| Generating Media Accountability: Making the GMMP happen in Nigeria |
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Being the first time I'd handled a project of that magnitude. I was really excited about it. What’s more, my research in the area of media and gender had helped to stoke the fire. The GMMP was like a baby I must help to nurture. However, as events were unfolding I got challenged with the task of mobilization and fundraising in order to sustain the project in Nigeria. As Nigeria is made up of six geo-political Zones including South-East, South-West, South, North, East, North-West, North-Central and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the logistics and planning required a certain amount of prowess in terms of media selection for the monitoring. In the end, a total of 18 media establishments, comprising of seven newspapers, five radio stations and six television stations were chosen as sample for the study. A group of 22 people made up of lecturers, students and media practitioners participated in the media monitoring. They were divided into six monitoring groups so as to effectively monitor media across such a vast nation. The monitoring zones included Enugu, Owerri, Umuahia, Uyo, Lagos and Abuja. While some of the monitors assigned to the newspapers did not have to travel, about 15 of the radio and television monitors had to travel the day preceding the monitoring day to their respective monitoring zones. This was done to take care of logistical problems. With 910,770 square kilometers of land and a population of over 150 million, Nigeria obviously occupies a large geographical space and presents certain other difficulties as well. Monitors did not find it easy getting to their respective zones and in many regions they had to contend with limited facilities and periodic power outages. In Lagos, Uyo, Owerri, Umuahia monitoring groups rented generators so that in the event of an outage they would be able to continue working. The monitoring group in Owerri had an even harder time of it with an outage occurring at the television station and disrupting the first major newscast of the day which came up at 17.00hrs.The monitors could not record the newscast but managed to collect the bulletin and also recorded the last major newscast for the day which came up at 19.30hrs. In spite of the many hiccups, however, media monitors in Nigeria managed to collect enough data not only to contribute to the GMMP, but also to produce a national report following the analysis. The report was eventually presented formally to the Minister of Information and Communications in Nigeria. Its production was made possible by the financial support of Chief Achike Udenwa, the former governor of Imo State, Nigeria. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites       |
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