AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ATTITUDE OF AKWA IBOM STATE FEMALE CIVIL SERVANTS TOWARD LOCAL NEWSPAPERS IN UYO
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Newspaper has become phenomenon the world cannot do without. It is one of the means of communicating with the public. It educates, entertains and informs the public. It stimulates, motivates, inspires, interprets, builds preserve, excites, satisfies and sometimes disappoints. It archives yesterday chronicles today and pool scopes the possibility of brighter tomorrow (Hynds 1972). They are essential parts of refers to as mass communication.
Mass communication is the basic tool for human survival and growth it is the life blood of every society. Life is fraught with so many problems and uncertainties that man needs communication to see his way through them in order to give meaning to his life. Communication is the environment and the societies. Every existence depends on it.
There is therefore a need to know what communication is all about; communication can be better described as a two way process in which there is an exchange of ideas, thoughts, and feeling towards a mutually accepted goal or direction.
Whitney (1975) observes “mass communication informs, it keeps one up to-date, it educates, broadens and deepens one’s perspectives, it persuades, it sell goods and services and candidates and opinions, it entertains, it creates laughter, it fills a void, it costs money and it takes money.
Local newspapers perform the surveillance function through the collection and distribution of information concerning events in the environment. They also perform the correlation function through interpretation of information about the environment and prescription of conduct in relation to event. They also perform the transmission of social heritage function via focusing in the communication of knowledge, values and generation to another or from members of a group to new comers.
Local newspapers for decades now have been frequently used by the Akwa Ibom States to transfer and receive information to the public. It is a very important, powerful and man-made communication and it is a very influential media used by the Akwa Ibomites the urban and rural areas in Akwa Ibom were able to purchase them because of it low cost.
Local newspapers are mirrors of our state, in them we see a reflection of life, we see politics, love, crime, fashion, sports, business religion culture and tradition, natural events wealth etc. indeed local newspapers have become an important part of our lives the act like compass giving direction of society’s trends and events. Much local newspaper spring up but a few are able to survive. To succeed they need to develop a sound and dynamic management policies and practices that will make them viable and profitable ventures and also to take note of the changing preferences and interests of the readers.
With the emergence of the modern states, the civil service in post-colonial African countries evolved not only to formulate polices but also to effectively implement them. In this regard, the civil service is an institution saddle with responsibility of designing, formulating and implementing public policy and discharge government functions and development programmes in an effective and efficient way. In many states, development efforts and government policies are threatened by the incompetency and ineffectiveness of the service. Still, the service remains inefficient and incapable of reforming itself (Salisu, 2001:1).
Civil service in Akwa Ibom is headed by a female civil servant Mrs. Ekerebong. M. Akpan she as a leader has being an inspiration to many female civil servant the female civil servants dominate the Akwa Ibom State civil service. They are seen as the power and voice of the state. In the commission, they show commitment in their delivery to the government they help in the development of some organization like the newspaper they are very active when it come to their behaviours and attitudes towards the organization. They are very disciplined and at times are not involved in some corruption in the commission.
Amid everything one can say that the most striking female civil servants attitude towards local newspaper is trust. Over the year survey after survey have shown a consistent pattern when asked to rate the newspaper medium. But the civil servants have fully and really developed the broadcast medium with new structures and equipment used in dissemination.
Therefore, in assessing the attitude of the Akwa Ibom State female civil servants towards local newspapers, one would appreciate that women are of significant role in the media. Ranging from gate-keeping directing, managing to others facets of activities. The women in the civil services commission equally assist the government rather than been in the kitchen as seen in the past.
The newspaper cannot survive without the government or ownership and the civil service, and the civil service is not complete without local newspaper to interpret and inform the public on their behalf.
The basic issues between the civil servants and the local newspapers are attitude. The female civil servants have grown this attitude of lack of trust and interest and also the attitude of policing the local newspapers in the state. The female civil servants hardly purchase newspapers, they read newspapers but they do not believe in them. They believe they can survive without them and would prefer to purchase home movies and see movies. They believe that information could be gotten and shared with the help of internets.
There is no gainsaying that local newspapers are out to perform the basic role of informing, educating and entertaining but do the female civil servant reason in the same way, are their attitudes genuine or does it affect the paper.
The objectives of the study are to:
- find out the attitudes of Akwa Ibom State female civil servants towards local newspapers in Uyo
- find out whether female civil servants in Uyo read local newspapers
- know the reason for the female civil servants attitudes towards local newspapers in Uyo.
- access the extent to which the attitude affects their patronage of the local newspapers
The research questions formulated are:
- What are the attitudes of Akwa Ibom State female civil servants towards local newspapers in Uyo?
- Do female civil servants in Uyo read local newspapers?
- What are reasons for the female civil servants attitudes towards local newspapers in Uyo?
- How does the attitude of female civil servants affects the patronage of the local newspapers
1.5 Significance of the Study
The successful completion of this research is billed to be accompanied with several significance especially as it portrays the significance of local newspapers in civil service of Akwa Ibom State.
Local newspapers being thoroughly explained will offer desires of appreciation by civil servants. Thus, the attitude that the female civil servants had toward the local newspapers will decline and bring great relationship among them.
The female civil servant will not only see television and radio as a great medium of transmitting their information to the public but could see the print media (newspaper) as a great means and it relevance the distrust and nonchalant attitude that exist will be dismissed and there will be trust and believability among them and to eradicate the bad position given to the local newspapers in Akwa Ibom State and to know why these attitudes exist.
Above all this study is also anticipated to stimulate others researchers in related discipline as it serves as a readymade source of secondary data collection.
- Delimitation of the Study
The delimitation on the study builds a fence around the study. This is however revolved around local newspapers which hinge on Akwa Ibom female civil servants attitudes and how it propels on the local newspapers. The study centers on female civil servant attitude toward local newspaper in the society (print media).
The completion and the success of this study is confronted by diverse (sundry) limitations ranging from the sources to finance and then time. The financial demands for the success of carrying out this research pose tremendous problems to the research. Moreover, the duration set aside for this research offers a constraint. Here, the time frame was not such that could perfectly enhance the proper study of this nature.
Above all, the researcher also encountered problems in gathering both the secondary and primary source. This cut across the nonchalant attitude of the respondents in divulging relevant information about the service some female civil servants were not willing to reveal their reasons or pose toward local newspapers within the state.
- Operational Definition of Terms
For the purpose of clarification, intensification and interpretation of the study, the following key terms are defined as they are used:
Newspaper: A publication usually published daily or weekly and usually printed on cheap lo-quality paper, containing news and others articles circulated to the public.
Civil servant: A worker in the bureaucracy or civil service commission and they are headed by the permanent secretary.
Attitude: It is a posture assumption, position, direction and disposition or state of mind it could be negative and irritating. One way of behaving or thinking or feeling.
Civil services: It is a unit of the executive organ of government separately established and vested with the power to implement government decisions and policies.
Surveillance: Close observation of an individual or group: person or persons under suspicion.
