BROADCAST MEDIA COVERAGE AND AUDIENCE AWARENESS OF THE 2023 POLITICAL PROCESS

ABSTRACT

In 2023, broadcast media played a pivotal role in covering the political process in Edo state. They provided extensive coverageof political events, campigns, and candidates profiles. This heightened media presence, significantly increased audience awareness and engagement with the political process. Therefore the basic objective of this work was to determine the extent to which broadcast media covered the 2023 Nigeria general election as well as to evaluate the level of audience awareness of the election includinh voters registration, voting rights and election procedures. The study adopted the survey research design with the questionnaire used to gather data from respondents. Since sampling all members of the population would not be possible owing to the size and difficulty of getting a members in a defined geographical location, purposive sampling was used to collect data from (100) respondents in Oredo local government area which constitute the sample size. The study was supported by theories of Agenda setting and Attitude change. The results of this research portrayed that majority of respondents perceive the broadcast media coverage of the 2023 political process as being of high rate. The research findings also indicate a comprehensive awareness among all surveyed individuals. A significant proportion of respondents demonstrated an extensive farmilarity with the subject matter. Consequently, the research underscores the critical role of the broadcast media in cultivating awareness and shaping opinions particularly during electoral events. However, the study recommends among others, that there should be implementation of civic education and awareness campaigns through the broadcast media to enhance public understanding of electoral process and elevate standards of professionalism and ethics to ensure accurate and unbiased reporting.