The Impact of Broadcast Media on the 2020 Edo Gubernatorial Elections. A Critical Survey

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Communications - Media and Politics, Politic Communications, grade: 5.00, National Open University of Nigeria (Department of Mass Communication), language: English, abstract: The media are essential to democracy, and a democratic election is impossible without media. A free and fair election is not only about the freedom to vote and the knowledge of how to cast a vote, but also about a participatory process where voters engage in public debate and have adequate information about parties, policies, candidates and the election process itself in order to make informed choices. This project has extensively evaluated the role of broadcast media on the Edo State gubernatorial elections. A research survey using descriptive analysis and chi-square was carried out on 250 respondents. This project gave the overall background to the study. The researcher adopted survey method which gives room for questionnaires and interview while the sampling technique was simple random sampling techniques which will allow all members of the population of the study an equal being included in the study, presentation and the analysis of data collected from questionnaire responded to by respondents. They were analyzed with arithmetic table and simple percentage. Total numbers of questionnaire released was 225. A total number of 218 administered questionnaires were retrieved. The findings from this research work and other empirical studies confirmed that, the media coverage can also determine if an election will be free and fair. The research further recommended that the media should endeavor to give equal media coverage to political parties and their candidates.