CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Communication and culture are intertwined. This lies in the fact that they are relevant to the proper functioning and relationships of the different groups within the society. In this sense, the various ethnic groups can be brought together in common understanding of their differences, uniqueness and similarities particularly through broadcasting. This art of sharing and exchanging of information, ideas and meanings which communication is, is one unique attribute of humans especially when considering the use of verbal and non-verbal (gesture) communication cues as means of achieving this exchange. Agba (2002, p. 247) states that “communication is also an ideological or cultural creation. Meanings are understood within the context of a people‟s taste, values, norms and philosophy generally”. The MacBride‟s commission of 1981 defines communication thus:Communication maintains and animates life. It is also the motor and expression of social activities and civilization, it leads people from instinct to inspiration, through variegated process and system of enquiry to command and control, it creates a common pool of ideas, strengthens the feelings of togetherness through exchange of messages, and translates thought into action, reflecting every motion and need from the humblest task of human survival to supreme manifestation of creativity or destruction.
Communication is very paramount to societal survival. No society exists without an adequate communication system to hold it together. It is an interaction process through which person‟s or groups relate to each other and share information, experiences and culture. The whole essence of communication however is to meet the information needs of the people hence; communication is not an end itself. It is an elemental social process on which all other social process depends as a social technique. Without communication, there are no inter-stimulations among people; people will not have common meanings of things and there will be no action that could provide information.
Due to the expansion of societal needs, the usage of communication at the interpersonal level was further expanded to accommodate mass communication, hence today there is mass communication as the dissemination of messages through the mass media of communication to a large diverse and heterogeneous audiences. Defleur and Dennis (1991) see mass communication as “a process in which professional communicators use the mass media to disseminate messages widely, rapidly and continuously to arouse intended meanings in large and diverse audiences in attempts to influence them in a variety of way.” Okunna (1999,p.7) says that “it cannot take place in a face to face situation because its audience is usually scattered.” And of the various tools of mass communication is the electronic or broadcast media which concerns itself with the dissemination of electronic means of messages via the air-waves.
The whole essence of broadcasting therefore is to create a forum for the immediate and continued exchange of commonalities and meanings in National communication needs. This in turn is expected to bring about integration especially in multicultural society like ours in Nigeria. The broadcast media of which radio is an intrinsic part was designed to be a companion, sharing useful information that could help knit the fabric of society closer as well as promote socio-cultural, economic cum political gains for the people. Due to this important factor, the broadcast media are seen as veritable tools required in the mobilization and integration into the mainstream of governance. Where there exist programmes using both audio and visual signals while radio is restricted to the dissemination of audio messages only designed to help men satisfy his various needs and also to promote togetherness among people through its lofty and well packaged programmes.
Broadcasting has continued to serve as a tool for national development as it helps in creating awareness of the various cultural entities in Nigeria. One of the areas which broadcasting has been successfully used as a National integration tool is the area of cultural diffusion. To promote culture implies telling the Nigerian people about the richness of the various cultures that exist in our society and environment in terms of cultural heritage.