Public Interest or Advertiser’s Interest: On Whose Side is the Media?

This research work examines the role of the mass media vis-à -vis public interest and advertiser’s interest. Ideally the mass media are supposed to be adequately funded so as to avoid shackle of control from whatever angle. This is because without adequate funding of media organizations, they may not be able to perform their constitutional role of keeping the public abreast of the happenings around them. There are instances where some media stations are forced go out of circulation or unable to dish out news and programs at the appropriate time for the fact that the resources are inadequate or even lacking. As a result, media organizations prefer adverts to public interest news in order to stay afloat. Random sampling technique was used to select 383 respondents from across Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Jalingo, its public as well as advertiser’s/advertising agencies, out of which only 378 responded to the questionnaire administered. Interviews were also conducted. The research work reveals among many things that, advertising has been found to be one of the major streams of revenue for media organizations. This situation has however, affected the performance of the media in carrying out their constitutional responsibility of protecting the interest of the public and holding government officials accountable to the masses. The study therefore recommends that, although advertising serves as one of the major sources of revenue upon which the continuous survival of media organizations largely depend on, that does not mean the interest of advertisers/advertising agencies should temper with the media’s sense of judgment in such a way that will make the media to deviate from their constitutional role of championing the interest of the masses.