrate

journalistic content, practices, engagement, frequency and a

serious attempt at developing a sustainable business model

(Herman, 2010).

xxxvi

Also Nowacki (2011) notes that aside from creating

contents as part of new stand-alone organizations, more and

more individuals with journalism backgrounds will be sought

after by companies to create and organize content on their

behalf. This, Nowacki refers to as ‘Journalists-In-

Residence’ which will become a part of large companies,

thereby opening up yet another entrepreneurial career path

for those with journalism training.

Evidently, the more stoic traditional media remains,

the greater the opportunity for the proliferation of online

niche news sites. This, however, means that the journalist

as a content curator publishes contents to suit the

interests of a target audience – which may be few people –

without also eroding his personal interest. Increasingly,

entrepreneurship is a stated goal of journalism education.

Courses and advanced degrees in entrepreneurial journalism

are offered at many universities (Benkoil, Jarvis, Paley

xxxvii

Center for Media, and Chung cited by Berkey-Gerard, 2012).

These developments reveal that entrepreneurial journalism is

the new trend of journalism as well as the future of

journalism.

1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It is observed that a large proportion of mass communication

research have focused on the contents of the media,

including the role of news values in the selection of news,

news sources and the characteristic structure of media

institutions. Such research works have found eloquent

expression in dominant and popular mass communication

theories like Social Responsibility, Agenda-setting, Uses

and Gratification and Media Imperialism. While researches

using Agenda setting theory have focused on the effect of

news content on the audience, Uses and Gratification theory

has been successful in identifying at a rather general level

the audience’s orientation toward and motivation for media

xxxviii

use (Jensen, 1998). Agenda setting theory asserts a direct,

casual relationship between the journalistic content of the

media agenda and subsequent public perception of what the

important issues of the day are (McNair, 1999). Obviously,

many researches have focused on content creation and

structure to the neglect of journalists that determine the

content; researchers have neglected the mind-set of

individual journalists in creating these contents and their

underlying motive behind their ordering of these news values

in selecting particular news stories for publication. This

neglect is a gap in our knowledge which this study seeks to

fill.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. To what extent do entrepreneurial considerations by

media personnel influence content development?

2. To what extent do news values determine the contents

that are published?

xxxix

3. To what extent are professional journalists imbued with

entrepreneurial skills?

1.5 PURPOSES OF THE STUDY

This study seeks to examine the extent to which content

curators (editors and journalists) consider financial

returns in developing news content from the stage of

gathering information to writing, editing and then

publishing. With technological advancement and the

increasing cost of running media houses, this study shall

discover the degree of influence of this mind-set by media

practitioners on content development.

Furthermore, this study aims to find out if news values

and other ethical considerations, in the face of the

changing world, still remain a paramount factor in selecting

news for print or broadcast. In addition, this study intends

to discover the position of news values on the continuum of

xl

factors, like profit making, that determine the final

content that is published or broadcast.

Technological advancement has resulted in changed

culture, a new line of operation and outlook. To be up-to-

date with changing times, journalism scholars advocate for

increased emphasis on entrepreneurial journalism education.

In addition, media organisations increasingly demand for

journalists that are multi skilled than specialists. This

study, therefore, seeks to discover the extent to which

journalists have come to terms with the need to be

entrepreneurially inclined.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study shall benefit students and scholars of

journalism, media personnel, practising journalists,

researchers and media policy makers. With few literatures

in this emerging field of journalism, this research shall

serve as a basis for further research into the influence of

xli

entrepreneurial journalism on content creation by the mass

media. In addition, this research shall add to the clamour

for the inclusion of entrepreneurial journalism in the

curriculum of mass communication and journalism departments

around the world. It is worthy to note that entrepreneurial

journalism is now a course in some tertiary institutions

around the world like in the United States. As a result,

students of journalism will be enlightened on the

requirements for working with and owning a media house in an

increasingly competitive world. Nonetheless being

professionally ethical in conduct and practices, practicing

journalists will be made to see the need to be dynamic in

their practice. This study shall emphasize the need for

media policy makers to be fluid and flexible in formulating

ethics guiding the profession, so that media practitioners

can effectively cope with challenges of our ever-changing

world.

xlii

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study focuses on selected journalists working with

media organisations located on the Lagos-Ibadan axis, South

Western region of the country. This refers to media

personnel who are members of staff of print and broadcast

media organisations situated on the Lagos-Ibadan axis of the

Nigerian media. The Lagos-Ibadan axis of the Nigerian media

was chosen because the bulk of media houses in the country

are located on this axis. In addition, the researcher chose

this location because of accessibility and nearness to the

place where the study was conducted. Moreover, a large

number of media organisations on this axis have a nationwide

reach. Selected journalists from these media organisations

shall provide both the qualitative and quantitative data

required for this study.

1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

xliii

The study examined selected Nigerian journalists. This is a

minor segment of the total number of journalists in the

country. Due to the taxing nature of the journalism

profession and busy schedule of journalists, the researcher

had to go to journalists’ beats and offices times without

number before the questionnaire could be administered,

filled and returned. It therefore took a lot of tact, skill

and perseverance on the part of the researcher to convince

practicing journalists to carve out some time to fill the

questionnaire. Similarly, the researcher had to book

appointments with journalists over again before interview

sessions could be granted.

xliv

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 INTRODUCTION

Recent research works in journalism conclude that the advent

of Internet has opened up several opportunities for the

journalist to carve a niche for him/herself as well as being

an entrepreneur. This trend tends to grapple with highly

held news determinants thereby redefining professional

journalism. This chapter, considering relevant theories and

empirical studies, shall critically examine this emerging

phase of journalism under the following headings:

Dramaturgical theory

Components of the Dramaturgical theory

Gatekeeping theory

Social Responsibility theory

xlv

Statutory news values and the redefinition of

professional journalism

Theory of Newsworthiness

Entrepreneurial Journalism

2.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

It is a norm for every research work to be entrenched upon a

theoretical background. A theory is a set of statements

relating different aspects of some phenomenon (Folarin,

1998). Wood (2004) notes that theories have one or more of

four goals: description (using symbols to represent

phenomena identifying key features), explanation (clarify

how and why something works), prediction (project what will

happen to a phenomenon under specified conditions) or

understanding (provide insight into why something is as it

xlvi

is or why certain things happen). Consequently, theories

provide the needed framework in conducting any research. In

this light, this study shall be located in the

Dramaturgical, Gatekeeping, Newsworthiness and Social

Responsibility theories.

2.1.1 DRAMATURGICAL THEORY

This theory was propounded by Erving Goffman in one of his

books “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life” in 1959

(Wood, 2004). This theory likens social interaction to

theatrical performance. The people who are acting are the

actors; those who watch are the audience. The roles people

(or actors) take in interaction are performances

strategically crafted to project particular image to others,

the audience. Within a drama are a number of specific

scenes, each of which must be managed correctly for the

overall drama to be successful. Goffman sees all human

interaction as, in some ways, very much like a grand play.

xlvii

For Goffman, the subject matter of dramaturgical sociology

is the creation, maintenance, and destruction of common

understandings of reality by people working individually and

collectively to present a shared and unified image of that

reality (Kivisto and Pittman, 2007).

Beyond the metaphor of social life as dramatic ritual,

Goffman cited by Wood (2004) senses the potential for

alienation brought about because of the problems of

authentically embracing a role rather than feeling a certain

ambivalence or distance from it. Goffman, however, does not

believe in a “self” in the traditional sense; that is, we

cannot discuss people’s selves abstracted from their social

situations. He writes:

This self itself does not derive from itspossessor, but from the whole scene of hisaction … this self is a product of a scenethat comes off, and not a cause of it. Theself, then, as a performed character, isnot an organic thing that has specificlocation … (the individual and his body)merely provide the peg on which something

xlviii

of collaborative manufacture will be hungfor a time. And the means for producing andmaintaining selves do not reside inside thepeg. (Goffman cited by Kivisto and Pittman,2007:273).

Goffman argues here that the self is not an entity that

is in some sense antecedent to its enactment, but rather

that it arises in the very process of performance. What is

crucial is a recognition that, for Goffman, talking about

the individual as some sort of autonomous agent is

incorrect; rather the individual should be thought of always

in relationship to a social whole. Thus, the fundamental

unit of social analysis, according to Goffman cited by Wood

(2004), is not the individual but rather what he refers to

as the “team”. Kivisto and Pittman (2007:252) citing Goffman

writes that “a teammate is someone whose dramaturgical

cooperation one is dependent upon in fostering a given

definition of the situation.” Teams, then, are responsible

for the creation of perceptions of reality in social

settings. The crux of his dramaturgical social theory is

xlix

that the analysis of how teams cooperate to foster

particular impressions of reality reveals a complex system

of interactions that, in many ways, is like the presentation

of a play. Goffman assumes that his theory could be applied

to all social activities, but it is especially visible in

certain commercial settings.

Kivisto and Pittman (2007) note that the dramaturgical

theory emphasizes Impression management, that is, people

manage the impression they create. We are sometimes more

effective than at other times in convincing others to accept

the impressions of us that we desire, but we are always

managing how we come across (Wood, 2004).

2.1.1.1 COMPONENTS OF THE DRAMATURGICAL THEORY

Journalism is a profession where different actors are

assigned several roles to perform. This performance,

presented to the audience, is an interpretation of a well-

crafted script. Other factors like the individual’s or

l

organisation’s identity and creation of the right platform

for dissemination are key in ensuring that the message is

deciphered by the audience as intended by the journalist.

Goffman says that this is accomplished by using the tools of

the theatre. The tools of the theatre used in creating a

coherent picture of reality are a collaboration of a

convincing performance, complete with roles, scripts,

costumes, and a stage.

ROLES

A crucial component of Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor is

the role. Generally, the role is the particular image that a

single actor wants to convey. It is the essence, the

contrived sense of self, that the individual wants to

project to the world. The motive behind the message being

passed across requires individuals to adopt the traits

necessary to the understanding of the reality they want to

project. Professionals in various fields are expected to be

li

capable of taking up different roles as such demands.

Professionals claim to be experts in identifying audience

needs and are experts in providing solution to certain

problems in which the public has a substantial interest.

This is done by applying specialized skills and offering

expert advice. Every actor or actress must perform their

roles to ensure a perfect presentation. More importantly, no

matter how well an actor or actress understands his or her

role, he or she must be capable of conveying it to the

audience. In Goffman’s sociology, the common or shared

understanding of reality is “reality”. An actor who cannot

manipulate the common understanding successfully will be a

failure. Goffman’s sociology, then, is the study of how

people get other people to see things in a certain way. They

do this, he claims, by using a variety of theatrical tools.

SCRIPTS

lii

Perhaps, the most important means of getting an audience to

understand a role is a script; certainly theatre as we know

it relies on scripts. Goffman claims that scripts are vital

to interpersonal interaction as well as mass communication.

Though, most interpersonal interaction is relatively

improvisational – we make it up as we go along. In everyday

life, however, some elements of conversation are pretty well

scripted; we borrow from a stock of well-worn scripts.

Commercial settings often make use of increasingly

formalized scripts, which can provide distinct advantages to

all parties. A script could be used to control and limit an

actor’s autonomy. It could also specify a particular role

that an actor or actress has to adopt. In addition, actors

and actresses are expected to interpret the script in the

best possible manner. The script is also used to control the

customer, to get him or her to see reality the way the

performer sees it. In a play, the script is often the most

important aspect of an actor’s role.

liii

COSTUMES

One element that is crucial to actors is the potential

impact of their costumes. This is because what people are

wearing is probably the quickest way to form an impression

of them and their social status. Before a word is uttered in

a play, we can size up characters on stage: the one wearing

tattered rags is probably much poorer than the one wearing a

fine suit. In the same way, an individual’s wardrobe is

vital to presenting to the audience his or her particular

role in the drama being played out at the moment. Costumes

are tools to represent an individual’s personality or

organization’s identity. Not all costumes are intended to

say the same things; hence, they must be fitting to the

occasion at hand. As situations change, costumes must change

to truly represent the current reality.

STAGES AND SETS

liv

The other major tool the actor can employ to control

audience reaction is the stage and its setting. The physical

environment of a play, then, can provide a context for the

action that is to follow, locating it at a particular point

in space and time in the audience’s mind. Similarly, the use

of the physical environment can establish a context for

social interaction; if used skilfully, it can help one team

convince the other to adopt the preferred understanding of

reality. Stages can be divided into front and back stage.

The front stage is what confronts the audience – what they

see; while the back stage is a place where all the support

activities necessary for maintaining the performance on the

main stage will go on. The front stage is visible to the

audience. The back stage is where actors can act in ways

that might undermine their front stage performances.

According to Lyman and Scott cited by Kivisto and

Pittman (2007:287), “Goffman seems to see that a brooding

lv

and suspicious sense of inauthenticity is the basic

condition of performative human existence.” McQuail

(2005:378) cites Tuchman who sees Goffman as the originator

of the idea that a frame is needed to organise otherwise

fragmentary items of experience or information. Tuchman

notes that, in a journalistic context, stories are given

meaning by reference to some particular news value that

connects one event with other similar ones. Suffice to say

that, competent communicators know how to keep backstage

behaviours out of view of the audience so that they don’t

invalidate the front stage performance (Wood, 2004).

2.1.2 GATEKEEPING THEORY

The term “gatekeeper” was coined by Kurt Lewin in 1947 to

describe those individuals who control food channels and use

within groups during the World War II. Lewin realized that

housewives were key gatekeepers who controlled what food

entered the “channels” that ultimately bring it from the

lvi

garden or supermarket into the household and ultimately onto

the dining-room table (Roberts, 2005). Hence, all along the

way, forces exert pressure to accept or reject food. Lewin

subsequently asserted that his gatekeeping theory went far

beyond food choices. As he noted, “the theory holds not only

for food channels but also for the travelling of a news item

through certain channels in a group ….” (Lewin as cited by

Roberts, 2005:5). The theory considers how mass media

whittle the large number of available messages into the

select few offered to an audience. Moreover, the theory has

gained new interest due to the freedom to publish brought by

the Internet.

It was later used to describe those who control the

transmission of media generally. The point is that no media

establishment can transmit all the messages it receives in

the course of a day’s routine. Some individuals have to

decide which information to transmit, which to defer, which

lvii

to modify and which to delete entirely. Such individuals, as

it were, open and close the “gate” that stands between the

information source and the recipient. Gatekeeping is not

restricted to accepting and rejecting of information. It

involves shaping, display, timing, repeating the message for

emphasis, and so on.

Barzilai-Nahon (2008) cites Shoemaker who identifies

five levels of gatekeeping analysis/mechanism as follows:

The individual level looks at the extent to which

individuals are responsible for the gatekeeping

selection, and consist of individuals’ interpretations.

Human beings are rational, hence their decisions are

usually guided by personal preferences. In fact,

gatekeepers’ decisions are highly subjective

(Bagdikian; Livingston & Bennet, Snider and White cited

by Barzilai-Nahon, 2008).

lviii

The routines level refers to those patterned,

routinized, repeated practices for forms that media

workers use to do their jobs. Journalism can be said to

be one of the most routinized professions. With

Accuracy and Precision as highly held tenets of the

profession, media organisations ensure this by

assigning journalists to particular beats and strict

adherence to house style.

The organizational level includes internal factors that

vary by organization and at times by a group’s

decision-making patterns (Ojebuyi, 2012). Organisations

strive to present particular identities hence every

member of the team is expected to portray this unified

image to the external public.

The institutional level concentrates mainly on the

exogenous characteristics of organizations and their

representatives that affect the gatekeeping process

(e.g. market forces, political alliances). Media

lix

organisations cannot claim to be alienated from forces

in their external environment. And as media operations

continue to go commercial, the interests of media

houses’ financiers are latently protected so as not to

lose their (important) support. This means that media

houses avoid or diplomatically report negative stories

about their financiers.

The social systems level explores the impact of

ideology and culture on gatekeeping. Information is

less likely to experience gatekeeping if it is similar

to the cultural preferences of society (Galtung and

Ruge cited by Barzilai-Nahon, 2008).

The contents of newspapers are the final product of

several back stage activities. These contents are the

visible part of a production that features several behind-

the-scenes that are invisible to the audience. Journalism is

a profession that involves a number of actors and actresses

lx

carrying out different roles, and particularly working as a

team, to achieve a particular purpose. Consequently, the

decision of what becomes news is taken by several media

personnel in the editing chain. These decisions according to

Keeble (2001) are usually taken at the conference. The

conference, Keeble opines, is at the centre of news

operations of all newspaper houses. “Discussions at the

conference tend to focus around the news list extracted from

the diary with reporters and where relevant photographers,

graphic artists and cartoonists are being assigned tasks”

(Keeble, 2001:6). Members of the editing chain are referred

to as gatekeepers.

“A gatekeeper is an individual who filters out and

disregards unwanted, uninteresting and/or unimportant

information or stories and attends to information for more

import” (Franklin, Hamer, Hanna, Kinsey and Richardson,

2005). “Gatekeeping is about opening or closing the channels

lxi

of communication; it is about accessing or refusing access”

(Watson, 2003:123). A gatekeeper guards news stories in the

overall interest of the organisation. These actors include

the managing editor, the editor, news editor, sub-editor and

the journalist or reporter.

“The most important person on a newspaper is no longer

the editor; it is the managing editor” (Keeble 2001:5). The

managing editor aims at cutting cost of production thereby

increasing profits that accrue to the newspaper firm. He or

she canvasses for greater productivity from all persons on

the staff of the media house. In addition, the managing

editor determines how closely each story fits his or her

definition of news.

The editor, basically, is in charge of the content of a

newspaper. “News is what the editor thinks is news”

(Hausman, 1998:9). He or she has overall responsibility for

the editing of the paper, ensuring it is published on time

lxii

(Hodgson cited by Franklin et al, 2005). The editor is a key

person whose decisions dictate the contents and outlook of

each edition. The modern day editor has added commercial

pressures of controlling aggressive marketing in sales and

advertising, with editorial costs coming under close

scrutiny and a new emphasis on efficiency and accountability

(Franklin et al, 2005). Bohere (1984:14) also notes that

“the position of editor can be ambiguous because of the dual

obligation; on the one hand, to the editorial team which he

or she organises and directs, on the other hand, through the

management functions of the job, to the employer (that is

owner of the newspaper or the owner’s director-

representative).” Similarly, Franklin et al (2005:171) cites

Sanders thus: “Editors who fail to get at least two of the

three apples on the fruit machine lined up -circulation,

editorial budget and advertising revenue – do not last.”

lxiii

The journalist, arguably, is key in determining what

becomes news. The journalist is a pedlar of information

which has to be packaged attractively to be inviting to the

reader, listener or viewer and it has to be accurate and

fair to be a quality product (Sissons, 2006). The

journalist, therefore, among other members of the editorial

team like the editor and sub-editor, makes certain snap

decisions in the field, even without the benefit of

editorial consultation. These decisions are not always the

province of editors. Consequently, such decisions in

journalism they depend on a variety of factors – a mixture

of intuition, experience, and scepticism that veterans often

like to call ‘news judgement.’ (Davis, 1987; Packard, 1987;

Petrow, 1987; Schulte, 1987 and Whearley, 1987 cited by

Hausman, 1998). “In short, decision making extends beyond

the realm of ethics or editing” Hausman (1998:4).

lxiv

Watson (2003:124) analysing McNelly’s model of news

flow (1959) points to the many-gated reality of news

processing. He also notes that modifications take place to

the story as it passes through each gate. “At every stage in

the mediation process, decisions are taken, not only about

what events to cover, but how these might be covered and by

whom; and gatekeeping is far from being the monopoly of

media operators: audience too exercises the powers of

selecting and rejecting” Watson (2003:124). Editorial

conferences are held at least twice a day. While the first,

usually held at the beginning of the day, is to assign

various beats to respective journalists, the second, usually

held as stories filter in, is held to decide which stories,

out of the lot, are to be sent for publication. Editors

understand that the audience have various sources to gather

information, therefore, to get and retain a substantial

segment of the audience, stories must be tailored to suit

the needs of the target audience. As a result, decisions

lxv

made by media operators on what to produce or publish must

not be devoid of audience consideration. According to Ekeli

cited by Folarin (1998:88), “Be he a reporter, editor, or

subeditor, a journalist is first and foremost a gatekeeper.”

Though the gatekeeping theory clearly reveals the real

happenings in the day-to-day running of the mass media, it

fails to recognise the individual preferences, that is, the

internal gatekeeping tendencies, of journalists before they

pass the story down the “channel”. Similarly, Roberts (2005)

notes that Gatekeeping is fundamentally a descriptive

theory, with a normative bent that offers little if any

predictive power.

2.1.3 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THEORY

Following the failure of the libertarian theory to guarantee

a free and responsive press and the perceived re-emergence,

though in another form, of the most dreaded authoritarian

philosophy of the press, the Robert Hutchins Commission was

lxvi

set up in 1942, in United States of America, and reported in

1947. In general, the commission supported the concept of a

diverse, objective, informative and independent press

institution which would avoid causing offence or encouraging

crime, violence or disorder.

The theory, according to McQuail (2005) evolved as a

form of response to widespread criticism of the American

newspaper press, not only because of its sensationalism and

commercialism, but also its political imbalance and monopoly

tendencies. Furthermore, McQuail opines that Social

responsibility should be reached by self-control, not

government intervention. The findings of the Hutchins

commission were critical of the press for its frequent

failings and for being so limited in the access it gave to

voices outside the circle of a privileged and powerful

minority. The report coined the notion of social

lxvii

responsibility and named the key journalistic standards that

the press should seek to maintain.

A responsible press should ‘provide a full,truthful, comprehensive and intelligentaccount of the day’s events in a contextwhich gives them meaning’. It should ‘serveas a forum for the exchange of comment andcriticism’ and be a ‘common carrier of thepublic expression’. Thirdly, the pressshould give a ‘representative picture ofconstituent groups in society’ and alsopresent and clarify the ‘goals and values ofsociety’. The report criticized thesensationalism of the press and the mixingof news with editorial opinion (McQuail,2005:170).

This report was meant to put the press back on track;

to ensure that the revered fourth estate of the realm lived

up to her responsibility of presenting reports in a factual,

balanced and fair manner. In addition, the press is to serve

as the voice of the voiceless (majority), and ensure that

she serves as a link between the government and the people.

The ‘theory of social responsibility’involved a view of media ownership as a formof public trust or stewardship, rather than

lxviii

as an unlimited private franchise. One ofthe members of the commission, WilliamHocking (1947:169) wrote: ‘Inseparable fromthe right of the press to be free has beenthe right of the people to have a freepress. But the public interest has advancedbeyond that point; it is now the right ofthe people to have an adequate press’. And ofthe two rights, he added: ‘it is the rightof the public that now takes precedence’(McQuail, 2005:171)

The theory emphasizes obligation; it has a healthy

societal accent and stands for “the public’s right to know”

(Raufu, 2003:107). Social Responsibility assumes that the

press should look at herself as performing a public service

of professional kind and being socially responsible to the

larger society rather than fewer people (Raufu, 2003). “The

chief duty of the media operating with this theory is to

raise conflict to the plane of discussion” (Folarin,

1998:27). In principle, the media can be used by anyone who

has an idea to express, but they are forbidden to invade

private rights or disrupt vital social structures or

interests. The major premise of the Social Responsibility

lxix

theory is: “Freedom carries concomitant obligations; and the

press, which enjoys a privileged position … is obliged to be

responsible to society for carrying out certain essential

functions of mass communication in contemporary society”

(Gunaratne and Hasim, 1996:103).

This theory evolved to checkmate the perceived excesses

of the press as a result of libertarianism – freedom. It was

then observed that the press possessed so much power in the

hold of media owners and managers to the extent that the

press was retracing from being a market place of ideas.

Rather than guarantee press freedom and yield the expected

benefits to the society, the commercial development of the

press and unforeseen developments in media technology had

tended to limit access to the media for individuals and

groups, and to concentrate media power in the hands of a few

businessmen (advertisers) and media professionals who had

the means to setup media empires (Folarin, 1998).

lxx

To ensure that media reflects a social conscience, the

ensuing Social Responsibility theory postulated six specific

functions for the press. Folarin (1998) citing Siebert,

Peterson and Schramm; McQuail and Kunczick spells out the

functions as follows:

To serve the political system by making information,

discussion and consideration of public affairs

generally accessible;

To inform the public to enable it to take self-

determined action;

Toprotect the rights of the individual by acting as

watchdog over the government;

To serve the economic system, for instance by bringing

together buyers and sellers through the medium of

advertising;

To provide “good” entertainment, whatever “good” may

mean in the culture at any point in time; and

lxxi

To preserve financial autonomy in order not to become

dependent on special interests and influences.

One can deduce from the above functions that the mass

media should, as a matter of priority, service the interests

of members of the public. The media must also be accountable

to the public; and her contents must be aimed at the

development of the society. “The media has obligations to

society, and media ownership is a public trust (Watson

2003:97).

Specifically, Watson (2003:97) citing McQuail lists the

following as features of the social responsibility theory:

News media should be truthful, accurate, fair and

relevant

The media should be free but self-regulated

Media should follow agreed codes of ethics and

professional conduct

lxxii

Under some circumstances, government may need to

intervene to safeguard the public interest

The Social Responsibility theory tries to regulate the

freedom of the press to avoid illegal invasion of people’s

privacy by journalists. The public’s right to know

happenings in both their immediate and outer environment is

emphasized. “The theory balances the claims for freedom with

the need for responsibility” (Watson, 2003:101). The media,

therefore, has obligations to the public that amount to a

form of public stewardship. The media is expected to be

vigilant on behalf of the citizens, with a duty to be honest

and fair to all in equal measure. “The media’s purpose

should be to help cure human society of all its ailments: to

make it free for all and more happy” (Atkins, 2002:5).

Beyond the five basic functions of the media identified by

McQuail (2005:97-98) which are: Information; Correlation;

lxxiii

Continuity; Entertainment and Mobilization, the media is

also regarded to as a ‘doctor’.

Siebert as cited by McQuail, (2005:171) states that:

“Social responsibility theory holds that the government must

not merely allow freedom; it must actively promote it … when

necessary, therefore, the government should act to protect

the freedom of its citizens.” Interestingly, the government

also has a role to regulate the media when the media is

seemingly leading the people astray. This regulatory power

could be misused by the government and there is the tendency

for neo-authoritarianism. This could be in form of

censorship via governmental agencies.

Also in time of conflict or party-political matters,

Social Responsibility theory urges that in the public

interest and in the interests of true representation, both

sides of a case should be brought to the fore (Watson,

2003).The media should function as advocates for minorities.

lxxiv

“Historically, however, the media have more often served as

the voice of the powerful than the people” (Watson,

2003:15). This trend is not unconnected with the fact that

the powerful minority are the news makers as well as news

financiers. However, Watson (2003:101) notes that:

The theory would demand a pluralist media ina pluralist society and is only reallypossible through multiple ownership. Undersuch criteria, a newspaper owner might notbe permitted to move into TV. The currenttrend towards the convergence of ownershipand relaxation in restrictions on cross-media control threatens pluralism and inconsequence social responsibility.

But global media is being run by a monopoly of owners

in a largely profit-driven global economy. It is therefore

much difficult for media to be socially responsible. “The

club of media owners is becoming more exclusive everywhere”

(McChesney, 1999:79). Similarly, Keeble (2001:1) opines

that: “Behind the façade of extraordinary diversity lies a

media industry dominated by monopolies and conformism.” This

lxxv

clearly reveals that the media has been straddled by few

people.

Like all principles, they have provedcontentious over the years, posing problemsof definition, but chiefly because of theirregulatory nature. Responsibility is oftenjudged as getting in the way of freedom; andit is axiomatic that for socialresponsibility to survive or even prosper ina competitive world, actual regulation isoften required (McQuail, 2005:171).

McQuail argues that it is very difficult for media to be

socially responsible in our current world which is largely

profit-driven alongside the proliferation of media houses

all competing for public attention. Also, the journalist’s

responsibility has become graver because he or she has to be

both ethically (maintain his or her self and social esteem

by establishing a steady credibility with his or her

audience) and socially (performing his or her journalistic

role in such a way as to demonstrate an awareness that he or

she has a stake in what happens to society) responsible.

“The responsibility becomes graver still when it is realizedlxxvi

that there are not clear guidelines anywhere for the

realization of ethical and social responsibility” (McQuail,

2005:90). Sparks (1999) argues that newspaper organisations

are first and foremost businesses and journalists working

with these media houses must come to terms with this.

They do not exist to report news, to act aswatchdogs for the public, to be a check onthe doings of government, to defend ordinarycitizens against the abuses of power, tounearth scandals or do any of the other fineand noble things that are sometimes claimedfor the press. They exist to make money justas any business does. To the extent thatthey discharge any of their publicfunctions, they do so in order to succeed asbusiness (Sparks 1999:46).

Moreover, balancing profit and the public interest does

not always involve big companies and millions of dollars.

Often, a media practitioner will face an ethical dilemma at

a very personal level (Baran, 1999). This trend of market-

driven journalism thereby threatens hitherto highly held

news values of the mass media and performance of her social

responsibility roles.lxxvii

2.1.4 STATUTORY NEWS VALUES AND THE REDEFINITION OF

PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM

Galtung and Ruge as cited by Franklin et al (2005:173-174)

offer 12 news values which they suggest should be employed,

above other considerations, in gauging news worthiness.

Galtung and Ruge predict that the more an event satisfies

these criteria, the more likely it is of being reported as

news in any media. These news values are “Frequency;

Intensity; Unambiguity; Cultural proximity; Predictability;

Unexpectedness; Continuity; Composition; References to elite

peoples; References to elite nations; Personification and

Negativity.”

Frequency presupposes that the more similar the

frequency of the event was to the frequency of the news

medium, the more probable that it would be recorded as news

by that news medium. Frequency of an event refers to the

time-span needed for the event to unfold itself and acquire

lxxviii

meaning. Media organisations would usually report stories

that are in tandem with their expectations than those which

are not.

Intensity presumes that an event has to be labelled

threshold before it became news. Intensity relates to

amplitude. Intensity and absolute intensity related to the

simple proposition that, the more violent the murder, the

bigger the headlines; the more dramatic, the greater the

tendency for the story to be accorded substantial media

space and time.

Unambiguity refers to the clarity. The more clear and

less ambiguous, the more the event would be noticed and

reported. When an event is quite complicated or

controversial, the media would have to simplify the event;

this could involve some form of gatekeeping to ease

understanding by the audience.

lxxix

Cultural proximity is also labelled meaningfulness.

This has two elements: the degree to which ethnocentrism

would be operative and the degree of cultural proximity.

Events that are quite close or familiar are considered

important because events affecting them might also affect us

in the nearest future. Similarly events in culturally

distant communities would not be reported as often as those

in close communities. Cultural proximity also has close

affinity with Relevance which is the level of meaning

implied for news audiences even if an event happened in a

culturally distant place.

Predictability refers to consonance. This is a

situation where news is a fulfilment of predictions. News

persons know what news is, and when events conform to these

expectations, media personnel do not hesitate to report

them.

lxxx

Unexpectedness or Surprise is the other side of

Predictability. This usually is a vital news value. It is

not uncommon for odd happenings to be given prominence by

news media. “Events have to be unexpected or rare, or

preferably both, to become good news” Galtung and Ruge as

cited by Watson (2003:138).

Continuity is common in media operations. They come in

form of follow-up stories. Once news is reported,

investigations continue days after the story were first

reported to dig up more facts. This, they do to discover new

twists and turns involving the persons behind the event or

the event itself. Such follow-up stories usually come in

form of features, commentaries and editorials. In addition,

old stories are used to amplify new developments.

Composition points to the perceived need for a balance

of good (soft) and bad (hard) news in any news production or

publication. Such balance is required to prevent the

lxxxi

audience from viewing the world from just a particular

perspective.

References to elite people: The more the event referred

to elite people, the more likely it would be chosen as news.

News persons always seek for quotations to validate their

stories. Undoubtedly, people in positions of authority

usually dominate news because statements of these “knowns”

are what the audience looks out for in the media. Watson

(2003:139) notes that “The most banal utterances of

presidents and prime ministers will be reported even though

they do not qualify under any criterion other than that they

issue from ‘top’ people.” Meanwhile, the media sometimes

confers status on some people by constantly featuring them

in the media.

References to elite nations: Similarly, the more the

event concerned elite nations, the more probable that it

would become a news item. This trend which has continued

lxxxii

over the years is likened to a continuation of the dominant

paradigm. Consequently, events in the North are more often

reported than occurrences in the South tilting towards neo-

colonialism.

Personification is the probability for an event to be

personalised or personified heightens its newsworthiness.

Stories have a personality behind them are usually

considered important. News organisations also try to

personalise stories revolving round politics, economy,

industry, environment, and issues concerning gender, race,

crime and punishment (Watson, 2003). Newspapers crave for

pictures of persons or events to back up their stories and

personalising their stories guarantees this. Personification

serves as an antidote to ambiguity; it simplifies as it

clarifies.

Negativity is a common quality of news stories and

journalists are touted as always having a nose for the

lxxxiii

negative. To the journalist, ‘bad news is good news’ – which

is no less real for being a cliché. Many a time, journalists

simulate empathy when a bad incident happens but are much

concerned about writing the story from an interesting

(sensational) angle. Subconsciously, the audience also wants

more information on bad news than good news, and the

journalist strives to live up to this expectation.

‘Studies of media content have often found that

mainstream mass media tend to be conformist and supportive

rather than critical of dominant values’ (McQuail, 2005:99).

Times are changing hence the usual stoic newspaper culture

becomes susceptible to change by the day. Keeble (2001:21)

criticises newspaper stoic culture thus: “There is much talk

about press freedom but little of the journalists’ freedom

to influence the organisation for which they work.” Curran

and Seaton as cited by Franklin et al (2005:139) say “news

lxxxiv

values are becoming less about news in the social sense and

more about scandals and attracting audience attention.”

McManus as cited by Franklin et al (2005) argues that news

has become a commodity while viewers have metamorphosed into

consumers. “Newspapers have a bullet in their heads and they

don’t even know it. They have a damaged brand” (Kirsner as

cited by Baran, 2000:164).

Noticeably, technology has been both ally and enemy to

newspapers (Baran, 2000). As an increasing number of people

worldwide turn to the world-wide web for their news and

information, the characteristics and attitudes of the people

working as media professionals on the world wide web need

specific scholarly attention. Looking at scholarly and trade

journals today, it sometimes seems that to talk about the

impact of the internet on journalism is the most popular

topic among journalists and media scholars alike – second

only to concerns about commercialism and money (Deuze and

lxxxv

Dimoudi, 2002). Published reports on studies specifically

linking the daily practices and characteristics of

journalists to the global network of computers have been

scarce.

The advent of the Internet in the 1990s and the new

media in the 2000s has meant that the duty of disseminating

information in a top-down model of communication is no more

the exclusive preserve of just trained media practitioners

but anyone who wants to be involved. The daily newspaper

industry has seen its technological and competitive

environments change dramatically since the early 1990s

(Schudson, 2001). The mainstream media, in a bid to remain

relevant, has embraced the Internet and the new media. The

pace of technological development in the world today means

every industry must be up-to-speed with development or will

sooner or later go defunct. “No industry has been more

speeded up or more slimmed down than newspaper publishing”

lxxxvi

(Watson, 2003:24). In addition, Baran (2000) notes that the

Internet and the World Wide Web provide readers with more

information and more depth, and with greater speed, than the

traditional newspaper. As a result, Baran says, the

traditional newspaper is reinventing itself by converging

with these very same technologies.

“The entire media landscape is changing at present due

to the forces of convergence, digitalization, deregulation

and globalization, and companies in every sector are doing

their best to survive, and hopefully thrive, in the new

environment” (Kjus, 2009:287). Consequently, new ventures

and competitors are crowding all media markets, and one

result is audience fragmentation.

“A good deal of online journalism is now being provided

by established news organisations, although often with

little adaptation from print versions” Boczkowski as cited

by McQuail (2005:289). Media organisations are still

lxxxvii

cautious in their publications. For the fear of a decline in

newspaper sales, news organisations tend to publish just a

brief of their stories in the online version and limit the

full stories to printed newspapers. Suffice to say that news

organisations in Nigeria are yet take full advantage of

online opportunities to increase their revenue base. This

could be in form of subscriptions, online publicity and

advertisements.

“Some applications of the Internet, such as online

news, are clearly extensions of newspaper journalism,

although online news itself is also evolving in new

directions, with new capabilities of content and new forms

(as where the public adopts the role of journalist)”

McQuail, 2005 citing Boczkowski. Just like the front page of

printed newspapers sells newspapers, home pages of online

versions of newspapers must be captivating to sustain

visitors’ interest.

lxxxviii

Livingstone cited by McQuail (2005:138) writes: “What’s

new about the Internet may be the combination of

interactivity with those features which were innovative for

mass communication – the unlimited range of content, the

scope of audience reach, the global nature of

communication.”Statistics reveal that internet use continues

to increase by the day. This is not unconnected with

people’s yearn for interaction with the source of the

information that they are getting. The increase in the

number of blog sites reveals people’s quest for freedom to

dictate content; the use of social media platforms to get

different range of news stories point to the modification of

mass communication by global technology.

One major critique of wide variety of independent news

sources brought about by the Internet is that it is

unprofessional and idiosyncratic (Herbert, 2000). But, who

is a professional journalist? Is he/she a person that works

lxxxix

fulltime for media house and reports to his editor on a

daily basis? Is he/she someone who regularly sends in

stories (freelancer)? Is he/she someone who has been trained

as a journalist – that has a degree in mass communication or

media studies? Is he/she someone who has the passion to

practise journalism but is not trained as a journalist?

Shoemaker and Resse cited by Herbert (2000) warn that the

term ‘Professionalism’ must be used with caution. Herbert

(2000:6) opines that although most journalists are not sure

exactly what professionalism means, all journalists should

think themselves as professionals.

It is clear, first of all, that the use ofnew media is still much shaped by experiencewith ‘old media’ and also channelled byexpectations and habits that have beenformed by the latter. Secondly, new mediaare not offered as ‘pure technology’ but arepromoted commercially as hardware andsoftware for particular purposes, wherethere seems a potential demand (McQuail,2005:539).

xc

Today, journalists send their news through a complex

web of telecommunication that includes satellites, optical

fibre cables, copper wire, Internet. The Internet has

liberalised the media and digitalised the newsroom. New

technology has transformed the way news is gathered and

relayed to the public. This demands of the journalist an

ability to respond to and sum up a situation more quickly

than ever before. Nowadays, copy, pictures and sound can be

phoned in or sent by computer from anywhere in the world,

including the most remote or inhospitable places.

Journalists are therefore mandated to make good use of these

new media tools to enhance their professional practice. But,

“the diffusion of new technology seems to follow the normal

‘S-shaped’ curve of earlier innovations – slow to start,

then accelerating, and then slowing again” (McQuail,

2005:540).

xci

McQuail (2005:289) citing Deuze distinguishes four main

types of online journalism sites as follows: “mainstream;

indexing and category; meta-journalism and comment; share

and discussion.” Online journalism offers flexibility to the

online journalist. Through several platforms, journalists

can create the much needed traffic for their news site or

blog site to flourish and subsequently reap profit. Bardoel

as cited by McQuail (2005:289) points to key features of

online journalism as being: “interactivity; hypertextuality;

multimodality; asynchronicity.” He sees the need for more

formal support for the improvement of standards. Online

journalism allows for instantaneous feedback between the

sender and the feedback. The journalist more often than not

is able to identify audience needs, and strives to meet

them. In no time, the journalist, through his/her content,

endears him/herself into the minds of the audience and

carves a niche for him/herself. This provides the platform

for the journalist to think of monetizing content.

xcii

Digitisation will mean that each member of the public

will have the capacity to be his or her own journalist. This

will further enhance journalists underlying crave for

independence from the mandatory tilting of stories towards

stipulated editorial values of their news organisations. If

news organisations remain stoic to their culture,

journalists should think of survival and being a

‘journopreneur’ is appropriate. Suffice to say that

continued lay-off of workers by media houses reveals a

profession in crisis. Journalists who want to stay on the

job therefore must be versed in the effective use of multi

channels, provided by the new media and the Internet, to

meet a more local, hyper focus audience, and not a general

audience as hitherto targeted.

Boczkowski as cited by McQuail, (2005:239) sees

journalism becoming less journalist centered and more user

centered, as well as losing its clear boundary as a

xciii

professional activity. Therefore, journalists must provide

contents that satisfy the needs of the audience. This is

beyond journalists’ subscription to ethics of the profession

or particular news values. Gandy as cited by Franklin et al

(2005) advocates for Audience Segmentation. Gandy notes that

media organisations spend more money by supplying a product

that attracts the richer strata of the audience and

therefore ‘content of interest’ to smaller, or minority

audiences will not be produced in amounts that will satisfy

the preferences of that minority. “Content” according to

McManus (1997:5) “is designed more to sell than inform.”

As communication on the Internet threatens to overtake

sex as a pastime, the very future of mass media itself, and

of the profession of journalism, might be perceived to be in

jeopardy. In cyberspace, everyone is his or her own

reporter; or so the argument goes (McQuail, 2005). Both

academic and industry publications have suggested that

xciv

newspapers responded to these changes, in part, by becoming

more market oriented or market driven.

The newspaper press bases its historicalclaim to freedom of operation much moredirectly on its political functions ofexpressing opinion and circulating politicaland economic information. But the newspaperis also a significant business enterprisefor which freedom to produce and supply itsprimary product (information) is a necessarycondition of successful operation in themarketplace”(McQuail, 2005:239).

The market space, now, is more expanded allowing

freedom of operation to journalists who work for particular

media houses and journalists who are a combination of an

editor, freelancer and a niche publisher. Journalists,

nowadays, free themselves from the tightening belt hitherto

foisted upon them by their news organisations. They work as

freelancers, operate blogsites, thereby combining their

journalistic skills with business acumen.

‘One of the distinctive features of the Internet is

that it is not regulated specifically at national level and

xcv

does not fall neatly into any jurisdictional zone’ (McQuail,

2005:239). This affords the journalist an opportunity to

become a global brand. Self-censorship is however key to the

entrepreneurial journalist. “Self-censorship can become a

self-serving, instinctive reflex, spawning a shallow or

partisan approach, far-removed from concepts of objectivity

and fairness” Franklin et al (2005:239). However, the

Internet, despite its apparent lack of frontiers, is still

largely structured according to territory, especially

national and linguistic boundaries (Halavais cited by

McQuail, 2005).

‘An interesting feature of the critique of online

journalism is the argument that it is on the whole even more

‘market driven’ and commercial than established newspaper

journalism notwithstanding its claim to be more autonomous’

(McQuail, 2005:290). These claims clearly points to reality.

News is no more published in the social sense but to make

xcvi

profit, a fact that journalists cannot shy away from. Every

avenue to enhance this entrepreneurial outlook to journalism

must be enhanced by journalists who want to remain relevant.

Noticeably, a recurrent issue in media research has been the

relation between media messages and ‘reality’. The most

basic question is whether media content does, or should,

reflect the social reality, and if so, which or whose

reality (McQuail, 2005).

Bardoel cited by McQuail, (2005:239) however, “sees a

future for serious, analytical journalism, in making sense of

the whirling carousel of information.”The implication of

this assertion is that, in the future, the journalist’s task

may be to help unload the overload. With information

overload brought about by media liberalisation, Bardoel

opines the audience would seek for adequate interpretation

and analysis of the several facts at their disposal.

2.1.5 THEORY OF NEWSWORTHINESS

xcvii

The question of what makes a story newsworthy has continued

to stir lively debates among novices and veterans alike.

While the current hyperactive audience are curious to know

on what basis news is selected and presented, journalists

are quite protective of particular news values that

determine published stories. According to Ojebuyi (2012),

the newsworthiness theory is anchored on the following

tenets that:

News value determines the chances of an event to be

selected as news by gatekeepers.

The higher the news value of an event or social

reality, the higher is its probability of being

considered for publication as news, whereby the

newsworthiness of an event is determined by diverse

news factors. That is, the newsworthiness factor

explains why some events or issues of social reality

xcviii

are selected as news while others are neglected by

gatekeepers.

Journalists use professional norms called news values,

such as proximity, impact, magnitude,

timeliness/freshness, oddity/bizarre, conflict,

celebrity and human interest, to decide what is

newsworthy (Lasorsa, 2008; Media Awareness Network, 2010

cited by Ojebuyi, 2012)

The concept of newsworthiness is not limited to which

item is selected as news, it is also signified through

the space allocated to the story, the position of the

story, and the visual or vocal emphasis the story

receives. That is, newsworthiness of an event selected

for publication is usually noticed through the overall

editorial significance or emphasis the story is

accorded (Ojebuyi, 2012:29).

xcix

The theory of newsworthiness evolved from Galtung and

Ruge’s (1965) twelve news values: Frequency, Intensity,

Unambiguity, Cultural Proximity, Predictability,

Unexpectedness, Continuity, Composition, References to elite

people, Reference to elite nations, Personification and

Negativity (Watson, 2003). The theory held that the more an

event satisfies these any of these conditions, the more

likely the event would be selected as news. The theory of

newsworthiness examines the characteristics of events and

topics that are selected as news in terms of their news

values (Elders, Shoemaker, Zeh, McGregor cited by Ojebuyi,

2012).

It is worthy to note that events with some news values

highly determine news selection than others. Hall, Critcher,

Jefferson, Clarke and Roberts as cited by McGregor (2002)

state that events which score high on all of the dimensions

which are unexpected, dramatic, negative, involved elite

c

people from elite nations and were personalised, have a

special status in terms of newsworthiness. But with new news

formats, changed social and cultural dynamics, audience

demands, technological innovation and convergence, the

highly revered twelve news determinants require

modification. Journalists do not adhere to formal codes of

newsworthiness that can be identified and promulgated and

therefore “learnt” by the public (McGregor, 2002). This

implies that the public is further put in the dark about

what determines the news that they are “fed”.

Schulz cited by Ojebuyi (2012:32) argues that “news

factors cannot be seen as objective characteristics of

reality when deciding on the newsworthiness of events or

issues.” Schulz states that news factors are strict rules

that journalists have acquired during their professional

training and socialisation periods. These rules, especially

those that relate to the culture-free criteria, as

ci

identified by Galtung and Ruge, Schwarz and Zeh are

universal (Ojebuyi, 2012). Buonanno as cited by Watson

(2003:163), links newsworthiness with what she terms

“fictionworthiness.”

Similarly, Shoemaker (2006) opines that newsworthiness

is not a good predictor of which events get into the

newspaper and how they are covered. Newsworthiness,

according to Shoemaker, is only one of a vast array of

factors that influence what becomes the news and how

prominently events are covered. In today’s world, people are

able to reliably assess the newsworthiness of ideas, people,

and events in the environment. Newsworthiness, therefore, is

a mental judgement, a cognition that can only marginally

predict what actually becomes news whereas news is a social

artifact, a thing, a commodity (Shoemaker, 2006).

cii

2.1.6 RELEVANCE OF THEORIES TO THE STUDY

The dramaturgical theory emphasizes impression management,

that is people manage the impression they create.

Journalists in the practice of their profession create

content for certain target groups. Similarly, stories are

packaged in a bid to present a particular image to the

audience. What influences this decision could be personal,

organisational, perceived social expectation or

technological advancement. This theory holds that certain

mindset is behind content created by the journalist.

Every story that is published usually goes through a

channel with individuals at strategic positions. These

individuals are expected to scrutinize every story to ensure

that the finished product is in line with certain

institutional or ethical rules. The gatekeeping theory

clearly postulates that the mass media sieves the barrage of

information at her disposal before dissemination of

information to the public. The theory holds that some

ciii

individuals, as it were, open and close the gate that stands

between the information source and the recipient. This is in

line with one of the aims of the study which is to discover

if the final contents selected for publication are

reflective of statutory professional and ethical guidelines

or other considerations.

The media is renowned for her role as voice of the

voiceless (majority). This is espoused by the Social

Responsibility theory. The media is expected to serve as a

link between the government and the people. Journalists are

looked up to for objective, fair and balanced information.

However, the trend of market-driven journalism means that

content is created to meet the needs of a particular segment

of the population. This trend, notably, might not be

representative of the majority, thereby questioning the

Social responsibility role of the press. This theory is

relevant to this study as it provides a platform to assess

civ

if the new trend of entrepreneurial journalism has submerged

or enhanced the social responsiblity role of the press.

Journalism over time is regarded as a stoic profession,

with rules that journalists are mandated to strictly adhere

to. The theory of newsworthiness clearly spells out the

criteria that determines news that is published. The theory

holds that the more the story satisfies these criteria, the

more likely the event will be selected for reportage.

However, the dynamic nature of the world and technological

advancement daily pressurise journalism practitioners to

adapt to the emerging style of practice. This theory affords

the researcher the opportunity to locate the place of

highly-held news values in the emerging phase of journalism

and its influence on content creation in newspapers.

2.2 ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNALISM

cv

There has been a tremendous growth in entrepreneurship

research worldwide (Kuratko cited by Bogenhold, Heinonen and

Akola, 2012). This might not be unconnected with the fact

that entrepreneurship is portrayed as a driver of economic

growth and, thus, is regarded as being of crucial importance

for the economy as well as job and wealth creation. In

addition, technological development has fostered the

acceptance of entrepreneurship across societies. Ogbor as

cited by Bogenhold, Heinonen and Akola (2012) notes that

the problem with extant knowledge in entrepreneurship is

that it tends to treat entrepreneurship in a social,

cultural and historical vacuum disengaged from broader

occupational and employment conditions and from individuals’

perceptions of work. They assert that the boundaries between

waged work and entrepreneurship continue to blur by the day.

Entrepreneurship has been defined as the ability to

apply a set of behaviours, attitudes and skills to a

cvi

successful business venture (Herrman, 2010). Changing

historical, regional and social contexts in which

entrepreneurship takes place are diverse, increasing the

difficulties associated with a unifying definition.

According to Bogenhold, Heinonen and Akola (2012:5) citing

Davidsson, the literature is full of definitions of

entrepreneurships,

which differ along a number of dimensions,i.e. whether entrepreneurship should bedefined in terms of dispositions, behaviour,or outcomes; whether it belongs in theeconomic-commercial domain or can beexercised also in not-for-profit contexts;whether it belongs only in small and/orowner-managed firms or in any organizationalcontext, and whether purpose, growth, risk,innovation or success are necessary criteriafor something to qualify asentrepreneurship.

The implication of the foregoing assertion is that

there are overlapping areas in entrepreneurship, self-

employment and professions. Lazear (2003) argues that an

entrepreneur must be competent in a wide range of skills,

cvii

rather than a specialist. When discussing links between

entrepreneurship and the division of occupations and changes

in the labour market, the analytical category of ‘self-

employment’ seems to be used as an adequate modus operandi for

operationalising a quantifiable understanding of

entrepreneurship. Self-employment as a labour market

category can be numerically counted and individual fractions

of the category can be compared (Carter cited by Bogenhold,

Heinonen and Akola, 2012). Self-employment therefore is seen

as a kind of proxy for entrepreneurship. However, some

researchers aver that self-employment and entrepreneurship

are never the same.

Entrepreneurship covers not only parts ofthe category of self-employment and thepopulation of self-employed people alsoincludes people who can rarely be identifiedas entrepreneurial agents. As a result,entrepreneurship proves to be a free mix ofchanging interpretations and applications,especially when scrolling through thehistory of economic theory (Bogenhold,Heinonen and Akola, 2012:6)

cviii

This justifies the need for dynamism in professions.

Organisations tend to adapt to changes in their environment;

similarly, human beings are also expected to always be on

the alert so as to maximise opportunities for

entrepreneurship as they surface. Research suggests that the

motivation for launching a company is not merely financial,

but also emotional. According to Shane and Venkataraman as

cited by Bogenhold, Heinonen and Akola (2012:5-6), three set

of research questions about entrepreneurship are central:

why, when and how opportunities come intoexistence; why when, and how some people andnot others discover and exploit theseopportunities; and why, when, and howdifferent modes of action are used toexploit entrepreneurial opportunities.

The above assertion implies that several opportunities

for advancement of professions open up from time to time.

But it behoves the vigilant individual to spot these

opportunities and exploit them for his or her betterment and

that of the society at large. Notably, professions exist at

cix

the interface of processes of ‘academisation’ and

‘tertiarisation’ but they must now reflect the image of

entrepreneurship. The existence of modern professions

mirrors the rising dimensions of expertise within tendencies

towards a knowledge society and an entrepreneurial society

(Bogenhold, Heinonen and Akola, 2012).

This is growing attention by policymakers on supporting

the birth and development of high tech industrial clusters

and single enterprises (Foo and Foo, 2000). Jarvis (2010)

notes that surveys of Internet use, a few years ago, reveal

that people 12 to 25years old who will be in the golden 25

to 38 demographic in 2020 will never read a newspaper.

According to Jarvis (2010:8), “Communities won’t need news

organisations to gather and share information: using

technology, they are starting to do that on their own at a

marginal cost of zero.” News organisations, therefore, must

become collaborative with their target communities.

cx

In an environment where professional journalists and

citizen journalists compete to serve small communities,

there has to be a significant shift in the professional

culture of journalists (Jarvis, 2010). This is because

citizen journalists can offer content at a low cost even

without the backing of major media organisations. On the

other hand, entrepreneurial journalists have become

employers and with it come autonomy and cultural

independence. This has the potential to open new sources of

revenue – and new democratic, social, cultural spheres of

communication (Baines and Kennedy, 2010). Furthermore,

Baines and Kennedy citing Mark Deuze speaks of the people

formerly known as employers. He argues that today:

… the international news industry iscontractually governed by what theInternational Federation of Journalists in2006 euphemistically described as ‘atypicalwork’, which means all kinds of freelance,casualised, informal, and otherwisecontingent labour arrangements thateffectively individualise each and every

cxi

worker’s rights or claims regarding any ofthe services offered by employers … This, ineffect, has workers compete for(projectized, one-off, per story) jobs,rather than employers compete for (the best,brightest, most talented) employers.

The shift of power to the audience is recognised.

Rather than the hitherto top-down approach to journalism,

the bottom-up approach is now fashionable. Freelancing is a

peculiar example of entrepreneurial journalism. The

introduction of digital technologies to news production in

the late 1980s and early 1990s led to ‘direct inputting’

(freelancing) by journalists and the elimination from

newspapers of compositors (Baines and Kennedy, 2010).

Individuals, overtime, have been admonished to be more

enterprising. While it was acknowledged that unemployed

people from manufacturing industries would suffer, it was

believed that networked people with creative and

information-intensive skills, working with IT – such as

freelance journalists – would be more fortunate (Handy, 1995

cxii

cited by Baines and Kennedy, 2010). But freelancing does not

always resonate with entrepreneurial discourse.

Self-employment (when the freelance isinsecure, powerless and in a dependentrelationship with clients) andentrepreneurialism (in which the freelanceis perceived as having a sense ofindependence, empowerment and self-direction) might overlap, but are notnecessarily the same (Baines and Robson,cited by Baines and Kennedy, 2010:7).

The media landscape is getting overcrowded and

competitive by the day, therefore, trust and working

relationships are eroded by fears of others (like

freelancers) behaving opportunistically. In addition,

freelancers must acquire equipment and also chase their

clients for payments. Baines and Kennedy (2010:7) cites

Baines and Robson who found that, “although freelancers

highlighted their need to gain skills in new technologies,

business skills and the ability and opportunity to take

cxiii

control of their working lives were equally, if not more,

necessary.”

Technological entrepreneurship plays a central role in

regional transformation and high tech small firms are one of

the main assets of the globalised economy and the knowledge

society (Giacon, 2010). Emerging business are the results of

entrepreneurial ideas that emerge where others are unable to

capture the weak signals of change or do not yet perceive

the presence of an underlying regular trend in what are

otherwise seen as obvious anomalies (Cassia, Fattore and

Paleari, cited by Giacon, 2010).

The Internet economy is about creativity, cross-

functional thinking, cross-functional acting (de Burgh,

2003). Journalists, therefore, must be creative and

innovative. Beyond skills taught in mainstream journalism,

today’s journalists must know how to download data, how to

analyse it, possess online research techniques and probably

cxiv

basic business skills like reading a company balance sheet

and where to find company information (Baines and Kennedy,

2010). News organisations that are not willing to accept

this new reality might lose in this battle with

entrepreneurial journalism. They must operate on a radically

smaller scale, taking advantage of content or networks and

of the savings realized by eliminating print and

distribution costs (Jarvis, 2010).

It is also observed that journalism is in a period of

crisis. “Each week brings news of redundancies and closures;

Internet-based journalism may be the most significant

contributor to this business collapse” (Horrocks, 2009:7).

Even Rusbridger (2010:12) says “It’s now a cliché of media

life that these are both the best of times and the worst of

times.” Jarvis (2010:9-10) suggests that:

news organization turn themselves intoservice companies, enabling and trainingnetworks of local bloggers and specializednews sources to sprout up in their

cxv

communities. They should enable others tosucceed at creating content so the newsorganizations don’t have to go to all thatexpense alone, so they have something tolink to.

The implication of the Jarvis’s assertion is that, this

is a time for news organisations to alter their ego. They

should be willing to link up with other news sources so as

to save costs (dwindling revenue) of wanting to cover all

major events. Besides, news organisations tend to recreate

what others have reported. Today, news is a conversation

(Munthe, 2010). A blog site is considered trustworthy based

on the amount of involvement it allows, similarly,

journalism becomes richer and more trusted if made more-

involving, engaging, open and collaborative.

Emotionalisation and personification of news, the declining

separation of news and personal opinion, and the use of

magazine elements are considered to be indicators for the

increasing popularisation of the trade press (Geissler and

Einwiller, 2001).

cxvi

The importance of entrepreneurial culture and mind-set

by journalists is widely acknowledged (Bosma and Harding

cited by Prodan and Drnovsek, 2010). Entrepreneurial

intention can be according to the theory of planned

behaviour seen as an accurate predictor of planned behaviour

towards starting a new business (Prodan and Drnovsek, 2010).

Previous theoretical research on entrepreneurial intentions

has analysed different population of potential entrepreneurs

to understand their decision-making processes with respect

to becoming entrepreneurs. Krueger cited by Prodaan and

Drnovsek (2010) states that starting a business is an

intentional act. Several empirical studies have since

explored and supported the relationship between

entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial behaviour.

Gibb (2005) proposes an educational framework of

entrepreneurial learning outcomes that identifies 12 key

cxvii

entrepreneurial capacities. These are opportunity seeking,

initiative taking, ownership of a development, commitment to

see things through, personal locus of control, intuitive

decision making with limited information, networking

capacity, strategic thinking, negotiation capacity,

selling/persuasive capacity, achievement orientation, and

incremental risk taking.

Increasingly, entrepreneurship is a stated goal of

journalism education. Courses and advanced degrees in

entrepreneurial journalism are offered at many universities

(Benkoil, Jarvis and Chung cited by Berkey-Gerard, 2012).

Workshops, textbooks, and instructional resources aim to

provide business skills and training to journalism students

and mid-career professionals (McLellan, Buttry, Gilmor, and

Briggs, 2012 cited by Berkey-Gerard, 2012). Also, there is a

growing body of research on the challenges and benefits of

not only preparing journalism students to gain employment in

cxviii

the news industry, but also to pioneer new products and

business models (De Burgh, 2003; Deuze, 2006; Baines and

Kennedy, 2010).

Hunter and Nel (2011) argue that entrepreneurial

journalism involves more than merely adding business courses

to journalism curriculum: it requires opportunities for

students to practise the attributes associated with

entrepreneurship in a news publication setting. It is also

expected that campus journalists practice entrepreneurial

journalism. One however observes that while entrepreneurial

journalism is increasingly becoming part of undergraduate

and postgraduate curriculum, in colleges and universities,

in developed countries, curriculum formulators in developing

countries are yet to come to terms with current reality.

Besides, enterprise is now part of the curriculum even in

primary and secondary schools throughout Europe (Baines and

Kennedy, 2010).

cxix

Journalism educators, in confining curriculalargely to skills in journalism sought bytraditional news media employers, rarelyinclude business skills superfluous to anemployer’s needs. But, given the extent ofself-employment in the industry and thetrend towards more episodic and fragmentedwork, there is a strong argument forjournalism programmes to provide businessskills necessary to support periods of self-employment (Baines and Kennedy, 2010:8).

We are in a time where journalists must be imbued with

entrepreneurial skills. On graduation, journalists should

not always look forward to securing jobs at “big” media

organisations; they should be able to effectively combine

their journalistic skills with business skills to make

money. Journalists are expected to make good use of the

several opportunities made available by the Internet and the

global nature of the world to establish themselves.

Journalism educators have a huge role to play in this

regard.

cxx

The pace of technological development demands dynamism.

Journalism curriculum in universities and colleges across

the world must therefore be flexible to accommodate changing

trends. Deuze (2006:3) notes of journalism education

globally: “Pragmatically speaking, journalism within the

context of professional education and industry training

means the preparation of students for a career working in

news media organisations and studying the work of those who

do.” It behoves journalism educators to be more practical so

that students would keep up with demands of the profession.

“A key problem faces journalism educators: the industry

we are educating our graduates to enter has just about shut

its doors to new recruits in many parts of the world”

(Baines and Kennedy, 2010:1). While this is due in part to

temporary economic recession, long-term systemic, economic,

technological, structural, cultural and societal

transformations in the news media around the world mean that

cxxi

when the doors reopen, they are unlikely to open very wide;

Traditional news industry career paths appear to be

dissolving (Aldridge, Rosen, McNair, Deuze and Davies cited

by Baines and Kennedy, 2010).

Furthermore, Baines and Kennedy (2010) opine that

employers look for recruits that are imbued with skills

beyond the usual news reporter’s ability to report or write

news stories. They observe that three general trajectories

are evident from news industry employers towards qualities

in recruits: “One is to ask for candidates with a

traditional skill-set. A second is to call for candidates

with a wider skills base. The third is to seek candidates

who are innovative and creative, rather than those with an

extensive skills portfolio” (Baines and Kennedy, 2010:4). In

this regard, journalism educators should enlighten their

students on the need to gain skills, knowledge and

understanding that allow them to predict and respond to

cxxii

economic and technological as well as social and cultural

changes in media use and production.

cxxiii

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the methods and techniques employed

in gathering data for this research. It provides adequate

information on the Research Design, Population, Sample Size,

Sampling Technique, Research Instrument, Validity and

Reliability of the Instrument, Method of data collection and

Method of data analysis.

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

This study set out to investigate the influence of

entrepreneurial journalism on the processes involved in

content creation by Nigerian journalists. The following

research questions served as guides:

1. To what extent do entrepreneurial considerations by

media personnel influence content development?

cxxiv

2. To what extent do news values determine the contents

that are published?

3. To what extent are professional journalists imbued with

entrepreneurial skills?

The research method to be used to execute the research

is Survey. Survey can be described as a method of collecting

data in a consistent or systematic way (Guyette, 1983).

Survey is a structured list of questions presented to

members of groups or communities whose views, opinions and

perceptions would help the researcher to describe and

analyse conditions and situations of an existing phenomenon

or proposition in order to draw explanatory inferences

(Olowookere, 2010). This usually involves constructing a set

of questions that are either asked by means of a

questionnaire, through an interview or a combination of both

instruments. Survey method is adopted to enable the

researcher gain insight into journalists’ attitude,

cxxv

behaviour, knowledge and opinion underlying the practice of

their profession.

3.2 POPULATION

This study was conducted on the Lagos-Ibadan axis of the

South Western region of Nigeria. All practising journalists

working with various media organisations within the axis

shall form the population of the study. Respondents shall be

drawn from all print and broadcast organisations on the

Lagos-Ibadan axis. Most of these media organisations are

national in coverage and circulation. In addition,

reporters, correspondents and editors will be considered for

interview.

3.3 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

Purposive Sampling technique is to be adopted for this

study. This sampling technique enables researchers to

carefully select certain groups of people, individuals and

cxxvi

items or contents because of their relevance to the subject

of investigation (Olowookere, 2010). A purposive sample

refers to selection of units based on personal judgement

rather than randomisation (Elder, 2009). This means that the

subjects were selected on the basis of specific

characteristics. Therefore, this method is to be adopted

because the researcher targets practising journalists only.

The researcher shall administer copies of the questionnaire

to journalists met in offices, newsrooms and at their beats.

Similarly, subjects for interviews will also be purposively

selected. The researcher adopted this method because it was

found most suitable and would provide acceptable findings.

3.4 SAMPLE SIZE

A total of one hundred and fifty (150) copies of

questionnaire are to be administered to respondents drawn

from the various media houses within the Lagos-Ibadan axis

of the South West region of the country. Also, to enable the

cxxvii

researcher gather substantial data, media personnel in their

different portfolios will be selected for interview. Three

reporters and three editors selected from the population of

the study shall be interviewed.

3.5 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

The research instruments for this study are Close-ended

Questionnaire and Semi-Structured Oral Interview Guide. A

questionnaire consists of a set of questions presented to a

respondent to be answered directly on paper (Guyette, 1983).

Questionnaire also allows for exploration of relationships

between two or more variables. One can also gather a large

amount of data with relative ease from a variety of people

across a wide geographical area. Items in the questionnaire

were constructed to reveal respondents’ attitude, behaviour,

knowledge and opinion. The questionnaire comprises 19 close-

ended items that are both exclusive and exhaustive, and one

(1) open ended item. Gathered responses (data) would be

cxxviii

statistically presented summarily for analysis and

interpretations.

Interview guide is a survey tool used to collect

interview data that will be further analysed. Interview

guide enabled the researcher ensure that all important areas

are covered and that questions revolve round the research

questions. Interview also helps the receiver acquire in-

depth information and observe visual cues during the conduct

of interviews. Personal interviewing ensures flexibility

during the conduct of interviews. This enables the

researcher ask probing questions, explore issues which will

yield rich data. Moreover, interview allows the researcher

establish rapport with respondents hence collect large

amounts of information. The semi-structured interview guide

adopted for this study will ensure that interview questions

are in line with the objectives of the study. The Interview

guide comprised 8 items.

cxxix

3.6 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF INSTRUMENTS

The draft copies of the questionnaire and the Interview

Guide were submitted to the project supervisor for necessary

corrections and amendments. This helped the researcher

improve upon the instruments and enhance the validity of

data. The supervisor checked the construction and ordering

of questionnaire items and interview questions in terms of

elicited response, precision, bias, ambiguity and clarity.

This was aimed at attaining a valid and reliable conclusion.

The researcher subsequently effected these corrections

before using the research instruments to gather data for the

study.

3.7 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

Data are to be collected using Questionnaire and Interview

Guide. The researcher shall distribute 150 copies of the

questionnaire to journalists working with media

organisations within the South West region of the country.

cxxx

Respondents shall determine the time of return of copies of

the questionnaire. The researcher shall distribute the

questionnaire personally without the help of trained field

assistants and ensure that all distributed questionnaire are

collected.

Furthermore, the researcher, with the aid of an

Interview Guide, will gather supplementary information about

respondents’ thoughts, feelings and behaviours, meaning and

interpretations underlying the practice of journalism.

Personal interviews are to be conducted with selected

respondents (reporters and editors) at a convenient time and

place and it is expected that response rates will be high.

Each interview session is to span between 30-45 minutes. For

every interview session, the researcher shall make use of a

recording device to record conversations. In addition, the

researcher will always make use of a notepad to take down

key points identified during interview sessions. This

cxxxi

measure shall serve as a back-up for any unforeseen

technical hitch. All interviews sessions will be conducted

by the researcher; that is, no field assistant will be

employed for the study. This is because a few number of

respondents are to be interviewed.

3.8 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS

Collected data shall be analysed using simple percentages

and presented in tables where necessary. This method is

found appropriate in correlating the gathered data which is

quantitative in nature. Data obtained through the

administration of questionnaire will be analysed and

discussed in relation to each research question. Also, data

collected from the interviews shall serve as complementary

data in answering the research questions. This will be done

cxxxii

by extracting relevant quotations to back up presented data

where deemed appropriate.

cxxxiii

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

4.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the data gathered through the

interview and questionnaire. Gathered data are presented in

tables to show the frequency and percentage of responses.

Data in each table is summarised, interpreted and the

findings are discussed in relation to the research

questions. This study was designed to investigate the

influence of entrepreneurial journalism on the processes

involved in content creation by Nigerian journalists. The

research questions are hereby restated below:

1. To what extent do entrepreneurial considerations by

media personnel influence content development?

2. To what extent do news values determine the contents

that are published?

cxxxiv

3. To what extent are professional journalists imbued with

entrepreneurial skills?

4.1 DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

Certain demographic information was considered vital to the

presentation of data and interpretation of findings. These

are distribution of the respondents, the age range, course

of study, academic qualification and media organisations

(radio, newspaper, magazine, television) of the respondents.

In particular, the course of study is a unique variable to

investigate the professional claim of media practitioners.

Table 1: Distribution of respondents by Gender

Sex Frequency Percentage

Male 106 70.7%

Female 44 29.3%

Total 150 100%

Table 1 indicates that 106 (70.7%) of the respondents were

male, while 44 (29.3%) were female. This shows that majority

cxxxv

of the respondents were male. Journalism, therefore, is a

profession dominated by men.

Table 2: Distribution of respondents by Age

Age Group Frequency Percentage

25-35 76 50.7%

36-45 48 32%

46 and above 26 17.3%

Total 150 100%

From table 2, it can be inferred that majority of the

respondents constituting 50.7% fell within the age range of

25-35 while people of 46 years and above had the lowest

number of respondents constituting 17.3%. The data presented

shows that more young men and women constitute the active

work force of the profession. The table also reveals a

decline in the number of active journalists that remain on

the profession as they grow older. It can therefore be

cxxxvi

inferred that many people leave the profession before the

age of 46 probably for other professions.

Table 3: Respondents’ years of work experience

Years Frequency Percentage

1-10 87 58%

11-20 41 27.3%

21-30 15 10%

31-40 7 4.7%

Total 150 100%

Table 3 reveals that most of the respondents have been

practising journalists for about 10 years while 41 (27.3%)

have been on the job for about 20 years. Only 7 (4.7%) of

the respondents have stuck with the profession for about 31

to 40 years. This data shows that respondents are

experienced on the job and can provide reliable data about

the realities of the profession. However, just like in table

cxxxvii

2, there is a decline in number of journalists that remain

on the profession as years pass by.

Table 4: Respondents’ Course of study

Course of study Frequency Percentage

Mass

Communication/Journ

alism

91 60.7%

Communication and

Language Arts

19 12.7%

Business

Administration/Mana

gement

3 2%

Engllish/

Linguistics

22 14.7%

Social Sciences 8 5.3%

cxxxviii

(Political Science,

International

Relations,

Psychology,

Sociology,

Economics)

Sciences

(Microbiology,

Mathematics,

Computer Science,

Geography)

5 3.3%

Agric Extension and

Management

2 1.3%

Total 150 100%

As shown in table 4, majority of the respondents, 91

(60.7%), had journalism training. Similarly, the profession

accommodates Communication and Language Arts graduates

constituting 12.7% of respondents. Also, 22 (14.7%) of the

cxxxix

respondents were graduates of English/ Linguistics.

Meanwhile, 18 (11.9%) of the respondents, who are practicing

journalists, did not study any communication-related course.

While majority of the respondents specifically had

journalism training, the data gathered shows that the

profession accommodates a fair number of non-journalism

graduates. This shows that non-journalism graduates are

being employed the more so that specialised reporting will

be facilitated. The key requirement of today’s profession

seems to be the ability to use English language effectively.

Also, the fact that a person studied Mass Communication does

not translate into being a great communication. Moreover,

many that have excelled in journalism are not Mass

Communication graduates.

Table 5: Academic Qualification of Respondents

Academic

Qualification

Frequency Percentage

cxl

National

Diploma/NCE

17 11.3%

HND/BSc/B.A 89 59.4%

MSc/M.A 44 29.3%

Total 150 100%

Table 5 shows that 133 (88.7%) of the respondents had a

minimum of first degree. This is constituted of 89 (59.4%)

who are either university or polytechnic graduates, while 44

(29.3%) of the respondents have a Masters degree. Only 17

respondents had National Diploma or National Certificate of

Education. It indicates that a large number of qualified

professionals are in the practice.

Table 6: Principal Media Organisation of Respondents

Media Frequency Percentage

Radio 39 26%

Newspaper 78 52%

Magazine 6 4%

Television 27 18%cxli

Total 150 100%

Table 6 indicates that most of the respondents, 78 (52%),

work with newspaper organisations. Also, 39 (26%) and 27

(18%) of the respondents work for Radio and Television

respectively. Those who work for Magazine constitute 4% of

respondents. This shows that many of the respondents

principally work with newspaper organisations above other

media.

4.2 NON-DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

The substantive issues of this research are to be discussed

under this section. The research questions shall form the

basis of this discussion. Data gathered from the

Questionnaire and Interview will be correlated in line with

the objectives of the study.

RESEARCH QUESTION ONE

cxlii

To what extent do entrepreneurial considerations by media

personnel influence content development?

This question seeks to investigate the mindset of

journalists when they develop content for publication or

broadcast. Furthermore, this question shall reveal the

extent to which media personnel consider financial returns

for every news story to be disseminated to the mass

audience. In order to answer this research question, items

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 on the questionnaire were analysed

and supplemented with excerpts from interviews conducted.

Data gathered from the questionnaire that are relevant to

research question one are presented in tables 7, 8, 9,

10,11, 12 and 13.

Table 7: News as a marketing commodity for all media

organisations

Responses Respondents Percentage

Yes 132 88%

cxliii

No 18 12%

Total 150 100%

Though 18 (12%) of the respondents, in table 7, responded on

the negative, 132 (88%) of the respondents responded on the

affirmative that news is a marketing commodity for all media

organisations. This data discloses that beyond its

informative function, media personnel are expected to ensure

that news is crafted to sell their media organisations.

Table 8: By-line as a means to sell the journalist

Responses Respondents Percentage

Yes 126 84%

No 24 16%

Total 150 100%

Table 8 shows that 126 (84%) of the respondents affirm that

their by-line is a way to sell their personality. On the

other hand, 24 (16%) hold that by-line is not a means to

sell the journalist. 84% is an a majority which reveals thatcxliv

journalists frown at the non-inclusion of their by-line

after any news item. One can therefore infer that media

personnel develop content with the mindset of improving

their image and reputation. Such reputation provides the

template for the journalist to establish him or herself in

other endeavours.

Table 9: The most influential in news selection and pattern

of news content

Responses Respondents Percentage

Reporter 29 19.3%

Editor 99 66%

Proprietor 22 14.7%

Total 150 100%

Based on the data in table 9, majority of respondents,

constituting 66%, consider the editor as the most

influential in news selection and the pattern of news

content. In this regard, the reporter is considered more

cxlv

influential than the proprietor. Among other gatekeepers in

the information channel, the editor wields the most

influence in determining which story is finally published

and the pattern of news content. This connotes that the

editor’s biases and prejudices greatly is a defining factor

in selection of news for publication and broadcast and the

pattern of news content.

Table 10: Journalists view of content creation being

business-oriented

Responses Respondents Percentage

Yes 44 29.3%

No 106 70.7%

Total 150 100%

As presented in table 10, 106 (70.7%) of the respondents

state that they do not create their content with the mindset

of monetising their contents. 44 (29.3%) however agree that

they think of content creation in business terms. This data

cxlvi

hereby reveals that the intention of selling their stories

is not a guiding factor when Nigerian journalists create

content for publication or broadcast. This information is

however contradictory to respondents’ assertion in table 7

that news is a marketing commodity for all media

organisations.

Table 11: Journalists’ underlying motive when they create

content for publication or broadcast

Responses Respondents Percentage

To sell me 4 2.7%

To sell my media

organisation

44 29.3%

To sell both me and 102 68%

cxlvii

my media

organisation

Total 150 100%

Most of the respondents, 102 (68%), aver that the underlying

motive behind content creation is to sell both the

journalist and their media organisation. Meanwhile, 44

(29.3%) of the respondents opine that content is created to

sell their media organisation rather than themselves. Only 4

(2.7%) of the respondents create content to sell themselves.

Above all, journalists know that the interest of the media

organisation is paramount to them. This means that

journalists adhere to in-house policies of the organisation

they work with. One can also infer from the above table that

it behoves the journalist to balance content to sell both

him or herself and the organisation.

cxlviii

Table 12: Extent to which the audience is at the mercy of

gatekeeping decisions and in-house policies

Responses Respondents Percentage

Often 100 66.7%

Less Often 50 33.3%

Total 150 100%

From table 12, it can be deduced that the audience is fed

with the final products that have gone through a channel of

gatekeepers among other in-house considerations. Majority of

respondents, 100 (66.7%), state that the audience is often

at the mercy of such invisible actions of media personnel.

This shows that, more often than not, media personnel, in

creating content, consider in-house policies and

gatekeepers’ stand before that of the audience.

cxlix

Table 13: Most prised interest when content is created for

publication or broadcast

Responses Respondents Percentage

Members of the

public

117 78%

Proprietor 3 2%

The Media

Organisation

24 16%

Financiers 1 0.7%

Government 4 2.6%

Personal 1 0.7%

Total 150 100%

From table 13, 117 (78%) of the respondents note that the

interest of members of the public is prised the most when

cl

content is created for publication or broadcast. 24 (16%) of

respondents hold that the interest of the media organisation

is upmost on their mind when they create content. Other

interests like that of the Proprietor, Financiers,

Government and themselves seem inconsequential to the

journalist. Evidently, journalists pride the interest of

members of the public above other consideration but this not

discountenance that the media also services other interests.

The data presented so far in relation to research question

one shows that media personnel consider financial returns

whenever they develop content for publication or broadcast.

The findings reveal that this mindset of content creation in

business terms transverses all media organisations in

Nigeria. This finding is in consonance with the finding of

Bosma and Harding (2010) that the entrepreneurial mindset of

journalists is widely acknowledged. It is disclosed that

cli

news has been branded a commodity to sell. The foregoing

findings from the questionnaire are also supported by data

from the interview with Mr Edward Dickson, Editor in Chief,

Nigerian Tribune thus:

Nowadays, you have news being also brandedas a commodity and the whole essence of acommodity which are branding, pricing,profit orientation applies to today’scontent. News is not meant to perform thewatchdog role; it is also now seen as acommodity meant to be sold for profitmaking. Almost every news organisationsurvives on advertisements and contents aremeant to drive advertisements.

Journalism has over the years undergone stages of

invention and the profession has become more business-

oriented than service oriented. This means that journalists

do not just write stories, but write with the mindset of

generating revenue. This finding is buttressed with the

finding of Franklin et al (2005) who argued that news has

become a commodity while viewers have metamorphosed into

consumers. This trend is due to technological advancement

clii

and the increasingly money-based nature of our society. In

this regard, another interviewee, Mr Fisayo Shoyombo, a

reporter for The Will, an online news site, says the capital

intensive nature of running media organisations which has

made media managers more commercial-oriented is a societal

problem. He says: “I do not see it as a media problem; I see

it as a societal problem. We are running a society that is

so money-based, and this is not a peculiar problem of the

just the media sector in Nigeria.” Since media houses do not

operate in a vacuum, they are not immune from societal

influences. This is in line with Goffman’s dramaturgical

theory that we cannot discuss people’s selves abstracted

from their social situations.

News managers consequent upon the dynamic nature of the

society are forced to see the content of their newspapers as

commodities that are meant to sell. Contents are also meant

to drive advertisements, sales and revenue. It is disclosed

cliii

that journalists now have more of commercial orientation

than news orientation for them to remain on the job. Amidst

this commercial oriented nature of the profession,

journalists hold that the interest of the public is still

sacrosanct when content is created for publication or

broadcast. Media personnel through their stories also sell

themselves and their media organisations.

The findings from both the questionnaire and interview

confirm that the editor is the most influential in news

selection and pattern of news content. This finding

contradicts the position of Keeble (2001) that the most

important person in a newspaper is the managing editor. It

however upholds the assertion of Hausman (1998) that the

editor is in charge of the content of a newspaper. Mr

Dickson and Mr Shoyombo however do not fail to point out

that this power varies from newspaper to newspaper. They

note that in news organisations where the owner being the

cliv

publisher and editor-in-chief the publisher is the most

influential. But they point out that the most powerful in

most organisations is the editor-in-chief. On maintaining a

balance between being profit and service-oriented, Mr Ojo

Olawunmi, Editor, Guardian newspaper, notes: “There is a

kind of delicate balance that the typical media manager or

editor does everyday. That is, ensuring a balance between

commercial interest and public social interest.”

One can conclude that the average journalist is also an

entrepreneur thus leaving the audience at the mercy of

gatekeeping decisions and in-house policies. This

unsuspecting public are fed with contents that are padded to

serve several other interests. In today’s world of

journalism, the reality is that every journalist across

media houses has been indoctrinated into accepting the

business-oriented nature of journalism. Right from the

decision to cover a story to writing the story, editing to

clv

publishing the story, media personnel have the mindset of

using their contents to sell both themselves and their media

organisation.

RESEARCH QUESTION TWO

To what extent do news values determine the contents that

are published?

This research question two aims to find out if the highly

revered news values and ethics of professional journalism

still remain a paramount factor in news selection. It aims

to investigate the extent to which the audience is at the

mercy of gatekeeping decisions and in-house policies. With

the current business-oriented nature of the society, this

research question shall reveal the extent to which the mass

media has abdicated her primary roles. In order to answer

this research question, items 8, 9, 10 and 11 on the

questionnaire were analysed and supplemented with excerpts

from interviews conducted. Data gathered from the

clvi

questionnaire that are relevant to research question two are

presented in tables 14, 15, 16 and 17.

Table 14: Extent to which news values determine

newsworthiness

Responses Respondents Percentage

Great Extent 106 70.7%

Fair Extent 44 29.3%

No Extent 0 0%

Total 150 100%

From table 14, one can infer that stipulated news values of

the profession greatly determine newsworthiness. However, 44

(29.3%) of the respondents assert that only to a fair extent

do news values determine newsworthiness. Therefore, these

respondents opine that some other factors aside news values

determine the supposed newsworthiness of a story. Above all,

though, journalists to a large extent, constituting 70.7% of

clvii

respondents, hold that news values are sacrosanct in the

determination of the newsworthiness of stories.

Table 15: The greatest determinant of news story that is

finally published

Responses Respondents Percentage

Newsworthiness 113 75.3%

Profit 10 6.7%

Ethical

Considerations

27 18%

Total 150 100%

Data presented in table 15 shows that the newsworthiness of

a story is the greatest determinant of news story that is

clviii

finally published. 27 (18%) of the respondents however note

that ethical considerations are also a determinant of

stories that are published. The findings as presented in

this table in relation to table 14 reveals that news values

is a greatest determinant of the newsworthiness of a story

that is finally published. On the other hand however, as

disclosed in table 12, news that is finally published is not

only determined by stipulated news values but also

gatekeeping decisions and in-house policies.

Table 16: Extent to which the mass media is performing her

social responsibility role

clix

Responses Respondents Percentage

Great Extent 81 54%

Fair Extent 67 44.7%

No Extent 2 1.3%

Total 150 100%

As observed in table 16, majority of respondents, 81 (54%),

attest that the mass media performs her social

responsibility role to a large extent. It is however worthy

to point out that 67 (44.7%) of the respondents are of the

opinion that the mass media performs her social

responsibility role to a fair extent. Though majority of

respondents agree that the mass media performs her social

responsibility role to a large extent, one can infer that

this percentage is not convincing enough as 44.7% also hold

that the mass media performs this role to a fair extent.

Table 17: Extent to which professional and ethical

journalism has been redefined

clx

Responses Respondents Percentage

Slightly redefined 90 60%

Totally redefined 50 33.3%

Not redefined 10 6.7%

Total 150 100%

Table 17 shows that only 10 (6.7%) of the respondents hold

that journalism has not been redefined in any way. 140

(83.3%) of the respondents assert that the profession has

either been totally or slightly redefined. The data in table

14 that news values are still highly held as a determinant

of content for broadcast or publication is therefore

questioned. Similarly, the findings in table 17 confirm the

data in table 12 that the audience is often at the mercy of

gatekeeping decisions and in-house policies as content is

crafted to suit other interests apart from that of members

of the public. Above all, these findings reveal that

professional and ethical journalism has been redefined.

clxi

The data we have presented in relation to research question

two affirms that though professional journalism has been

redefined, news values and other ethical considerations

still remain a key factor in determining newsworthiness and

the final content that is published. In addition, the media

still performs her social responsibility role. These

findings reveal that in spite of the current commercial

orientation of the media, the media has not abdicated her

roles to include performing her watchdog role, serving as

conscience of the society and agenda setting. This finding

confirms the position of Watson (2003) who held that the

media has obligations to the society and media ownership is

a public trust.

According to another interviewee, Mr Rasaq Bamidele, a

reporter for Punch newspapers, “the role of the media in the

society cannot be wished away no matter the commercial

orientation. If the media does not carry out her primary

clxii

role, she loses her legitimacy.” The mass media will

continue to perform its role to inform and ensure the

progress of the society. The task of maintaining a balance

such that they are not seen as jeopardising public interest

for other pecuniary interests is the job of the good editor.

This finding is corroborated by Wood (2004) who found out

that competent communicators know how to keep such backstage

behaviours out of the view of the audience so that they do

not invalidate the front stage performance.

Similarly, Mr Tunde Badru, Assistant Press Officer, Oyo

State Government House, said that “the fact that more people

are beginning to see it as a business venture cannot

overrule the fact that it is a social service.” However,

Fisayo Shoyombo notes that news values are still cherished

in media organisations where there is no clash of

interests.” This clash of interests as pointed out in this

finding is identified by Baran (1999) who opines that the

clxiii

trend of market-driven journalism threatens highly held news

values of the mass media and performance of her social

responsibility roles.

This research work also found out that news values

still remains a great determinant of newsworthiness. This is

contrary to the finding of Sisson (2006) who found out that

the journalist is key in determining what becomes news.

Though newsworthiness remains a great determinant of news

story that is finally published, news organisations through

gatekeepers still ensure that such stories does not malign

their financiers and are in line with in-house policies.

This finding confirms the finding of Barzilai-Nahon (2008)

that the levels of gatekeeping transverses the individual

level, the routines level, the organizational level, the

institutional level and social systems level.

This finding tends to agree with Shoemaker (2008) who

held that newsworthiness is a mental judgement, a cognition

clxiv

that can only marginally predict what actually becomes news

whereas news is a social artefact, a thing, a commodity. So

that the media house does not lose such patronage, the

editor ensures some form of balance. The findings also

confirm that professional and ethical journalism has been

slightly or totally redefined. This is not unconnected with

the profit-oriented nature of today’s society. This finding

is corroborated with McQuail (2005) who argued that it is

difficult for social responsibility to survive or prosper in

a competitive world. In addition, this finding is in

consonance with the position of McGregor (2002) that with

changed social and cultural dynamics, audience demands,

technological innovation and convergence, the highly revered

twelve news determinants require modification.

One therefore can conclude that the journalistic

practice in the Nigerian media has become more complicated.

On the one hand, the mass media has ensured that the highly

clxv

revered news values still determine newsworthiness.

Similarly, the mass media is committed to performing its

primary roles to include dissemination of information,

serving as a watchdog of the society and conscience of the

people. However, other interests like profit making now

grapple with news values on the continuum of factors that

determine contents that are finally published. In addition,

due to other interests that the media has to service to

remain afloat, apart from the interests of members of the

public, the media has become diplomatic and tactical about

disseminating information. This is because the practice of

journalism has tilted more towards generating profit than

offering service. Although, the Nigerian mass media still

strives to live up to her primary responsibilities, other

covert considerations like profit making increasingly cast a

shadow over a highly professional and ethical journalistic

practice.

clxvi

RESEARCH QUESTION THREE

To what extent are professional journalists imbued with

entrepreneurial skills?

This research question seeks to discover the extent to which

professional journalists have come to terms with the need to

be entrepreneurially inclined. This question shall find out

if journalists received some form of entrepreneurial

training during their course of study. The influence of the

advent of the Internet on the practise of the profession

shall also be investigated. Succinctly, the pervasive trend

of entrepreneurial journalism poses a challenge to

professional and ethical journalism. Items 12, 13, 14, 15,

16, 17, 18 and 19 on the questionnaire were found relevant

in providing an answer to research question three. These

items were analysed and supplemented with excerpts from

interviews conducted. Data gathered from the questionnaire

clxvii

that are relevant to research question three are presented

in tables 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25.

Table 18: The advent of the Internet as a reason for the

profit-oriented nature of the mainstream media

Responses Respondents Percentage

Yes 100 66.7%

No 50 33.3%

Total 150 100%

From Table 18, one realises that the advent of the Internet

has made the mainstream media more profit-oriented. On the

contrary, 50 (33.3%) of respondents maintain that the

Internet has not pushed the mainstream media to constantly

think of making profit out of media content. But the data as

presented in table 18 points to the fact that the Internet

has made the mainstream media more profit-oriented than

service-oriented.

clxviii

Table 19: Ways in which journalists have been able to tap

into advantages brought by advent of the Internet

Responses Respondents Percentage

Gathering

information

117 66.5%

Disseminating

information

40 22.7%

Freelancing for

different media

houses

10 5.7%

Running a blog site 9 5.1%

clxix

Total 176 100%

Among several advantages brought by the Internet that

journalists can avail themselves of, table 19 reveals that

many journalists use the Internet to gather information than

disseminate information, freelance for different media

houses or run a blog site.117 ( 66.5%) of the respondents

use the Internet to gather information while 40 (22.7%)

consider the Internet advantageous in disseminating

information. This table shows that many journalists are yet

to tap into the Internet’s inherent advantage of running a

personal website or blog site.

Table 20: Awareness of journalists on the Internet as an

opportunity to carve a niche for themselves by owning a blog

site

clxx

Responses Respondents Percentage

I am fully aware 87 58%

Thought about it

but do not know how

to go about it

26 17.3%

Never thought about

it

37 24.7%

Total 150 100%

It can be deduced that journalists are aware of the

opportunity created for them by the Internet to carve a

niche for themselves by owning a blog site. It is worthy to

note that while 26 (17.3%) are aware of this opportunity but

do not know how to go about it, 37 (24.7%) are still in the

dark about such opportunity. In comparison with table 19,

where only 5.1% of respondents currently run a blog site, it

is clear that many journalists are aware of this opportunity

but are either not interested or do not know how to go about

clxxi

using the Internet to carve a niche for themselves by owning

a blog site.

Table 21: Journalists’ ownership of other avenues for

generating revenue apart from working for their principal

media organisation

Responses Respondents Percentage

Yes 36 24%

No 114 76%

Total 150 100%

Seventy-six percent of respondents in table 21 aver that

journalists do not have alternate means for generating

income aside working for their principal media organisation.

Journalists seem to be faithful to their respective media

clxxii

organisations. This might not be unconnected with the fact

that editors-cum-media owners covertly frown at journalists

who work for other media firms, in particular, competitive

ones.

Table 22: Journalists’ disposition towards the adoption of

entrepreneurial journalism

Responses Respondents Percentage

Have adopted it 45 30%

Not interested 27 18%

Very soon 78 52%

Total 150 100%

As shown in table 22, though 45 (30%) of the respondents

have adopted entrepreneurial journalism, majority of

respondents, 78 (52%), wish to adopt this emerging trend of

journalism in no time. Evidently, the opportunities opened

up by the Internet seem to endear journalists to practise

clxxiii

entrepreneurial journalism, that is, create audience-

centered contents. However, 27 (18%) of the respondents are

not interested in adopting entrepreneurial journalism.

Table 23: Journalists’ determination towards owning their

media outfit

Responses Respondents Percentage

Very determined and

working towards it

90 60%

Not interested 60 40%

Total 150 100%

Table 23 indicates that majority of respondents are very

determined and working towards owning their media outfits.

Based on table 2, table 3 and table 11, the intention of

journalists is to work for some years, use their by-line to

carve a name for themselves, garner the needed knowledge

then break away to set up their media organisations and

clxxiv

hereby become entrepreneurs. However, 60 (40%) of the

respondents are not interested in such at all.

Table 24: Journalists and entrepreneurial education during

their course of study

Responses Respondents Percentage

Yes 86 57.3%

No 64 42.7%

Total 150 100%

In table 24, 86 (57.3%) of the respondents offered at least

an entrepreneurial related course during their course of

study. But 64 (42.7%) were not imbued with entrepreneurial

skills while at the university or polytechnic. More

journalists should be entrepreneurially inclined to cope

with the demands of the profession in a dynamic world.

clxxv

Table 25: The envisaged future of journalism

Responses Respondents Percentage

A media that is

more socially

responsible

11 7.3%

Technology driven

journalism

13 8.7%

Highly professional 83 55.3%

clxxvi

journalism and

ethical journalism

Print journalism

going into

extinction

10 6.7%

Citizen journalism 5 3.3%

Journalism geared

towards profit

making than being

socially

responsible

10 6.7%

Media houses free

from influences of

financiers,

government

interference

12 8%

Adventurous

journalists

6 4%

clxxvii

Total 150 100%

Table 25 shows the future envisaged by journalists. Majority

of respondents look forward to a highly professional and

ethical journalistic practice. Due to technological

advancement, 13 (8.7%) of respondents foresee a profession

that is technologically driven. 12 (8%) of the respondents

crave for a media that is free from the influences of

financiers and government interference. 10 (6.7%) of the

respondents anticipate that print journalism will soon go

into extinction and journalism will be largely run or aided

by the Internet. 11 (7.3%) of respondents see a future where

the media will be more socially responsible.

The data presented in relation to research question three

reveals that technological advancement has brought a changed

culture to journalistic practice. Moreover, entrepreneurial

journalism is gradually being accepted as a real brand of

clxxviii

journalism. Entrepreneurial journalism has changed the face

of journalism and practitioners crave for a return to a

profession that is highly ethical and professional.

The Internet has aided entrepreneurial journalism as

journalists are afforded a platform to create audience-

centered contents. Consequently, for any media to remain

relevant, it must provide audience-centered contents. This

finding confirms the proposition of McQuail (2005) that

journalism would become less journalist centered and more

user centered. The Internet has further pushed the

traditional media to be more profit-oriented. This finding

is in line with the finding of Horrocks (2009) that

Internet-based journalism has made mainstream journalism

more business-oriented.

Evidently, being overtly profit-oriented is the

orientation of journalists for the 21st century. This

finding is justified by the finding of Sparks (1999) who

clxxix

discovered that newspaper organisations are first and

foremost businesses. As noted by Mr Edward Dickson, the

media will fully adopt entrepreneurial journalism very soon.

He says:

In fact, the media is tilting towardsensuring that journalism is audience-centered. Every page of the newspaper shouldbe seen to be providing service to aparticular audience. Every media worker mustgenerate revenue. Whether you are thecleaner, the MD, office assistant, you mustgenerate revenue. This is the orientation ofthe media workers in the 21st century.

This commercial orientation of journalists is not

unconnected with the fact that what was once the exclusive

preserve of mainstream media has now been eroded by other

sources of information provided by the Internet. Both

mainstream and online media are commercial oriented. This

finding contradicts the argument of Cohen (2002) that online

journalism on the whole is more market driven and commercial

than established newspaper journalism. It can be deduced

that the Internet cum technology has redefined journalismclxxx

negatively and positively. This finding is in line with the

finding of Baran (2000) that technology has been both an

ally and enemy to newspapers. According to Rasaq Bamidele,

“It is positive because it has added to the value of

journalism. The drawback is that media houses are finding it

difficult to make ends meet.” This finding is justified by

Rusbridger (2010) finding that what is being experienced is

a cliché of media life which is both the best of times and

the worst of times.

The advent of the Internet will make journalism more

business-oriented. Online journalism is fast catching up

with traditional journalism; as a result, some respondents

opine that print journalism, in particular, would soon be

phased out. In this regard, Tunde Badru, avers that:

Phasing out: Yes; but not in the nearesttime, probably with time, we will have 60%online and 40% hard copy. Maybe in the nextfive years, we will see a situation wherebymajority of media stations will 80%broadcast or publish online.

clxxxi

On his part, Fisayo Shoyombo asserts that the only

advantage online journalism has over traditional journalism

is that it is only efficient with timely news dissemination.

Similarly, he states that “Quality in online space is at the

lowest ebb; you just find people recycling information.” Mr

Ojo Olawunmi notes that because people in this part of the

world want something tangible, newspapers in hard copy will

still be acceptable.

Undoubtedly, journalists have been able to tap into the

advantages offered by the Internet ranging from running a

personal news site to freelancing for different media

houses. This provides more avenues for the journalist to

generate revenue apart from working with their principal

media organisation. But many media houses in Nigeria frown

at their journalists who freelance. According to Mr John

Ojedokun, a reporter for Television Continental, Lagos

“Media managers do not like it when their journalists

clxxxii

freelance for other media firms. Disposition: Negative.”

However, Mr Edward Dickson notes that his media organisation

does not categorically discourage her workers from having

other sources of revenue but warns that,

If opening a blog site or freelancing isaffecting his or her primary duty, forexample, posting information contrary to thestand of his primary place of engagementthereby affecting our image, certainly, wewill frown at it. If not, we will not frownat such.

Mr Fisayo Shoyombo reasons that freelancing should not

be frowned at in any manner. “I think freelancing is a way

to make money cleanly. Why rely on brown envelopes, press

conferences, when you can freelance for four media

organisations and make money.” The findings further

reveal that if the journalist is to remain relevant, he or

she must be entrepreneurially inclined. This finding is in

consonance with the position of Baines and Kennedy (2010)

who held that employers seek for recruits that are imbued

with skills beyond the usual news reporter’s ability toclxxxiii

report or write news stories. Journalists must think of

selling their media organisations using their contents and

that is the reality of today’s profession. There is

therefore the need for Mass Communication students across

tertiary institutions to offer entrepreneurial journalism as

a course to curb a possible disconnect between today’s Mass

Communication graduate and his or her place of work.

According to Edward Dickson,

A typical journalist must be trained to be agood marketer. No media house has space forsomeone who is not a good marketer. Incominggraduates into the profession must know thatyou must combine your big grammar withgenerating revenue because the media marketis competitive. If you are not a good bidderor you write something bad about anindividual or firm, such person ororganisation will withdraw theiradvertisements and that certainly is a minusto the revenue base of media organisations.

clxxxiv

The competitive nature of the media market has affected

the professional culture of the journalist. This finding is

corroborated by the finding of (Jarvis 2009a) that in an

environment where professional journalists and citizen

journalists compete to serve small communities, there has to

be a significant shift in the professional culture of

journalists.

To avoid this disconnect between what is taught in

school and the reality of professional practice, the time

for entrepreneurial journalism education should be as soon

as possible. Tunde Badru says, “the time is now, because

tomorrow may be too late.” Fisayo Shoyombo avows that

Entrepreneurial journalism should be included in mass

communication curriculum as soon as yesterday. This

disclosure is similar to the position of Deuze (2006) that

Journalism curriculum in universities and colleges across

the world must be flexible to accommodate changing trends.

clxxxv

It can be concluded that entrepreneurial journalism is

getting more pronounced by the day. In fact, the advent of

the Internet has provided a great challenge to mainstream

media. If traditional media is to remain relevant, media

managers must harmonise the benefits of both mainstream

journalism and online journalism. This could be in form of

creating more audience-centered contents. The influence of

entrepreneurial journalism on content creation cannot be

wished away hence people that want to take up journalism as

a profession must possess both entrepreneurial and

journalistic skills if they are to survive in today’s money-

based society.

clxxxvi

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter summarizes the research findings, draws

conclusions based on the findings, and, makes necessary

recommendations. To further enhance the body of knowledge,

suggestions for further studies are offered.

5.1 SUMMARY

This study examined the extent to which content curators

(editors and reporters) consider financial returns when

developing news content from the stage of gathering

information to writing, editing and then publishing and the

influence of this mindset on content development. The study

also investigated the extent to which news values and other

ethical considerations remained a paramount factor in

determining the contents that are published. Furthermore,

clxxxvii

this study investigated the extent to which journalists have

come to terms with the need to be entrepreneurially

inclined.

In order to achieve these objectives, the survey

research method was adopted. Survey method enabled the

researcher gain insight into journalists’ attitude,

behaviour, knowledge and opinion underlying the practice of

their profession. Interview and Questionnaire were effective

survey research methods used to gather relevant data that

formed the basis of these findings. In particular, the

research instruments for this study were a largely close-

ended questionnaire and semi-structured interview guide.

While a total of 150 copies of the questionnaire were

administered to journalists drawn from various media houses

on the Lagos-Ibadan axis of the South West, six journalists

within the scope of the study were also selected for

clxxxviii

interview. The gathered data was analysed using simple

percentages and presented in tables.

This study found out that the typical journalist is

also an entrepreneur thus leaving the audience at the mercy

of gatekeeping decisions and in-house policies. Contents of

print and broadcast media are not just meant to inform but

also sell the media organisation as well as attract new

financiers. In today’s world of journalism, the business of

generating revenue is not only the prerogative of the

proprietor or owner, but the task of all media workers in

every media organisation. These entrepreneurial mindset

guides the journalist from the decision to cover a story,

develop the story, edit the story and finally publish the

story. Furthermore, the study realised that this

entrepreneurial mindset threatens a highly professional and

ethical journalistic practice. As a result, other interests

like profit making tend to compete with highly held news

clxxxix

values that should determine the newsworthiness of stories

to be published or broadcast. Evidently, the influence of

this entrepreneurial mindset on content creation cannot be

discountenanced. Journalism cannot be abstracted from its

society of operation. Hence, the increasingly money-based

nature of the society makes the profession more profit-

oriented so as to remain afloat. Other pressures like the

advent of the Internet and technological advancement also

challenge a highly ethical and professional journalistic

practice. Therefore, both incoming and practising

journalists must be entrepreneurially inclined as well as

possess the requisite journalism skills.

5.2 CONCLUSION

The findings of this study show that the entrepreneurial

mindset of journalists greatly influences content creation.

Moreover, it is affirmed that ethical and professional

journalism has been slightly redefined. This redefinition

cxc

has resulted in a new face of journalism known as

entrepreneurial journalism. Entrepreneurial journalism,

simply put, refers to the journalist also being an

entrepreneur. Content which is the visible revelation of any

journalistic effort has become a product to sell both the

journalist and the media organisation represented. Content,

beyond the primary aim of the media which is for

information, is also crafted to generate revenue. The

reporter and editor, among other gatekeepers, therefore,

develop content and finally publish them with the aim of

driving advertisements as well as generating income. The

study discovered that the day-to-day task of the editor is

to ensure a balance between commercial interest and public

social interest.

In addition, the ever-changing nature of the society

demands media managers to be more strategic in the

dissemination of information to the public. Due to

cxci

increasing cost of running media houses, as a result

technological advancement, the preponderant service mode has

been substituted by the profit motive. Consequently, news

has become a commodity to provide funds to keep the news

firm afloat. The advent of the Internet cum online

journalism has furthered the commercial orientation of media

personnel working for the mainstream media. This study also

discovered the need for traditional journalism to harness

the positives of the advent of the Internet to continue to

remain relevant. The findings foresee a situation whereby a

larger percentage of broadcasting and publishing by

traditional media will be done online.

However, this study discovered that news values still

greatly determine newsworthiness. Similarly, Nigerian media

still upholds her primary roles to include: social

responsibility role, watchdog role, being a purveyor of

information and serve as conscience of the society. The

cxcii

current crave for maximum profit has resulted in the

redefinition of journalism resulting in entrepreneurial

journalism. One therefore can say that today’s journalism is

more professional than ethical.

Finally, this study found out that entrepreneurial

journalism is not a course in mass communication curriculum

of tertiary institutions in Nigeria whereas courses and

advanced degrees in entrepreneurial journalism are offered

in many universities in Europe. To curb the usual disconnect

between the incoming mass communication graduate and the

actual practice, the inclusion of entrepreneurial journalism

as a course in journalism curriculum in Nigeria is long

overdue. Entrepreneurial journalism education will imbue

the journalist with the right blend of journalistic and

entrepreneurial skills. Today’s profession requires

journalists that are more of specialists than generalists.

cxciii

Entrepreneurial journalism, whereby contents are more

audience-centered, is clearly the future of journalism.

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

The findings of this study necessitate that the following

recommendations be made to potential beneficiaries of the

study. First, students of journalism should offer marketing

and business-oriented courses during the course of their

study. They should realise that possessing a degree in mass

communication is not the only pre-requisite to becoming a

renowned journalist. Second, scholars should teach the

reality of the profession. Old rules should be discarded and

news rules that are in tandem with current practice should

form the basis of their teaching. They should ensure a

review of mass communication curriculum in Nigeria to

embrace new trends in journalism. Also, scholars should

encourage students to practise entrepreneurial journalism

while in school.

cxciv

Third, practising journalists should understand the

dynamics of the organisation and society in which they work

in. In-policies vary from one media house to the other. The

media market is very competitive hence practising

journalists must be imbued with entrepreneurial skills

alongside their journalistic skills else they will be kicked

out of their workplace. Practising journalists should make

use of the Internet to carve a niche for themselves by

creating audience-centered contents. This would provide the

template for them to own a media outfit. In addition, media

personnel at all levels must at all time be flexible to

adapt to the dynamic nature of the world.

Finally, media policy makers should open up to reality

and accept entrepreneurial journalism. Notwithstanding, they

must ensure that the media does not abdicate her primary

roles to inform, enlighten and serve the interest of members

of the public. Policies should be flexible to accommodate

cxcv

news developments in the society. With the increasing number

of non-mass communication graduates in the profession and

increasing specialisation of contents, media policy makers

should be clearer on journalism being regarded to as a

profession.

Suggestions for further studies

There has been few literature in this field of

entrepreneurial journalism. It is expected that this study

will serve as a basis for further research in areas related

to this work. Further researchers should analyse the final

contents of broadcasts or publications to discover evidences

of this entrepreneurial mindset. In addition, the

entrepreneurial self-efficacy and academic-entrepreneurial

intentions of journalists should be investigated. Also,

research should be conducted to know the mass media’s level

of adaptation to changes in our ever-changing world.

cxcvi

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APPENDIX 1

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

QUESTIONNAIREDear Respondent,

The researcher is a 400 level student of the department

of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan.

This questionnaire is designed to collect data relating to

entrepreneurial journalism. This research is strictly for

academic purposes and all information supplied will be

treated with utmost confidentiality.

Thank you.

Please fill appropriately and tick () where it is

applicable.

SECTION A

1. Do you affirm that news is a marketing commodity for all

media organisations?

Yes ( ) No ( )

2. Do you consider your by-line as a means to sell yourself?

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Yes ( ) No ( )

3. Who in your opinion do you consider the most influential

in news selection and the pattern of news content?

Reporter ( ) Editor ( ) Proprietor

( )

4. Do you think of content creation in business terms,

thereby monetise your stories?

Yes ( ) No ( )

5. When you create content for publication or broadcast, is

the story meant to sell you or your media organisation?

To sell me ( ) To sell my media organisation

( ) To sell both me and my media organisation (

)

6. When you create content for publication or broadcast, how

often is the audience at the mercy of gatekeeping decisions

and in-house policies?

Often ( ) Less often ( )

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7. Whose interest do you pride the most when you create

content for publication or broadcast?

Members of the public ( ) Proprietor ( )

The Media Organisation ( ) Financiers ( )

Government ( ) Personal ( )

8. To what extent do you think news values like Frequency,

Unambiguity, Cultural proximity, Unexpectedness,

Reference to elite people, determine newsworthiness?

Great extent ( ) Fair extent ( )

No extent ( )

9. In your own opinion, what is the greatest determinant of

news story that is finally published?

Newsworthiness ( ) Profit ( )

Ethical considerations ( )

10. To what extent do you think the mass media is performing

her social responsibility role?

Great Extent ( ) Fair Extent ( )

No Extent ( )

11. To what extent do you think professional and ethical

journalism has been redefined?

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Slightly redefined ( ) Totally redefined (

) Not redefined ( )

12. Do you agree that the advent of other sources of

information like the Internet has made the mainstream media

more profit-oriented?

Yes ( ) No ( )

13. In what ways have you been able to tap into these

advantages brought by the Internet?

Gathering information ( ) Disseminating information

( ) Freelancing for different media houses (

) Running a blog site ( )

14. Do you consider the Internet an opportunity for you to

carve a niche for yourself by owning a blog site?

I am fully aware ( ) Thought about it but do not

know how to go about it ( ) Never thought about it

( )

15. Apart from working with your principal media

organisation, do you have other avenues for generating

revenue like freelancing for other media houses or running a

blog site?

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Yes ( ) No ( )

16. Entrepreneurial journalism also means carving out a

niche-audience and creating audience-centered contents, how

soon will you adopt this new trend of journalism?

Have adopted it ( ) Not interested (

) Very Soon ( )

17. With several opportunities opened up by being an

entrepreneurial journalist, how determined are you towards

owning your own media outfit?

Very determined and working towards it ( )

Not interested ( )

18. Did you offer any entrepreneurial related course during

your course of study?

Yes ( ) No ( )

19. What is the future of journalism that you envisage?

____________________________________________________________

____________

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____________________________________________________________

____________

SECTION B

i. Sex: Male ( ) Female ( )

ii. Age Group: 25-35 ( ) 36-45 (

) 46 and above ( )

iii. How long have you been a journalist?

1-10 years ( ) 11-20 years ( ) 21-

30 years ( ) 31-40 years ( )

iv. Course of study: _____________________________________

v. Academic Qualification: National Diploma/NCE

( ) HND/BSc/B.A ( )

Msc/M.A ( )

vi. For which of these media establishments do you

principally work with?

Radio ( ) Newspaper ( ) Magazine

( ) Television ( )

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APPENDIX 2

INTERVIEW GUIDE

1. News that is finally published usually goes through a

channel of gatekeepers with each gatekeeper exerting his or

her influence on the tone of stories, which is considered

the most influential in determining the final stories that

are published?

2. Journalism of today is more business oriented than ever

with media organisations servicing several interests like

that of their financiers (government and advertisers), what

is your view of journalism being regarded to as a commodity

rather than a social service?

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3. Consequent upon the crave for profit making by

proprietors of media organisations, what then is the place

of news values on the continum of other factors that

determine stories that are finally published?

4. The Internet has seemingly opened a new vista for

journalistic practice, to what extent do you think the

Internet has redefined professional journalism?

5. What is the disposition of media owners towards their

staff who freelance for other media houses or have other

sources of generating income?

6. With opportunities for the journalist to become a

freelancer, own a news site, make money without working

specifically for a news organisation, how attractive is this

option of entrepreneurial journalim which also means

creating audience centered contents?

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7. What is the underlying motive and mindset of the

journalist in developing a story?

8. Technological advancement means the journalist could

service a niche audience by creating audience-centered

contents, is the inclusion of entrepreneurial journalism in

the curriculum of mass communication departments in Nigerian

tertiary institutions long overdue?

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