Media and Communications Industries in Nigeria:
Subtitle: Impacts of Neoliberal Reforms between 1999 and 2007
Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780773446991
Description: This book is a comprehensive analysis of the impacts of neoliberal reforms on the media and communications industries in Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, with the return of democratic governance to the country. It is the first book-length assessment of impacts of economic policy on media and communications industries in Nigeria. Authors of the book's eight chapters are Nigerian communication scholars located in Nigerian and American universities. Their 'insider' assessments cover influences of reforms in industries that include advertising, broadcasting, print and telecommunications. Authors bring varying analytical perspectives to the challenges posed by neoliberal reforms; some essays offer historical and retrospective reviews of national economic policy positions dating back to the 1970s. The latter approach exposes readers to policy history marked by periodization and by developmental policies that ranged from a protectionist indigenization agenda in the 1970s; through a structural adjustment program (SAP) in the 1980s; and, to neoliberal reforms in the 1990s. Authors show how each period brought varying advantages and disadvantages to media and communications industries. The book's focus on the challenges posed by neoliberalism to media and communications industries in Nigeria is topical and timely at a time that global capitalism is undergoing a crisis and countries' economies are reeling from recession. Nigeria, with a monoculture-economy focused predominantly on crude oil, depends extensively on global markets. That neoliberal policy agenda favors the withdrawal of government from and entry of private corporations into management of public enterprises leads some authors to question what happens to social programs such as public service broadcasting. Others assess the role of media managers in the context of neoliberal reforms. Would the 'public' media, for instance, become better monitors of public policy on behalf of the public? Would 'private' media sort corporate from public interest in the discharge of social responsibility? One question which became even more cogent in view of current global economic meltdown and debate about government bailouts is this: what would have been the stake of Nigeria's economy and, by extension, media and communications industries if policy makers had either favored protectionism over neoliberal reforms or a hybrid of the two? In response to foregoing challenges and questions, authors present an array of advantages and disadvantages as they gauge the impact of neoliberal reforms on the mass media; on communications industries; and, on public corporations, on media managers, and on the Nigerian public between 1999 and 2007. When necessary, authors took a retrospective view of issues dating back to Nigeria's dalliances with colonialism and with defunct military regimes. Others stopped short of claiming that policy makers were driven by external forces over which they had minimal control.