Ask anybody to speak on “Media and Democracy” or Media and National Development, one point that would appear consistently would be the media as an agenda setter. No talk on this all important subject is complete without it. Ask the professionals too what the key responsibilities of the media are, and after telling you it is about reporting the news, education and entertainment, agenda setting is most likely to be the second most important point.
It is such a vital function of the media hence the frequent reference and strategic placement it receives each time there is an x-ray on media activities and performance to be done. Unfortunately, it is the least executed assignment in the discharge of the cardinal functions placed on the huge shoulders of the media. Those who highlight the point give it a mention and just gloss over the bigger matters associated with the task in this regard. Issues like originating an agendum or agenda as the case may be and working to achieve general acceptance among the generality of the media organizations, timing, scope, duration, even courage and sacrifice just receive peripheral mention where it is called to mind at all.
There is no space to break down some of the points raised in the preceding paragraph, otherwise one would have talked about how strategic they are; who raises the issues and how can they become mantra for all the other media is no easy task, especially for our kind of society where extraneous factors like religion and ethnic loyalties appear very strong. There are also unsettled matters like, ‹When is it germane to raise matters and positions around a national question? Should it be long before the matters develop fully and become commonplace talks or should critical issues be highlighted and sensible positions reached when such have become public matters but babel of voices make comprehension, conclusions and consensus very difficult? Some of us think the media ought to be ahead of the society in which it operates. If agenda setting is to be what it should be, meaningful and helpful, then that can only come through by the media staying ahead of the rest of the society in thinking and proffering of solutions.
What is being advocated here is nothing new; nations that wanted quick, orderly but sustainable development for their societies were well aware of the importance of the media in development and especially about the need to have an arm of non-partisan agents, whose voices would mean so much in the growth of leadership models and general policy and programmes direction. Anyone familiar with the development of the media in America would have observed that political supremacy struggles were inter-mixed with establishment of the media, the good of it was that none of the contending forces wanted the media stifled. They all were united in wanting the media strong, thriving and successful. The reason was that the voice from the media provided another platform for good ideas towards building a virile state. Today America›s constitution expressly forbids any new legislation that would subtract from freedom of the media and like we have seen, practitioners are taking great advantage of it to set agenda for the leadership of the country.
Ask our professionals what the case is with us, they will beat their chest and say a lot is being done in that direction. In fact many of us insist the media here is the fulcrum of our democratic experiment. To some extent it is true when we take into account the role of the media in pre-and immediate post-independence era, not forgetting the gallant roles of our media when the military by force took over the reins of power. The media indeed deserves a big pat on the back but since after those times the story appears not very interesting. These days one can hardly pick anything worthwhile from what they put out, the news and talkshops are saturated mainly with routine matters. Emphasis appears to be on press releases and developments and little effort is given to reactions and suggestion of options.
In the last few days the country has been hit by shortages in petrol supply. The media has done very well in reporting the development but where it would have helped the nation by taking the agenda setting route, it ran away. If we had an agenda setting media, they ought to have asked for the names of the importers of the bad fuel that ended up putting the citizens into hardship, personal losses and economic disruptions. The intention here would have been to bring home in very clear terms how serious what they had done. They would have by so doing also extracted severe sanctions as deterrence. The media ought to have demanded the immediate resignation of all public officials involved in the line of duty. This would have been a means of furthering the bounds of responsibility and accountability.
It would be a way of telling our nation it is time to tie public officials to the outcome of activities in their areas of job assignments. You perform you go up, you fail you go down, including sanctions in light of what might be the issue. If agenda setting antenna is on and up, the media would be consistently asking basic questions and keep at them until solutions are not only found but seen to have been applied. The country is blessed with crude oil in very commercial quantities but since oil was discovered more 50 years ago, the country has enjoyed the benefits without knowledge of how what they enjoy is produced. For that long we have relied on foreign technology and expertise to draw the crude, sell it to foreign companies as raw material and after processing, they return it to us in the form of finished products which we buy at far more higher prices. Shouldn’t such an anomaly be of great concern to us?
Last week, one heard the Nigeria Union of Journalists lament the lack of petrol supply and the hardship it has imposed. It called for understanding without lambasting the authority for knowing the permanent solution and deliberately looking the other way for the seven years this administration has been in power and in spite of having promised the people before assuming office to build new refineries. NUJ would not hit the nail on the target for the simple reason the media has done away with the aspect of setting agenda, they have fallen for conspiratorial passivity. The NUJ bug is the disease afflicting all the media houses in the country today.
Lack of positions, owners’ interest, self-gain, harsh economic climate and quest for survival are some of the excuses media practitioners hold on to explain why they can›t play a role that goes with their peculiar kind of task. Yet others in other climes faced same factors and still choose to excel. Recently, some persons raised the question of capacity too. As already observed, a typical daily news bulletin these days can hardly keep one in deep introspection for long time, this is because there is no new proposal even in the special report sections that can tickle the brain, just news, no expert and public reactions, no recall system
This explains why our leadership process is devoid of principles, exact reason our political leaders take a position and after one they are saying a different thing on same issue. It is why President Buhari could boldly insist he was not privy to many items on his party’s manifesto on which basis he sought and got power. As of today he hasn’t been sufficiently told this was what he promised the people on this issue and that matter. He was almost managed through few interviews he agreed to avail himself before the poll hence no hard questions were thrown at him to get positions on all vital areas of national life.
The media left him to get away with undefined three point agenda, to fight corruption, improve economy and turnaround in insecurity. How? Nobody knew because those whose responsibility it was to ask failed to do their job.
If anybody knew President Buhari will build rail to Maradi in Niger Republic at a time those in country were still begging for attention, increase cost of fuel astronomically, show preferential treatment for those who voted for him, it is possible, if not very certain, Nigerians would have reacted differently; now everyone is seeing the country unravel, talk of nation building is sounding as if Nigeria did not get her independence about 60 years ago. What is the media position on national unity? What are the things that must be done? What is the media position on duplicitous behaviour of key political leaders. If the media will descend strongly on such terrible conduct that end up heightening tension and confusion, someone like Atiku Abubakar won’t love zoning in 2014 /15 on account he chose ethnic politics and in 2022 is telling us there is nowhere it is written in our constitution. The media, if they had a position, besides reminding him of his very recent stand would as well have taught him that countries also run on conventions.
Media agenda setting helps a society, especially a developing one, immensely. It creates order and standards. Since there is no standard everything goes to our detriment. We are today at the edge of the cliff, a little of wind of misfortune and we tumble down the precipice. The media has a role in rolling back or redirecting this evil wind by getting on with the agenda setting aspect of her function to society. If there is a time such was most needed, many Nigerians think that time is now.
Let the media set up a special political unit, fill it on ad hoc basis with some of the best brains in their stable, let them go round this country and engage the presidential aspirants on specific solutions concerning all matters troubling us. Create pages or sessions for Interview of The Week. There are things for which we want specific answers: definition of national unity, process for integration, constitution – new one, amendment, national dialogue, restructuring, political architecture, regionalism, zones, education, public schools to stay or go private schools, finding, curriculum retention or review, free education or education at cost, rail, electricity, taxation, productive economy, food sufficiency, security structure, judicial, legislative and local government autonomy.
Other issues include aviation, technology and production, land, water transport, commerce, road construction, sports development, less privileged, health facilities, health insurance and many others. Make them give answers on specifics of what their approaches would be. Media should air and publish and keep records. There should be pages where politicians stood on issues in the past while news items should have the recall treatment. If what a politician says or acts today contradicts his past position the people should know to enable them judge and pass verdicts justly.