ABSTRACT

This study is a thesis carried out on University of Buea students titled “News Dependency Amongst UB students :A comparative Analysis of Television and Newspapers.

This research is aimed at analyzing the level to which University of Buea students are exposed to TV and newspapers , how they use it as amen as for getting information and  news ,which they depend more on for information and for what purpose.

The research made use of 100 questionnaires which were administered to 100 students from two(2) departments (JMC AND WGS) which consisted of both boys and girls.

The major findings discovered alongside some other researchers and authors were that students depend more on Television for news and information as compared to newspapers because to them TV provides fast, short and reliable  breaking news with visual contents as compared to newspapers which is lengthy, once a week and boring.

In conclusion, Television provides vivid news which is more preferred by University of Buea students than newspapers  and some recommendations made is that newspapers in order to meet up to TV viewership should makes news short and easy for understanding ,interesting and also consistent which will thereby increase newspaper readership by students of the university.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Of The Study

Television is a telecommunication medium used for transmitting moving images in black and white or in color and two or more dimensions and sound. It is a mass medium for advertising, entertainment, and news.

After WW2, an improved form of black and white TV broadcasting became popular in the United States, and Britain and television sets became commonplace in homes, schools, institutions, and all over.

Since 2010, with the availability of television, internet television has increased the availability of television programs and movies via the internet has also been increased.

In 2013, the world’s household-owned TV sets became a great problem to a newspaper as many transferred the attention to viewing on TV and called newspaper a time taking and boring means of entertainment and information.

The coming of television today has caused a remarkable decrease in newspaper readership among youths and a decrease in the anxiety to know what is on the papers. Youths now prefer television over a newspaper. Akin and Larose (1991), confirm that the general viewership of cable television is larger amongst the younger non-white generation (black youths).

According to some youths, they do not read newspapers because they are a thing for the old and it’s a time-consuming activity. Some scholars(Huang,2009; Bernal 2009; Raeymaeckers 2002; Costera 2007; and Andrew Casero 2012; page 152) argued that low newspaper readership amongst students is due to their low representation in the landscape of the newspaper, lack of finance, and the difficult language used in them which scare the younger generation from reading or even standing by the newspaper stands.

US Newspaper history from the rise of the penny press in the 1830s includes iconic images of newsboys hawking papers on streets corners, attracting readers with noise, headlines, and stories while luring customers away from competition (Schudson,1978).

For decades, it was paper against the paper as concentrated ownership patterns resulted in less direct competition as technology brought more options for advertisers and readers as news patterns shifted, from cities to suburbs and the population grew bigger, ethnically and racially newspapers looked for means to survive (Shrestha and Heisler,2011).

Some for money, correct the wrongs, to inform, to stir opinions and discussions, to influence people, newspapers have always had readers right from the 20^th to the 21^st century.

As things became different, newspaper organs started caring less in competitions, newspapers were produced once or twice a week and as technology brought more options for advertisers and readers, the populations of Cameroon began to grow bigger and bigger thereby making newspapers look for ways to survive as an industry.

Many Cameroonians have resorted to the news on Television rather than a newspaper. Some see it as time wastage having to read lengthy news on newspapers which they could spend 5mins highest to get good visual news on TV. Some say it is rather too stressful and boring to read from the newspaper.

This has become a problem considering that students of the university who are supposed to be die-hard newspaper readers to increase their scope of learning do not even neither care nor find interest to buy or read newspapers.

This is becoming a problem in our society today as the coming of the television has filled the gap which newspaper could not in the lives of youths as television offers interesting and short programs in simple languages which youths and younger ones find much interest watching than reading.

This has made students of the university find more interest in watching TV for information and entertainment than reading newspapers

During the last decades of the twentieth-century efforts to win and keep readers by providing easy access to newspapers and interesting readable content became known as “reader-friendly” journalism. It was a practice that drew advocates and had widespread ramifications.

This study, therefore, compares television viewership and newspaper readership among the University of Buea Students.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Due to the constant and increasing search and quest for knowledge, the university was created to satisfy this human desire and want.

This knowledge can however be achieved if students attain reading skills by exposing themselves to reading materials especially newspapers which will not only help them to enhance their spelling and language power but also help them to acquire vital information on daily happenings especially in various domains such as politics, economy, health, and sports in the nation and even the world at large. Newspapers, therefore, go a long way to keep the people linked to current news.

In this situation, University students are expected to be keen newspaper readers to obtain important information on their society. However, since the coming of the Television in the 20^th century which offers similar opportunities as the newspaper,  TV tends to be more used than the newspaper and one will begin to ask what medium between Television and newspaper do the students of the University of Buea pay more interest and attention.

1.3 Objectives of the study

The study seeks to focus on the following objectives;

1.3.1 General objective.

1.To find out whether students depend on Television or Newspapers for news.

1.3.2 Specific objectives.

1. 1. To find out whether students rely on Television or newspapers for information.
2. To find out the level of student`s exposure to television and newspapers.
3. To find out what purpose initiate student`s dependency for news over these mediums.

1.4 Research Question

Taking into consideration the topic, problem statement, and objectives, the following research questions are proposed.

1. To what extent do students rely on these mediums (Television and Newspapers) for news and information?
2. Why do students use this medium (Television and Newspaper)?
3. Which medium students depend more on and for what purpose?

SIMILAR JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION PROJECT TOPICS WITH MATERIALS

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