THE MASS MEDIA THE LAW AND NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The mass media, by their pre-eminent position in national life, affect other sectors in national development. They are also affected and influenced in their functions by the operations of other sectors. It is against the backdrop of this feeling that one view the mass media and law as complementary sectors that infringe on each other in the facilitation of the operations of other sectors of the policy. The operation of law affects and influences the way the mass media function. In the same vein, the operations of the mass media equally affect and influence the operation of law in certain fundamental ways.

The concern of this is the paper is the issue of national security a very fundamental issue in national discourse. The question is, how do the mass media function towards enhancing national security? It is the assumption a priori that both sectors function towards enhancing national security. But in carrying out their respective functions, they encroach into each other’s domain and cause hiccups or dislocation to the system of the other. This paper, therefore, intends to examine this encroachment as well as the resultant dislocations, for the purpose of better understanding of how both sectors functions. It may also be necessary to proffer solutions to the problem of interference, with the aim of ensuring better functioning in order establish what is meant by the mass media, how they function as well as what the law is and how it affects the functions of the mass media.

 The Mass Media

Several scholars have variously described the mass media as gadgets used to effect mass communication for example, Defleur and Dennis (1981) define the mass media as “devices for moving messages across distance or time to accomplish mass communication.” The issue of application of the term “mass media” to technical devices is crucial to the understanding of the concept. Infact, the general acknowledgement of this conceptual fact of the mass media has resulted in the terse submission of Uyo (1987) that the mass media, being gadgets used to effect mass communication cannot be practiced.  According to him, it amounts to sheer “Verbicide” to refer to anyone as a “media practitioner”, because one cannot practice gadgets. He likens the pejorative use of this term to such unthinkable expressions as a “teacher practicing blackboard” or “a doctor practicing stethoscope thus, those involved in the operations of the mass media are gatekeepers who are responsible for the purveyance of information in the mass communication process. They are, therefore part of the mass media.

The Law

The law has been conceived in several ways, depending on each scholar’s perspective. Aigbovo (2000), list some of these definitions as follow: Carl Liewellyn: what officials do about disputes. John Austine: A command from a political superior to a political inferior backed up with sanctions for its violations. Oliver Wendel Holmes. The prophecies of what the courts will do. Sir Edward Coke: perfection of reasoning. Hans Kelsen: The primary norm which stipulates the sanctions. These definitions somewhat show the practical aspects of law in the sense that they focus on the operation of law. This has culminated in the emergence of various schools of through representing the different groups of scholars who view law from the same perspective.

Thus, we have positive law school , natural law school and utilitarian law school. However, whether any particular definition falls within a particular school does not fall within the purview of the paper. The concern is how law operates within the confines of a civilized environment. Generally, the common definition of law which encompasses the various definitions so enumerated is that it is a body of rules enacted to guide human conduct in any particular society.

By this definition, the various bye-laws in the states, the various codes guiding, professional practices of professional bodies including the National Broadcasting code and even the mass communication policy are all parts of the law, because they are all made to regulate conduct at different levels. But a close look at the various definition by scholars as stated above would reveal a kind of conformity with how the law has operated in Nigeria at various times. For example, the law under military regimes conforms to John Austin’s definition. It has been stated that the concern of this paper is how the operation of the mass media and the law encroach into each other’s domain as well as the implication of such encroachment to national security. It was also stated that national security is a fundamental issue in national discourse. National security therefore, is the erroneous equation of national security with territorial security. Nigeria today can boast of territorial security in the sense that it is fully protected against it neighbors who cannot dream of attacking Nigeria on their own. Such as move would be suicidal. But the country cannot place its national security on the same pedestal as its territorial security.

Ekoko (2004) has classified the definitions of national security into two broad groups.” The first is the military/strategic concept of security and the second (is), non-strategic socio-economic” Quoting the Encyclopaedia of the social science, he eventually defines security as “ The ability of a national to protect its internal values from external threat” (13).