INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The media of mass communication have a responsibility in any society where they operate. Neher and Sandain (2007: p.211) assert that people turn to the news media for the accurate reporting of facts so that they can decide what is right and what ought to be done. However, the social responsibility function of the mass media is conflicting with the desire to make money (Udomisor & Akutus, 2013, p.29). 

The social responsibility theory holds that for the press to function as a free enterprise; it must be responsible to a society in which it operates and the media are able to raise issues of public importance and interest (Asemah 2011, p.146). The Nigerian media today often times do not perform this social duties and important topic of discourse that the media would have brought as agenda are being compromised for money. O’Neill (1999 in Azeez, 2009) paints a vivid picture of the rising cases of commercialization thus;

In today’s growing capitalist world, economic imperative and profit making underline every activity and all services; even religious undertaking is not left out in the commoditization of every single bit of our modern life. Invariably, the noble profession which ought to serve the primary interest of the public as a watchdog of the government is not spared from the frenzy world of business world and demands of our time. This has brought about terrible implications on the quality of information and public enlightenment we are served by the news organizations…

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