Influence of This Morning on Independence Television on the Political  Consciousness of Benin City Residents

Ayeni Augustine Alaba; Nana Mariam Muhammed; Akwabala Lee Jenberetonaa

Authors

Ayeni Augustine Alaba Department of Mass Communication University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria Author
Nana Mariam Muhammed Department of Mass Communication Kogi State University, Anyigba, Nigeria Author
Akwabala Lee Jenberetonaa Faculty of Communication and Media Studies Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria Author

Abstract

This paper sought to determine the influence of This Morning on ITV on the political consciousness of Benin residents. The research work was anchored on two theories; namely: agenda setting theory and media dependency theory. The researchers adopted survey method and used questionnaire as instrument of data collection. A sample size of 384 Benin City residents was used for the work. The findings revealed that the programme has great influence on the political consciousness of the people as admitted by majority of the respondents and the degree of influence was very high. The findings also revealed that majority of the respondents are heavy viewers of the programme. Thus, it was concluded that the programme has a measure of influence on the political consciousness of the people based on their level of exposure to it. It was, therefore, recommended that issues presented on the programme should be well-guided and be devoid of manipulation, distortion or propaganda so that the people would not be misled based on their vulnerability and appetite for political issues.