THE IMPORTANCE OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM AND ITS RELEVANCE TO THE PRACTICE OF JOURNALISM IN NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION:

For the purpose of this term paper on this topic on investigative journalism it is important to have  a perusal of what investigative journalism is all about, its relevance to the practice  of journalism globally with particular reference to Nigeria.
Defining investigative journalism is as elusive and problematic as defining a journalist  and journalism.
As journalism moves from the traditional concept of magazines, newspaper, radio and television to a more sophisticated electronic on line and multimedia so also is the paradigm shift from its practice.
According to Robert Parry “investigative reporting is to journalism what theoretical research is to science, having the potential to present new realities and shatter old paradigm”.
So in this paper we shall attempt to define the practice of investigative journalism
We shall discuss the mission of investigative journalists and some of the ground rules they need to adhere to in their investigation.

We shall also make references to some the investigative reporting carried out globally, observe their impact and corresponding results in shaping the polity and societal perception.
We shall also observe the above with reference to its practice in Nigeria.
We shall also attempt to discuss, critique and device pointers from examples of Africa with emphasis on Nigeria and other developed nations.

RATIONALE OR REASONS FOR THIS STUDY
The real essence of journalism is the search for truth and the main duty of journalist is to report unadulterated truth to the public.
This term paper is geared towards finding answer to various question bothering on the practice of investigative journalism in Africa and how relevant it is in line of wide spread corruption and unholy and sharp practices and risks involved in the practice of the profession in Nigeria.
It is also to prove a point that virtually all reported irrespective of their beats are investigative in nature.

Nick Davies in his book. Flat Earth News, highlight the fact that journalism has become merely  `churnalism`, putting much of the blame on media conglomerates, which are keen on putting advertisers interest to the top of their priority list and at the same time applying minimal or no emphasis on producing good quality journalistic materials for print and broadcast alike.
As it were investigative journalism is far from churnalism. It requires considerable research and evidential backing in revealing fraud, corruption or deceit, but it also involves a lot of risk which, not only at times jeopardize journalists lives, but also the lives of their friends and relatives, this is more prevalent in Africa where most investigative reporting ends with the blow of wind without adequate interpretation of what was reported.

This is one of the major variations in the practice of investigative journalism in less developed nations of Africa and developed nations.
One may then ask why is journalist involved in investigative reporting why don't they leave it to the police or other arms of the government to handle such investigation.
In an attempt to answer the above let us view and examine the definition of investigative journalism by an investigative journalist and author Philip Knightley who defined it as “having to do with story and injustice preferably an injustice or something that is wrong in society, which has been there for sometimes unnoticed by other ordinary reporters and you as an investigator bring it to the public attention to bring about social legal reforms” Phillip Knightley:2008

Investigative journalism involves exposing corruption in high places and peering into neglected corners of society. It epitomizes the popular ideal of the news media as the forth estate of the realm playing a role as a watchdog on society and its institutions, whether in Government, business or the judiciary.
Mathew  Richetson of the. Four Corners said “if the fourth estate is vital to the checks and balances of a healthy democracy, then the fourth estate itself needs a watchdog” [simulcast, 2001]

It is important to stress that a news media that exempts itself from such scrutiny cannot legitimately claim a right to scrutinize others. That is the case in most African practice of investigative reporting which is embedded with much controversies arising from amateurish investigation laden with inaccurate facts to bring such investigation to a conclusive ends to the intent that it would have impact on polity and governance and the society.
A case in point was the issue of Jumbo pay to the legislators in Nigeria which for now has been swept under carpet due to the fact that this like other investigations was not subjected to Interpretive reporting through the synergy or integration of editors and professionals which is a more assured way of sensitising and educating the mass populace.
This is why investigative reporting  is highly essential  and respected by the government of the day learning from the impact of such reporting of watergate scandal in America which led to the stepping down of the then President Nixon.
We can not claim ignorance to look warm attitudes of the governments and powerful individuals in Africa who are sole owners of media houses who use their influence to moderate and influence investigation and sometimes compel editors to kill news.

It is also important to note that investigative journalism involves risks and perils there has been cases of death resulting from this with reference to the death of some journalists in Nigeria, some laudable investigations are touted or killed from becoming a worthy news due to persistence persuasions and greed on the part of the journalist thereby discrediting the profession and  ethics of journalism
It is important to view some of the important role and values of investigative journalism in modern developed society.
Hugo[2008:68 ] states how the trend began which justify investigative journalism, the development of investigative journalism in Britain in the 1960s and the 1970s resulted in a spate of inquiries into what is the value of investigative journalism in modern society.
Maladministration and corruption that shocked Britons, who had come to assume that corruption that happened only in foreign parts. It is justified by journalism by demonstrating that the public service could not be trusted to the police itself. Hugo says that investigations cannot be left solely to the police because the police may not be able to'. Understand'[ Hugo ,2006:76]
The victims point of view and may not be able to be objective
This answer of earlier question of why is investigation not left in the hand of police and Government.

In African settings this has to be so as the journalists has an advantage of defending their source and keeping it anonymous over the police who could reveal it at will, this means the source can offer information to journalists knowing that their identities will not be revealed. This is important as an individual would be unlikely to offer information to police knowing that he or she may end up in court and open to reproach and attack.
The importance of investigative journalists lies in the fact that journalist operate under different ethical frameworks. Ethics deal with how to distinguish between right and wrong. It can be said that journalists work on the thin line between legal and illegal and they often cross it. This means that journalists can obtain information, often by deception, using false identities and using hidden camera or microphones.
Professor keeble , remarks that although there is a need for good investigations. There is also the unavoidable fact that the appetite for investigative journalism has been affected by the change that the way media organization are financed: Prof. Keeble quotes Nick Davies in Flat Earth News “many media organizations don't have the desire or the resources to invest in it”
Prof. Keeble goes on to suggest, but finance is not the only issue here.

Also, the intent has increased over the years; media generated more and more revenue from advertising. Today this is a big business. The focus of today's media is to appeal to the masses with short turn-around stories that generate readership and therefore the audience for advertisers.
This affects investigative journalism in two ways: firstly those media organizations often do not want the overhead of long investigations and secondly, that they do not wish to alienate their corporate sponsors.
Apart from this another factor hindering investigative reporting in Africa is the fear of the law in libel and defamation.
In conclusion it is obvious that investigative journalism has play some important role in journalism and it is very relevant in the practice of journalism in Nigeria as in other African countries though the practice when compared with the advance industrial nations of America and United Kingdom we can say the African Nations are still in embryonic stage of develop. It is obvious that investigative journalism has an important role to play in our society.
The fact that journalist are prepared to go to such length in the public interest means that organizations or individuals are always accountable for their actions.
It is sad to note that most people that form the majority in African environment are  rural based and as such they do not appreciate the role of investigative journalist as most reports are either inconclusive or ended up being mere  rumor without proper and detail prying into the details of the news being investigated , in the main people do not watch programmes that involves investigative reporting , neither do they buy newspapers for the in depth journalistic investigative stories, but tabloids and gossip newspaper which is made popular .
Our recommendations is that the society as a whole needs to be educated about the role that investigative journalism play with relevance to the role the journalists play as the fourth Estate, to provide public service keeping government and organization in check rather than the present perception whereby journalists are treated as traitor and rumor mongers.
There is a need for the players (the investigative reporters) to be careful how they work. They also need to be accommodating and accountable.
Most journalists work under very clear journalistic principles and as s result get good report that make a clear difference causing changes in government, putting criminals behind bars or cause an organization to completely change the way it runs.

References:Burgh,Hugo de,[2000], investigative journalism,london;Routledge
Davies,Nick[2008],Flat Earth News Nlondon H Chatto and 1indus
Keeble,R.[2001],the Newspaper Handbook ,london :Routledg
http:www.channel4.com\news\articles

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING IS INDISPENSABLE IN SOCIETY THAT IS DESIROUS OF UNHINDERED PROGRESS

Investigative reporting involves uncovering of information not before gathered by other in order to inform the public of events or circumstances that might affect their lives, it therefore mean that such information is necessary and indispensable in shaping the progress in a society.
Such information uncovered through investigative reporting could give a reasonable leading to unravel the evil perpetrated by individuals which has hitherto impacted the society negatively.
A case in point was  the investigation carried out by Congolese Eric Mwamba a freelance journalist and his colleagues, some of whom worked for Le Rebond newspaper who were distressed by what they saw as the hypocrisy of their government, which came to power denouncing the corruption of the previous regime, but rapidly became embroiled in scandals of its own. This investigation was carried out by these crops of investigative journalist by trailing an ongoing rumor and the need to clarify the duplicity in the political discourse of their country’s leaders who are perceived to be corrupt and could not keep to their electoral promises.
This investigation helped in reshaping the political structure and a change in the voting patterns with the emergence of elites who took great pain to denounce corruption, electoral fraud, bad governance, political assassinations and the force-feeding official ideology.

Erics story provides us with an example of an investigative project that fits most people’s idea of what investigative reporting is all about as an indispensable tool in a society that is graving for a change.
A similar case is the editorials on the jumbo pay by our legislators in Nigeria, though this created awareness and even causes the government to cut some of the unnecessary budgetary allocation but due to the fact that an in-depth or further investigation was not carried out it ends like all other rumor without its desired impact.
Thus the indispensably of a report varies from society and it is dependent on the social cultural environment and how sensitive the response of the larger society is to the information derived from such report, a docile society where all are naturally poor and impoverished will exists as group of individuals only surviving by elking to earn a living as it is witnessed in the middle east and Arab world now, the root of which is through investigative reports on the like of Huseni Mubarak of Egypt, Muammar Gadaffi of Libyan sheiks in Saudi Arabia to mention a few  here the response of the masses is instructive and the role played by the media is commendable this will to a large extent impact  the society and help reshape the polity of the nations involved.

It is instructive for this write up to note that all journalism belongs to one community and field of endeavour. So there is no wall between community journalist, environmental journalist and investigative journalist ,any journalist becomes an investigative journalist when their story grow in scope and depth beyond a routine report of happening in their immediate environment or society
Investigative reporting as a tool for shaping a society desirous of a change is also visible in the water gate scandal journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Berntein ,that the idea of the investigative journalist took root when Woodward and Bernstein followed up a tip to uncover and painstakingly prove large scale illegal activities by then US President Richard Nixon and his agent, Nixon was forced to step down, this sort of reshape the electoral law and practice in US and more also it sensitise and enlighten the general public in America  and the world at large.
But since the water gate scandals other investigative stories have made similar impact in America. Seymour M.Hersh of New York Times help uncover the massacre at My Lai during the Vietnam War and has recently contributed to the debate over the US occupation of Iraq by exposing the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib detention centre.
For investigative reporting to be an indisputable tool in a society desirous of progress, the issue or topic must ne of public interest, this mean that either a community will be disadvantaged by not knowing this information or will benefit [either] materially or through informed decision-making by knowing it. Sometimes what benefit one community may disadvantage the other.
In Nigeria as it is common with other developing Nations with particular reference to African nations the level of influence of investigative reporting is at its lowest elb, this is not so because investigation is not being carried out, but for the fact that the investigation just end up being news as. Most investigation are not interpreted for the predominantly larger populace who are rural based and are illiterates thus there is not a noticeable appreciable reliance on such report to influence the decision of the Government in terms of policy formulation
While it is important to investigate there is also the need for enlightenment on the part of the media to educate the masses about their right and civil responsibilities if this is done with special reference to the developing nations then investigative reporting could or world. Bean indispensable tool in our society as it is appreciably noticeable in developed nations.

COMPARE INVESTIGATIVE AND INTERPRETATIVE REPORTING

Interpretive reporting often involves the same skills but takes the interpretation to a different level.
The fundamental difference between the two is that original investigative reporting uncovers information not before gathered by others in order to inform the public of events or circumstances that might affect their lives.
Interpretive reporting is as a result of careful thought and analysis of an idea as well as dogged pursuit of facts to bring together information in a new, more complete context which provides deeper public understanding.

Investigative reporting as it were could be vague and may make no cogent or reasonable meaning to its reader or general public without a thorough interpretive reporting a case in point is the New York Times publication of the pentagon papers in 1971.
The paper themselves were a secret study obtained by an investigative journalist who cover the American involvement in Vietnam War, this was written by the government reporter Neil Sheehan.

Then a team of New York Times reporters and editors’ expert in foreign policy and the Vietnam War interpreted and organized the documents into a dramatic account of public deception.

Without this synthesis and interpretation, the pentagon papers would have meant little to most of the public.

In this case the investigative reporters created a platform on which the interpretive journalist could build.

That is while the investigative reporters dig deep and bring to fore a matter, the interpretive journalists in synergy dig deeper and unravel what was initially exposed by the former.
It is also important to note that while timeliness play an important role in the investigative reporter, that is time is involved in bringing out the news in a matter being investigated, more time is required in interpreting such findings.

Also, whereas the investigative reporter could work in isolation and be nosy about gathering his\her information, the interpretive reporters depend on others who are experts in various beats or non journalist professionals to arrive at an acceptable conclusion, hear editors, sub editors and other professional on the subject matter are co opted.

While a lot of respect and kudos and recognition is given to an investigative reporter who is through stint of investigation is able to give news that are timely and make good editorials and headlines  the same can not be said of the interpreter who sometimes are maligned  by other professionals as being polemics rather than journalism, some were accused as activists rather than journalists a case in point was the paper reporting of the jumbo pay to legislators, this was reported as a passing phrase by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria to buttress his point while presenting his paper on the Economic fortunes.

Of the nation Nigeria, this was widely reported over time by most  newspaper, a follow up by  interpreting this would make a better news and this will further enlighten and educate the masses, but it is a sorry case that there is no harmony between the investigative reporters and the interpreter as there is low level of synergy and convergence within the media houses in nation, Nigeria as all are individualistic in nature merely elking to earn a living mostly through patronage of individuals, corporate and government organs and parastatals.

No authentic journalist can claim without lying that he\she is unconcerned with issues confronting his community, whether it be nation or state or local government of his birth, thus investigative reporting is a special reporting and more thorough than news reporting as in interpretation reporting which according to Lester Markel, editor of Sunday New York Times gives news depth and with care.

News refreshed with background materials to make it comprehensive and meaningful.
Interpretive reporting derives its objective judgment based on background knowledge and information provided by investigative reporter.

Reference:

www.rcfp.org

http://en.wikipedia.org

www.ire.org

www.fit-ed.org/ictcongress/fullpapers/samadan

THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE NEWSREPORTING IN NIGERIA IS SLIPPERY AND HAZARDOUS

.

The process of news dissemination through the medium of mass communications of newspapers, television and radio is laden with so much hazards and inadequacies as the process of gathering information and processing such information by news reporters is faced with a lot of challenges created by the environment they operate.

To appreciate this one need to look at the prerequisite of a good reporter as it relates to our environment.
There is need for an enabling environment to bring out the ability of news reporter to gather, write and report news. There are various challenges which limit the reporters from doing this. In the process of gathering and reporting news the reporter is subjected to indiscriminate arrest, molestation and inhuman treatment some even lose their life is such process.

Also the accuracy with which news is reported leaves a lot to be desired this is mainly due to the process of new dissemination which makes the new stale and not to be original thus giving wishy-washy news.
Most of our news reporters operate in an environment where the law enforcement agencies like police, soldiers and others see news reporters as their enemy; as such the interest of the people is not adequately protected in terms of dependable news reporting.

Also the influence of civil war and inter and intra tribal wars makes news reporting hazardous and a difficult terrain to work for proper dependable and integrity oriented newsgathering and reporting.
The lack of constitutional backings for the establishment and protection, guaranteeing the freedom of the press as entrenched in section 39 of the Federal republic of Nigeria constitution, makes the news reporter to be subjected to police harassment and brutality.

A new trend is the influence of powerful people in the society who will do all within their power to suppress news that sometimes have resulted to the death of many journalists without the trace of the perpetrators of such act.
Also the presence of civil laws does not provide an enabling environment to allow the news reporter carryout his social responsibilities to the Society as they could be charged for sedition and libel (defamation).

Also the Nigerian environment is such that the news reporter must be conscious and mindful of the religious, political and other pressure groups interest in their reporting.
High rate of corruption and low income level of news reporter makes them vulnerable to tips, bribes and gratifications to perverse or influence their reporting
These and other factors makes our environment hazardous and slippery for proper news reporting.

EPILEPTIC POWER SUPPLY

It is a known fact that industrialization and availability of social amenities is closely used as a measure of development thus the classification of some nations as developed, developing and under developed.
It is also a truism that no nation can be classified as developed without adequate supply of infrastructural facilities aided by adequate supply of electricity and this is accountable for our slow pace of development in Nigeria with our not only poor and inadequate but epileptic supply of electricity.
This epileptic nature of electricity that is so common to developing nations of Africa and with particular reference to Nigeria, an assumed Giant of Africa, is sympathetic
The epileptic nature of power supply in Nigeria is neither accidental nor inexplicable neither without solution. This age long issue of power supply and generation has witnessed massive transformations which were designed to boost the power generation in the country and improve the supply of electricity, but the end result of those transforms seems to be mere change of name from its inception name of Electric Corporation of Nigeria [ECN] to National Electric Power Authority [NEPA] and to its present name - Power Holding Company of Nigeria [PHCN].
These various changes were measures implemented by various political and ruling class to supposedly ameliorate or cure the epileptic nature of our electrical supply but these changes turn out to be a political hoarse and empty promises as these changes have not meaningfully helped the electricity situation in spite of the huge financial commitments on the part of successive administration into the implementation of these transformations.

It is on record that Nigeria with her teaming population of about 140million of the world’s estimated population of 6billion has a total electric generating capacity for consumption that is below 3000 mega watts which is well below what is being consumed and generated by a city like Dallas in United States. It has been shown that Kainji dam has the potential and capacity to exceed its present utility capacity of 960megawatts, and it is also sad to note that not all the turbine units are in operation because of the low water level in the reservoir sometimes due to drought. It is however this same Kainji dam that supplies Niger republic that is fairly moderately decent when compared to the erratic supply in Nigeria.
Nigeria as a nation is blessed with an abundance of sources of renewable energy like sunlight, water, wind, bio-fuel, biomass and biogas power. Despite the availability of these sources and the various plans and attempts to improve the nature of electrical supply in the country, several factors like corruption, thefts, vandalism and sabotage have made the effectiveness of these attempts impossible.
Early efforts to solve this problem of erratic supply began with President Olusegun Obasanjo who during his President term appointed the late Chief Bola Ige with sole mandate of improving the power supply. President Obasanjo also came up with the National Power Policy in 2001 which led to the electric power reform act of 2005 which in turn birth to National integrated power project [NIPP] promising to deliver 10,000 Megawatts of power by the end of 2007.
These policies did not improve but rather worsened the epileptic nature of the power supply.
Subsequent regimes of late Musa Yardua also led to a 7 point agenda giving a topmost priority to power generation all to no avail. The present government of President Jonathan toeing the path of the past came up with RoadMap for power supply with a mandate to dismantle PHCN and seek for collaborations with 18 private firms all in an attempt to improve the power generation.
The prevalent erratic supply of electricity has led to the heavy dependence of the country on Generators for the supply of power which has led to comments tagging the nation a Generator republic due to the prevalent of the use of generator ranging from the small to the giant industrial one.
My opinion is easy as it may seem in the above analysis on the various steps taken by successive administrations. The epileptic power distribution is collateral to a nexus of mishaps that runs through the cardinal points of the Nigeria geographical entities in the recent past.
The power logistics is just affected by the act of economic sabotage which is a derivative of a long period of political imbroglio which has a resultant attractive effect on all the public structures and institutions.

The issue of power supply can not be treated in isolation.
it is note worth to consider other parastatals like Water Corporation which has almost gone into extinction all over the nation, the case of NITEL (the communication giant of Africa) has been consigned to the past not to mention the Nigerian Railway corporations and textile meals
A possible laughable solution would be for the President to summon all stake holders in power generation including all generator contractors and marketers to Aso rock, the seat of the government, and mandate that all generators in Aso Rock be dismantled and sanction a ten year imprisonment on the contractors and marketers if power fails for a second in the Villa. I can assure you there will be healing in the power sector and the light will shine.

THE DEPENDENCE OF LAGOSIANS ON THE NORTH FOR FOOD

It is disheartening to know that the south west states with particular reference to Lagos state depends heavily on the northern part of the north for their essential food supplies.

This became more noticeable last week when people in Lagos and its environs were thrown into a state of panic due to non availability of essential ingredients like; tomatoes, pepper, onion and so on.
Most homes have to do their meals without these essential ingredients.
This was so due to the renewed upsurge of violence in Jos which spread round Bauchi with panics in other locations which happens to be the source region for these food items.

On investigation the shortage of food was due to protests from the truck owners on the high extortions of money from the various government agencies spanning from the Police force, customs, NDLEA, Road Mashall, various inter states Local Government task forces and others which lined every 100 meters on the road from the North to Lagos.
These various extortions according to most of the drivers interviewed increase the hours they spend in getting to Lagos, besides this there is loss of their gains.
Musa one of the drivers interviewed was so crossed when he narrated how his brother lost his life and fortunes last year in an attempt to avoid these disturbances and opted to travel by night and he was unfortunate as he was robbed by armed robbers who snuffed life out of him.

This situation is so pathetic as I was made to know that some who choose the night journey ended up ending their life through accident as a result of bad roads which our highways are known for.

As a result of this the prices of food items went out of reach of many people for instance the tomatoes that had previously been sold for N100 was sold for as high as N1,000 and more pieces of others like carrot, onion ,yam and so on went beyond the reach of the masses.
This panicky situation was almost getting out of hand as while some who have old stocks were making a huge profit on their sales, the fact remain that if the stock is exhausted how will they replenish their stocks?

The untold hardships this scene has created in most home is alarming as these essential ingredients are as scarce as the eyes as such the few areas where this foodstuffs are available they were quickly gobbled up by the few people who could afford them, food item which ordinarily people not have touched due to the fact that they are either rotten or not fresh enough were bought at cut throat prices.
The buyers were groaning the few traders who were privileged to have old stocks were brimming and smiling to the bank and giving praises to God for abundant of blessings, due to high returns on sales.

Shortly after all these scarcity and drama, there were avalanche of trailers and truck at major entry points to Lagos this is particularly noticeable at “Mile 12” market this caused heavy congestion at the place that it takes nothing less than four hours to commute between the market and the adjourning “Mile 12” market.

This caused another frictions as prospective retailers are struggling with the end buyers to purchase from the trucks this cause a lot of delays and as such by the following day the truck could not offload and various other truck were arriving at the end most of the trucks which offloaded have most of their goods destroyed due to the scourging effects of both the buyer and seller.


The question that comes to heart is: why have we gone so lazy and forgetful that we ignored our Agricultural background?
Those days the agricultural science Teacher allots a portion of Land to each student to farm on. This forms part of your of your assessment for the term, the good ones get good marks and those with bad farm products get poor marks.
Let us inculcate this back into school curriculum for the future leaders who are yet unborn for them. To avoid a situation whereby our children will believe north is the only place where you can get these basic things.

Our government is allocating land for foreigners for farming and free trade zone. After harvesting their product they export to their country and we are here struggling for what rightful belong to us.

The government should support our local farmers with the required visible tools and stop deceiving the citizenry with their ‘paper allocated’ fertilizers and tractors (which they did not buy).

The Agric loan disbursed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should be utilized and monitored for its purpose rather than using to “owambe” parties.

Our Agricultural background is fading away gradually due to our unbridled way of life. We are Africans with dignity. Let us display this with pride by doing the right thing. We are the pace setter.

MEDIA CONVERGENCE

Convergence as a word is an abstract noun derived from the verb converge which means to come from different directions and meet at the same point to become one thing.

This convergence has been in operation for the past ten years of it operation in technologically rich societies who have entered the digital age which is being adopted sparingly in Nigeria.

This is without its opportunities and threat to media Houses.
The adoption of high performance computer, shift to digital from predominantly mainframe programming analogue, this involves heavy capitalization procuring high performance computers ,shift to digital platforms and creation of high speed computer brought us new ways of doing things . Old barriers of time and space are practically eliminated. You can view virtually anything .anywhere,anytime
The old definition that provided separation between radio. television .cable and films have gone or are going that is what convergence is all about fusion of various components that is concurrently relevant into one to achieve same objective or purpose in a wider more accessible and acceptable way. This view is prominent in the studies of Bowles and Borden who looked at convergence as the merging of technologies of communications such as using cable television for internet or accessing television news broadcast on home computer,listening to radio or watching television broadcast on your mobile phone.
They also posit that convergence may also be seen as the merger of media companies into conglomerates such as the merger of television networks with radio networks, newspaper chains , and cable television companies. Or it could also be the mergers of telephone companies with broadcast media companies or newspaper chains.
For the purpose of this discus we shall examine the three definitions of the term convergence as provided by Kung,Picard and Towse[2008:36~37]

The first definition views convergence from technological point of view
The second is product related while the third is sector-focused
These definition highlighted above is more favored by the media industry and it is revered to as the 3-C model of convergence.
It is also important and relevant to this discussion to view the identification of seven types of convergence by Berger[2008:168] this will help us to view the level of convergence in our chosen media house.

The following type of convergence were identified
1.Corporate convergence[as in joint ventures] between telecom and media companies
If we view the above we shall notice that this type of merging is in practice between some companies in Nigeria , for example Dangote group of companies
Ait\Ray power and Daar communication effectively merging radio and television together using the 3G telephony in collaboration with the existing telecommunication companies this made it possible for AIT to be viewed in US and Uk via satellite and cable. There is also a massive convergence of this sort in the telecommunication companies who due to the sophisticated gadget provided by 21st century a communication company enjoy a mutual symbiotic relationships between 21st century,siemens, mtn,zain and others some are dependent on Nitel\mtel for signal
The second is the branching out of a traditional print operation into internet publishing or audio or mobile
This has been massively adopted by most media houses with Punch and The Nation taking the lead
3.Reverse publishing from web into print
This is also is being utilized but for the inefficiency of the internet facilities and the occurring costs involved
4.Production processes, where content is coordinated or shared
This is more effective in business conglomerate with joint ownership for example the Punch and associated companies and the defunct Daily times of Nigeria
5.Convergence of skills set of previously segregated specialist media practitioners whether reporter,news editor,or production personnel
6.Convergence of media consumer devices eg the camera-cell phone or computers being used to watch video broadcast and
7.The coming together of producer and consumer functions-the audience generating media[content]
It is obvious from above as stated earlier that while these is a shift from the old definition brought separating between Radio,TV,cable and film in Nigeria, the 1990s brought ownership convergence in the western world creating media conglomerates like Disney,Via com,and sony. From the consumer view, the internet has recently changed our favorite delivery system, newspaper now provide video,TV offers interactive chat,and radio has web-cams.
Most television stations and newspaper remains as print or electronic media the country is yet to witness appreciable measures of mergers between electronic ,telecom or between newspaper and electronic companies or with internet companies such as AOL and Time magazine in the USA
Of significance in convergence as it relates to the second convergence model of branching out of traditional print operation into internet publishing or audio \video or mobile is the. One more prevalent in the Nigeria media landscape
It is also noteworthy to mention the Channels Television who has pioneered the viewing of its programmes on ipod,phones,blackberry this conform with the second and the sixth model of convergence in the media by Berger
The contributions of few individual scholars in seeking for integration and projecting on line journalism if this trend continues and is sustained by creating an enabling environment with cheaper access to multimedia tools the media will witness an upsurge in merger due to convergence.

NEWS WEBSITES

PREAMBLE
It is imperative that media is life as wealth is life due to its absolute important to the society. The power of media can not be over emphasized but be adored.
Imagine the society without information or its flow, it becomes a dead end.
Technology on a daily basis is improving drawing the outside world closer to us by making it “a global village”. On line journalism has transformed the face of the world that you can assess the latest in information flow write on your palm (Handset, Palmtop, Laptop and Desktop, television, radio and other media gadgets.)
However, the advent of the internet has evolved a new exploding and challenging field of online news media. The internet recently has been a conduit for the other forms of the media mentioned earlier in particular newspapers, magazines, radio and television via the creation of websites for the respective media organizations.
The news website no doubt must possess some conspicuous general qualities which endear it to its target audience which must be taken into consideration when critically viewing the designs of the websites. These include creativity, aesthetics, graphics and contents of the news website.



News can be defined as is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience. (Wikipedia).

A website (also spelled Web site) is a collection of related web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that are addressed relative to a common Uniform Resource Locator (URL), often consisting of only the domain name (or, in rare cases, the IP address) and the root path ('/') in an Internet Protocol-based network. A web site is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network. (Wikipedia).


News Website has one of the major information flows. In fact the acceptable medium of information update for the elite.
Different news website as a source of information has a unique way of passing across the information the society.
Basically, the below details must be considered in the identification of a well structured news website;
-Style of writing: A well structured news website must be defined. Is it humour, satire or philosophical.
- Story Structure: The story structure must contain the essence of the story without ambiguity.
- Headlines: The headline must be catchy, short and precise.
-Audience motive:. A news website should picture the mind of the audience as consumer of the information.
- Introduction: The inductory line of a news website should have a creative mind set as where, who, where, when and how the information flows.
-Paragraphs: Each paragraph should break the information into segment/serial for effective understanding.
-Serial: Information flow must be salient by breaking text into different segment.
-Use of links: A news website should put key information at the start of the link for easy reading.
- Use of Acronyms and abbreviation: The usage of Abbreviation and acronyms should be expanded if first use in a page.
- Use of Quotes: Quotes should be to buttress story.
- Features: Colours, logo, advert ,audio and visual content should promote and make a web page attractive.

STUDY OF NEWS WEBSITES DESIGNS AND CONTENTS
A critical look into some newspapers, television, radio and media organizations websites locally and internationally:

NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES

1) Colour of the websites varies from one website to another. The websites multi coloured having a minimum of 6 colours. While some opted for a stationary news caption, a few used a timed auto play for new captions.
2) Each website has a unique identity as Logos and emblem are visibly displayed on their home pages.
3) Majority of the newspaper website had links to social media while a few did not.
4) Almost all the newspaper websites had no visual or audio podcast as well as video links. This can be linked to the fact that the newspaper media is more about writing and photography, than visuals and audios as in the television and radio media respectively.
5) Some of the websites displayed appropriate pictures for each stories where necessary while a few only displayed series of auto played pictures with no accompanying foot notes. However, the resolutions of the pictures exhibited vary from one website to another.
6) The feed backs on their websites were mainly through letter, editorials and opinion poll icons.
7) The websites had nearly the same general icons which represent every column in the print newspapers, but only differ in terms of the format and arrangements.
8) The websites had accompanying search engines.
9) All but one of the sample newspaper websites had no blog.
10) The webpage is congested and have advert placements
www.punchng.com, www.pmnewsnigeria.com,www.ngrguardiannews.com




RADIO
1) Colours of the websites vary from one website to another. The websites have a minimum of 6 colours. Some looked less attractive, while others were attractive and conspicuous.
2) The websites has a relatively less icons compared to the news paper and magazines.
3) They have audio podcast, thus target audience can listen to live transimissions.
4) The websites is less congested and have less or no advert placements.
5) Feedbacks are only through the contact pages in some while others have opinion polls and contacts.
6) Some websites had chat rooms icon, while others don’t.
7) The common icons include news, programmes schedule and contacts with slight variations from one websites to the other. However, they vary in their formats and arrangements
8) No Logos were displayed rather the names and band width numbers substitute the logo as the identity of the websites
9) None of the websites has links to social networks.
www.radionigeriaonline.net, www.voiceofnigeria.org,

TELEVISION
1) Colour of the websites varies from one website to another. The websites multi coloured having a minimum of 6 colours. The websites are colourful and attractive.
2) They have video podcast, webcast for live viewing by target audience.
3) The websites have fewer icons.
4) Feedbacks only through Contacts icon
5) They have links to other social networks.
6) No Logos, rather the acronym of the stations are used.
7) Resolution of the overall websites is very high compared to others discussed media websites earlier mentioned.
8) The websites is congested and has copious advert placements.
www.channels.tv, www.cnn.com,www.news.sky.com

MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS

1) Colour of the websites varies from one website to another. The websites multi coloured having a minimum of 6 colours.
2) Majority of the websites under this category has links to social networks.
3) Feedbacks only through contacts icon.
4) The names of the organization without logos are used as the identity of the website.
5) The websites has no podcast, both visuals and audio.
6) Resolution of pictures varies from one websites to another.
7) Apart from the display of comprehensive detail of their products, no vivid icon is used to establish interaction with the target audience.
www.goal.com,www.enownow.com,

NEWS WEBSITES

 

PREAMBLE
It is imperative that media is life as wealth is life due to its absolute important to the society. The power of media can not be over emphasized but be adored.
Imagine the society without information or its flow, it becomes a dead end.
Technology on a daily basis is improving drawing the outside world closer to us by making it “a global village”. On line journalism has transformed the face of the world that you can assess the latest in information flow write on your palm (Handset, Palmtop, Laptop and Desktop, television, radio and other media gadgets.)
However, the advent of the internet has evolved a new exploding and challenging field of online news media. The internet recently has been a conduit for the other forms of the media mentioned earlier in particular newspapers, magazines, radio and television via the creation of websites for the respective media organizations.
The news website no doubt must possess some conspicuous general qualities which endear it to its target audience which must be taken into consideration when critically viewing the designs of the websites. These include creativity, aesthetics, graphics and contents of the news website.



News can be defined as is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience. (Wikipedia).

A website (also spelled Web site) is a collection of related web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that are addressed relative to a common Uniform Resource Locator (URL), often consisting of only the domain name (or, in rare cases, the IP address) and the root path ('/') in an Internet Protocol-based network. A web site is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network. (Wikipedia).


News Website has one of the major information flows. In fact the acceptable medium of information update for the elite.
Different news website as a source of information has a unique way of passing across the information the society.
Basically, the below details must be considered in the identification of a well structured news website;
-Style of writing: A well structured news website must be defined. Is it humour, satire or philosophical.
- Story Structure: The story structure must contain the essence of the story without ambiguity.
- Headlines: The headline must be catchy, short and precise.
-Audience motive:. A news website should picture the mind of the audience as consumer of the information.
- Introduction: The inductory line of a news website should have a creative mind set as where, who, where, when and how the information flows.
-Paragraphs: Each paragraph should break the information into segment/serial for effective understanding.
-Serial: Information flow must be salient by breaking text into different segment.
-Use of links: A news website should put key information at the start of the link for easy reading.
- Use of Acronyms and abbreviation: The usage of Abbreviation and acronyms should be expanded if first use in a page.
- Use of Quotes: Quotes should be to buttress story.
- Features: Colours, logo, advert ,audio and visual content should promote and make a web page attractive.

STUDY OF NEWS WEBSITES DESIGNS AND CONTENTS
A critical look into some newspapers, television, radio and media organizations websites locally and internationally:

NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES

1) Colour of the websites varies from one website to another. The websites multi coloured having a minimum of 6 colours. While some opted for a stationary news caption, a few used a timed auto play for new captions.
2) Each website has a unique identity as Logos and emblem are visibly displayed on their home pages.
3) Majority of the newspaper website had links to social media while a few did not.
4) Almost all the newspaper websites had no visual or audio podcast as well as video links. This can be linked to the fact that the newspaper media is more about writing and photography, than visuals and audios as in the television and radio media respectively.
5) Some of the websites displayed appropriate pictures for each stories where necessary while a few only displayed series of auto played pictures with no accompanying foot notes. However, the resolutions of the pictures exhibited vary from one website to another.
6) The feed backs on their websites were mainly through letter, editorials and opinion poll icons.
7) The websites had nearly the same general icons which represent every column in the print newspapers, but only differ in terms of the format and arrangements.
8) The websites had accompanying search engines.
9) All but one of the sample newspaper websites had no blog.
10) The webpage is congested and have advert placements
www.punchng.com, www.pmnewsnigeria.com,www.ngrguardiannews.com




RADIO
1) Colours of the websites vary from one website to another. The websites have a minimum of 6 colours. Some looked less attractive, while others were attractive and conspicuous.
2) The websites has a relatively less icons compared to the news paper and magazines.
3) They have audio podcast, thus target audience can listen to live transimissions.
4) The websites is less congested and have less or no advert placements.
5) Feedbacks are only through the contact pages in some while others have opinion polls and contacts.
6) Some websites had chat rooms icon, while others don’t.
7) The common icons include news, programmes schedule and contacts with slight variations from one websites to the other. However, they vary in their formats and arrangements
8) No Logos were displayed rather the names and band width numbers substitute the logo as the identity of the websites
9) None of the websites has links to social networks.
www.radionigeriaonline.net, www.voiceofnigeria.org,

TELEVISION
1) Colour of the websites varies from one website to another. The websites multi coloured having a minimum of 6 colours. The websites are colourful and attractive.
2) They have video podcast, webcast for live viewing by target audience.
3) The websites have fewer icons.
4) Feedbacks only through Contacts icon
5) They have links to other social networks.
6) No Logos, rather the acronym of the stations are used.
7) Resolution of the overall websites is very high compared to others discussed media websites earlier mentioned.
8) The websites is congested and has copious advert placements.
www.channels.tv, www.cnn.com,www.news.sky.com

MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS

1) Colour of the websites varies from one website to another. The websites multi coloured having a minimum of 6 colours.
2) Majority of the websites under this category has links to social networks.
3) Feedbacks only through contacts icon.
4) The names of the organization without logos are used as the identity of the website.
5) The websites has no podcast, both visuals and audio.
6) Resolution of pictures varies from one websites to another.
7) Apart from the display of comprehensive detail of their products, no vivid icon is used to establish interaction with the target audience.
www.goal.com,www.enownow.com,