The political economy of deregulation and commercialization of radio broadcasting in Nigeria, 1992-2017: An assessment of access, participation, content and peacebuilding
This work analyses the effect of deregulation and commercialisation of the broadcast media in Nigeria since 1992. Concretely it focuses on radio stations, the nature of their programming decisions and what informs them. It studies the effect of deregulation on three dimensions: a) Production and distribution of Programmes. The broadcast industry manufactures and distributes content, so when a deregulation policy is applied to communication industry, the immediate effect is on content production and how this content is distributed in order to remain in business and maximize profit. b) Pubic services function of these programmes in relation to development communication/journalism, education, peacebuilding, amelioration of hate speeches both online and offline, culture and social cohesion. In the early beginnings of radio broadcasting, attempts were made to make it a public service for citizens' enlightenment, entertainment and education. British broadcasting was a pioneer of this tradition. This tradition remained for a long time before the policy of deregulation swept across the world. This work will analyse how deregulation and commercialisation may have affected the contribution of radio as Nigeria faces one of its biggest problems today: hate speech, ethnic and religious violence, radicalisation and terrorism. c) Access and participation for a broad range of segments in society, the rich, the poor, marginalized groups, women and others. In what ways have access and participation been constricted or improved for these groups as a result of deregulation and commercialisation of radio? It looks at hate speech in Nigeria, analysing its forms, dimensions and magnitude. It also, proposes strategies that could be used to ameliorate its impact. While legislation and regulations are potential strategies to consider, It argues that, even in this digital era, radio in Nigeria is still a powerful and popular medium in countering hate speech in the country, and if properly deployed, radio can be a potent tool in countering ...