Impact of the Media on Elections and Good Governance in Nigeria

Abstract

The phenomenon of paid news endangers the functioning of an independent media when skewed to propagate a socio-political agenda. This has dire implications for the workings of democracy and good governance in the country. The crux of credible electoral outcomes as a sine qua non to good governance is more in question since citizens decisions are much more vulnerable to political advertisements and distorted news.  This paper attempted to Xray the Nigeria’s political system while making a succinct overview of elections, political parties and the incidence of money politics in the electoral milieu. It also appraised the impact of the media on good governance. The researcher adopted the qualitative research method and the Agenda Setting theory to analyse the role of the media in the Nigeria State. This paper finds that the media is a strong institution which plays pivotal role in forming opinion public[1], however, it affirms that the Media is susceptible to being manipulated, especially, by the political class to suit their interest to win elections and hold on to power at all costs. It therefore concluded that for the media practitioners to contribute effectively to enthroning good governance, they should, as a matter of responsibility, apply the basic principles of patriotism, accountability, transparency, and objectivity in the discharge of their duties while upholding the sanctity of truth and fairness at all times. It therefore recommended, amongst others, that the media channels, and the content they deliver, should be truly independent, free, fair, become accessible and affordable for all, to rightly perform her watchdog role towards engendering credible electoral outcomes, transparency and accountability for good governance in Nigeria.