Dissertation: Role of Mass Media During Covid-19 in Nigeria

This dissertation explores the role and growing significance of mass media during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on a case study of Independent Media Agencies in Nigeria. It begins with an introduction outlining the study's aims, objectives, research questions, and rationale. The literature review examines the role of mass media in disseminating information, the challenges faced by media agencies during the pandemic, including the spread of fake news, and the measures taken to effectively perform their role. The study highlights the importance of mass media as a source of information, a marketing platform, a means of bringing positivity, and a channel for delivering up-to-date information. The dissertation further delves into the research methodology, data analysis, findings, discussion, conclusion, recommendations, and personal reflection, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject matter. Desklib is a platform where you can find this and many similar assignments to help you with your studies.

CW1 Dissertation Media and
Communication

Contents
TITLE: Dissertation Title: The Role of Mass Media and its growing significance during Covid-
19: A case study on Independent Media Agencies in Nigeria.........................................................3
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................3
Overview of study........................................................................................................................3
Research aim ...............................................................................................................................3
Research Objectives.....................................................................................................................4
Research Questions......................................................................................................................4
Rationale of research....................................................................................................................4
Structure of dissertation...............................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................................5
Introduction..................................................................................................................................5
Main body....................................................................................................................................5
To understand the role of Mass Media and its growing significance during Covid-19...............5
To analyse the challenges faced by media agencies during pandemic situations........................7
To evaluate the various measures that may be undertaken to effectively perform the role of
media during a pandemic.............................................................................................................9
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................11
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................................12
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS................................................................................12
CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION..........................................................................................................12
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................12
CHAPTER 7 PERSONA REFLECTION......................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

TITLE: Dissertation Title: The Role of Mass Media and its growing
significance during Covid-19: A case study on Independent Media
Agencies in Nigeria.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Overview of study
The concept of mass media tends to be associated with means of technology which is focused for
reaching a huge number of audiences. So, this renders fundamental communication means which
is utilised for reaching the large majority of general people. Along with this, the most common
platforms for mass media are newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the Internet. At
present times, this has been observed that mass media plays crucial roles across the world. In
addition to this, the world of media is forming with whole passing days. The newspaper was
replaced by radios, this was replaced with TV and television was replaced with internet. Also,
currently there are numerous channels on interests through those news, events as well as overall
other information are passed on person. COVID-19 has disrupted the overall industry with media
as well. For this, there are several video blogs, blogs, social and many others are the manner to
represent the media. Furthermore, this has been highlighted as well as monitored that the fast
spread of COVID-19 at international level that became a source of public worry as well as
various unknown related to particular new pathogen developed a panic states. Therefore, during
that mass media became the key information sources regarding the novel corona virus. Thus, the
recent investigation is concentrated upon evaluating as well as analysing about the mass media
role at the global pandemic of COVID-19. In order to complete this dissertation, Independent
Media Agencies in Nigeria is chosen. The main aim of this study is to analyse the Role of Mass
Media and its growing significance during Covid-19. For this some topics are highlighted that
are research aim, objectives, questions, rationale, structure and literature reviews. Moreover,
research methodology, data analysis, findings and discussion are also described. Apart from this,
recommendation and personal reflection are also discussed in this research.
Research aim
“The Role of Mass Media and its growing significance during Covid-19”: A case study on
Independent Media Agencies in Nigeria.
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Research Objectives
 To understand the role of Mass Media and its growing significance during Covid-19.
 To analyse the challenges faced by media agencies during pandemic situations
 To evaluate the various measures that may be undertaken to effectively perform the role
of media during a pandemic
Research Questions
 What is the effective role of Mass Media and its growing significance during Covid-19?
 Which can be the main challenges faced by media agencies during pandemic situations?
 What are the various possible measures that may be undertaken to effectively perform the
role of media during a pandemic?
Rationale of research
There are several reasons for opting the respective topic is the personal interest of research.
Additionally, researcher is much interested to improve their knowledge regarding the role of
mass media during COVID-19 pandemic situation as these aspects can be used by them in
upcoming times. Moreover, the respective investigation is going to develop an affirmative
aspects into researcher mind set as understandings related to evaluates the role of mass media as
well as their growing significance during COVID-19. In order to conduct the particular
investigation efficiently, there are numerous competencies which are needed for conducting the
particular study so that this would assists investigator for maximising its skills such as decision
making, communication and many more skills. It could be helpful for scholar in future
investigation as well. Also, research might be executed into media sector so this would be
beneficial for researcher in order to maximise their understandings in respect of particular
industry in proficient way. Therefore, this would also render optimistic outcomes for researcher
in regards to perform the further job role in effective and efficient manner.
Structure of dissertation
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Literature Review
Chapter 3 Research Methodology
Chapter 4 Analysis and Findings
Chapter 5 Discussion
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Chapter 6 Conclusion and Recommendations
Chapter 7 Personal Reflection
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Literature review is considered as a piece of academic writing which demonstrate the
understandings as well as knowledge of academic literature upon a particular topic that is placed
in context. Additionally, this also incorporates a critical assessment of material. Moreover, this
develops familiarity with as well as acknowledging of present investigation into specific area
before performing a new study. Performing a literature review should allows them in identifying
what investigation have already been conducted as well as determine what is not known into
their topic. In addition to this, the key intent of literature review is to obtain an acknowledgement
of existent investigation as well as debates related to specific research topic or area of
investigation and for presenting that knowledge in kinds of a written report. Also, it assists in
building researcher understandings into its field. For instance, in this chapter the role of Mass
Media and its growing significance during Covid-19, various challenges faced by media agencies
during pandemic situations and several measures that may be undertaken to effectively perform
the role of media during a pandemic are also discussed.
Main body
To understand the role of Mass Media and its growing significance during Covid-19.
Mass media describes to media technologies which is utilised for disseminate information
towards a board audiences. Moreover, the main function of mass media is to communicate
several messages by movies, radio, television, advertising, magazines, newspaper, radio and so
on. Additionally, mass media tends to be associated with means of technology which is focused
for reaching a huge number of audiences. So, this renders fundamental communication means
which is utilised for reaching the large majority of general people. At present times, this has been
observed that mass media plays crucial roles across the world. In addition to this, the world of
media is forming with whole passing days. The newspaper was replaced by radios, this was
replaced with TV and television was replaced with internet. Also, currently there are numerous
channels on interests through those news, events as well as overall other information are passed
on person. COVID-19 have disrupted the overall industry with media as well. For this, there are
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several video blogs, blogs, social and many others are the manner to represent the media.
Furthermore, this has been highlighted as well as monitored that the fast spread of COVID-19 at
international level that became a source of public worry as well as various unknown related to
particular new pathogen developed a panic states. Therefore, during that mass media became the
key information sources regarding the novel corona virus. Thus, the recent investigation is
concentrated upon evaluating as well as analysing about the mass media role at the global
pandemic of COVID-19. With the affect of Covid-19 in the global market, the importance of
Mass Media has increased as people are scared to move out of their houses because of the new
guidelines of the government. People now a days watch every important news about any
situation through their phones by the information through apps that are now easily available on
their mobile phones (Ifroh and Asrianti, 2020). In the pandemic situation, mass media is only
considered as a great method for communities and individuals to stay in connection with the
people even when they are physically separated from each other. Mass media plays an important
role in the time of pandemic as it helps the businesses in carrying out their business operations
effectively for attaining the more growth and market share in the market. The role of Mass
Media in the pandemic situation is defined below:
 Source of information – Mass Media plays an important role in gaining reliable and
valuable information to the people during the Covid-19 situation. The government and
businesses has used mass media for delivering qualitative information about their
products and services that they provide to customers in the business market. It helps the
companies in gaining more customer value and loyalty towards the products that they sell
in the market (Ferreira and Borges, 2020).
 Marketing platform for companies – Most of the companies chooses to do marketing
through the use of Mass Media in order to deliver productive and useful information
about the services that they offer (Sereenonchai and Arunrat, 2021). During the situation
of Covid-19 in the market, many businesses have started selling and promoting their
products or services through online portals in order to gain more success and profitability
in the competitive market. Branded companies mainly focus on implementing strategic
plans for delivering services online in order to reduce the impact of Covid-19 in the
global economy.
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 Brings positivity in the scary time – The situation of pandemic has affected the life and
living of so many people and this reduces the value of trust and loyalty among the
customers as they are scared of coming in contact with a person (Qiao, Ruan and Pabel,
2021). With the help of Mass Media helps in brining positivity in the life of businesses
persons as they can share about their situation and how what they are adopting to the
changing situation. With the use of mass media in the situation of pandemic helped the
company in gaining more share in the market and large number of customers.
 Delivering up-to date information – Mass Media helps in delivering up-to date
information to the people on television, social media channels about the Covid-19
situation and how the health organizations are dealing with the current pandemic
situation. Mass media also helps in providing information about the areas that are more
affected by the coronavirus and needs to brings changes and what the government is
doing and taking measures to tackle the tough crisis situation because of the deadly virus
(Mbogo, 2020).
To analyse the challenges faced by media agencies during pandemic situations.
As per the views of Rajan (2020), COVID-19 pandemic reporting was challenging feat for the
media. The COVID-19 pandemic also introduced the pandemic of fake news across the globe.
During the initial spread COVID-19, uncertainties and fears related to the pandemic let to
insurgents of fake news and misinformation at a large scale. This was mostly facilitated by social
media along with Media houses being able to get the latest information about the pandemic in
different countries and actual numbers from governments. Most of the fake news surrounding
COVID-19 pandemic was propelled through private communication channels such as online chat
rooms or through WhatsApp Messenger. These portals enabled consumers to send messages at a
mass scale without much expenditure and acted as a main source of misinformation regarding the
severity and spread of the virus in different countries. The rise of misinformation was not only
seen in developed countries such as United Kingdom and United States of America but also
affected the perception of population in smaller countries such as Nigeria. The rise of fake news
was the biggest challenge of journalism in reporting fact based information about the pandemic.
It is also analyzed that a significant part of information spread during the COVID-19 pandemic
which was labelled as fake news it was just badly edited material which is then used on social
media to confirm the prejudices of those who see it. The popularity of sensationalized
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journalism, social media clickbait articles and confirmation bias of the readers affected integrity
of journalism as even fact based information could be used to spread fake propaganda and propel
personal political agenda instead of informing others about the impact of COVID-19. In
addition to this the rising popularity of social media sites as a source of consuming Daily News
also affected ethical reporting of the pandemic because of it articles which are created to gain the
attention of the social media user instead of informing factual data increase during the pandemic
which were used by social media users to confirm their biases and for this word their politically
influenced propaganda. The global healthcare crisis reason because of the COVID-19 pandemic
showcases the clear dichotomy between authorization very widely trusted sources and
conspiracy theorists channels which promote agenda based news including misinformation and
edited version of actual news to suit their agenda. This increase the importance of ensuring that
correct news reaches the audience so that the healthcare crisis can be averted quickly and further
misinformation does not lead to contribution in another pandemic in the future. The speed at
which conspiracy theories and misinformation was spread during the pandemic showcases the
public anxieties about healthcare along with the lack of knowledge the general public has about
spread of viruses. Basic scientific knowledge suggests the germ theory about spread of viruses
from one person to another is also not common knowledge in the general public even in
developed countries such as United Kingdom and United States of America. When it comes to
small countries such as Nigeria this problem can be huge as lack of education creates an
environment for higher intensity of misinformation spread. The availability of social media sites
even in small countries like Nigeria along with lack of education breeds an environment where
conspiracy theories can influence the general population of the country to a greater extent and
then cause little damage to any kind of government initiatives taken for reducing the spread of
the virus. In such time it is important for credible media houses to support strict action against
any sources or journals which contribute to misinformation being spread. Good rest of the
general audience in mainstream media houses with solid history of high quality journalism and
positive reputation across international market has increased because of the pandemic as the
credible houses are the only sources which provide actual data about the pandemic without using
the news to spread own propaganda or agenda. The spread of fake news and conspiracies at a
crucial movement of pandemic created the challenge of becoming a stenographer instead of
journalist. This means that in the times of crisis the role of journalists is to record the data
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provided by the government instead of acting like a position and criticizing every movement of
the government which leads to further panic. the role of the general public needs to be shifted
towards positive change such as accepting interesting the news articles provided by mainstream
businesses instead of a conspiracy theory forwarded on WhatsApp Messenger.
To evaluate the various measures that may be undertaken to effectively perform the role of
media during a pandemic
As per the view of (Sutarto, Sari and Fathurrochman, 2020), Covid-19 has adversely
affected the overall growth and profitability of most of the businesses because of the complete
lock-down situation. Mass Media plays a very crucial role in delivering better services to the
people by the use of advertising and by social media platforms. This helps in giving important
information about the realities and true information about the current situation and about the
problems which people are facing because of the affect of virus globally. There are various
sources of delivering important and valuable information about the affect of Covid-19 in the
global market because this hampers the growth and success of many organizations in the market.
The situation of pandemic has created a fear in the minds of people which effects their social life
also as the virus has taken away life of many people. Media is the only mode of platform that
helps in delivering news related to the pandemic to the people and this helps in building
awareness in the minds of people about what measures they need to take (Kulkarni and
Anantharama, 2020). Media can be of many types by which information can be passed to the
people of the country and those are defined as newspaper, social media news apps, and many
more. The media agency of Nigeria controls and manages their employees for achieving reliable
and correct information about the effect of the Covid-19 and how it affected the whole
population and problems people are facing. Government regulations in the tough crisis of the
pandemic has changed the living behaviour and lifestyle of people as they are now more health
conscious and follows a healthy and positive culture in order to get protected from the affect of
coronavirus. With minimum availability of products and and services to the customer in the
market is the major challenge that most of the company are facing. Adopting better channels of
media is important for the companies so that true and correct information can be passed through
these channels which results in reducing misconception about the current happenings. There are
several different types of measures that improve the role of media in the pandemic situation in
the global economy.
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It is important for that the small countries like Nigeria use strong and effective channels
of media for delivering important and accurate information about the affect of coronavirus on the
public living in that concerned area. For proper and effective performance about the role of
media in the small country Nigeria, it is important that they must provide education to all the
people so that they use social media for gartering information about the severe affect of the virus.
As Covid-19 can spread from one person to another, the population of the country needs to know
about the severe affects which helps in protecting from the affect of the virus (Esposito and
Principi, 2020).
Another measure that helps in effective role about the media in the situations of Covid-19
is that it reduces the spread of inappropriate and wrong information because this increases the
affect of virus more in the minds of people. Wrong information among people living in the small
country such as Nigeria delivers wrong information about the given current prevailing situation
which affects the life more drastically so it is important for the government to deliver right data
and information to people.
The companies uses social media for prompting the sales and growth in the pandemic
situation which helps in building high-quality image in the business market. For improving the
role of media in the current pandemic situation it is important that they adopt right channel of
media for showing and delivering information about the current situation of pandemic. Social
media help the company in gaining actual learning and brining improvement in the life quality of
the people (Mahyoob, 2020). Adopting better technological methods is also an important
measure that needs to be considered by the employees of the media agencies of Nigeria as it
helps in improving the channel for forecasting the information and which is available with every
person.
The media agency can also makes use of innovative social media apps for driving the
attraction of the people so that more people gets aware about the preventive measures that they
need to take for protecting themselves from the effect of virus. Media is the only way to reach
and capture a large number of audience in the whole world and how they are affected by the
situations of the Covid-19. As with the changing trends the situations and conditions are
changing and people are now becoming ore advance in using social media and wants to get
accurate and correct information on their phones.
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By adopting new and different channels of social media for showcasing the news to the
people is another measure that can help the media agency of Nigeria to improve the process of
and role of social media in the time of pandemic situation. It is important for the media agency to
train and develop their employees in a proper and effective manner for gaining increased profits
and growth in the business market (Khajanchi, Sarkar and Mondal, 2020). Improving the
communication among the employees of the media agency is an important factor that needs to be
considered for gaining reliable and right information about the problems that people are facing
because of the effect of the virus. Social media helps in warning people about the exact effect of
the coronavirus around the globe and also the information about the hospitals and how they are
dealing with the tough situations and what they are doing for preventing the patients from the
affect of the virus.
It is the responsibility of the media agency of the Nigeria to develop better platforms for
delivering accurate information choosing Instagram, Watsapp, Facebook for conveying accurate
data and information as most of the people spend most of their time on social media in the
situation of Covid-19 in the whole world.
Conclusion
In the pandemic situation, mass media is only considered as a great method for communities and
individuals to stay in connection with the people even when they are physically separated from
each other. Mass media plays an important role in the time of pandemic as it helps the businesses
in carrying out their business operations effectively for attaining the more growth and market
share in the market.
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CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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