CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
One of the major functions of the mass media in all societies is information dissemination. Through gathering, processing, management and dissemination of information and ideas, the media can create awareness, increase knowledge, change attitudes, transform behaviours, foster engagement, and help in formulating sound national policies which are elements that influence and energize a society towards growth and development (McQuail, 2005).
Development issues are societal issues and in all modern societies, the mass media play important roles in providing information on relevant issues in the society. In other words, all modern societies have a government that is made up of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary to carry out definite functions for the good of the society.
Services carried out and exchanged by these structures enable the society to survive and progress, and the media help in the transmission and dissemination of information which without it none of the other structures can function effectively. This explains why it is called ‘”The fourth estate of the realm” following the three structures (Udoakah, 2006).
At the dawn of the 21st century, 189 countries of the United Nations adopted and signed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in an effort to bring development to all nations of the world. Over the years, several efforts and strategies have been tried to enhance the quality of life in developing nations but with varying degrees of success. Therefore, the MDGs brought about a new perspective and determination in the global community through the United Nations with a commitment to address problems of poverty, education, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, gender equality, malaria and other diseases, the environment and develop global partnership for development to be achieved by the year 2015. These global concerns are tagged the “MDGs”.
At the expiration of the 2015 date set for achieving the MDGs, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were introduced in January 2016 as the ‘global goals’ to build on the successes and address the failures of the MDGs while including new areas of global concerns. These new goals are interconnected, with the success of one goal associated with tackling issues related to another. The SDGs work in the spirit of partnership and are an all inclusive agenda that provide clear guidelines and targets for all countries to adopt according to their own priorities. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) seeks to provide support to governments to integrate SDGs into their national development plans and policies. Moreover, just like the MDGs, the issue of Maternal Health is included in the SDGs as the 1st target under its goal 3 titled “Good Health and Wellbeing”. The SDGs seek to by 2030 reduce the maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births. And like the MDGs, achieving the SDGs also requires partnership of governments, the private sector, civil society and citizens (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2017).
The World Health Organisation Report [WHO] (2006) showed that, the world’s maternal mortality ratio is high, with more than half a million women dying of pregnancy related complications every year and Nigeria, which constitutes only 2% of the world’s population accounts for 10% of its maternal deaths. Similarly, several reports (MNPI Report, 2006; MDG Report, 2006; & WHO Report, 2006) indicated that Maternal Health is a cause for serious concern because rates of mortality and morbidity in pregnant women and mothers remain high, particularly among poorer people in Nigeria. The rate of maternal mortality is 800-1100 per 100,000 live births which amounts to 54,000 deaths every year.
Hence, the MDGs sought to improve Maternal Health by reducing three quarters of maternal mortality ratio in the world and achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015. Improving Maternal Health in Nigeria is primarily the question of government acting upon its promise but even the government realized that achieving Maternal Health is dependent on the degree of mobilization around its targets and in order to mobilize, the media is crucial in spreading the “news’’ (Herfkens, 2007). Moreover, all development efforts whether nationally initiated or internationally assisted have information and communication elements to them because of the realization that knowledge and information are crucial to development. Former United Nations Secretary
General, Kofi Annan rightly observes that: “if information and knowledge are central to democracy, they are the conditions for development”
He further reiterates the role of the media with regard to the MDGs:
The media are not just indispensable partners in delivering services to the poor at the scope required by the MDGs but they can also catalyse actions within countries on pressing development concerns, mobilizing broad based movements and creating grassroots pressures to hold leaders accountable to their commitments (Kofi Annan, as cited in MDG Report, 2005).
The Nigerian government realizing the important roles of the media in the information dissemination process established an MDG monitoring mechanism for tracking successes, failures and impacts of the MDGs. It also called on the Nigerian media to monitor the impacts of the different strategies employed in order to achieve the MDGs, how they are faring and what problems they are facing and draw attention to neglected areas (MDG monitor 2009).
This paper therefore seeks to assess how the Nigerian press (a case study of selected newspapers) responded to this call in covering the Maternal Health issues from 2001-2007.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Maternal mortality and morbidity are problems that have serious consequences for families and communities subsequently leading to development delays. Families who lose a mother are likely to suffer declining nutritional status, surviving children have lower rates of school enrolment and low school performance, the community loses a productive member, her country loses its investment in the woman’s health, education and her contribution to the economy; and children born by a woman ridden with pregnancy related complications also suffer alongside the mother, in addition to high chances of associated illness and under five mortality (Making Motherhood Safer, 2004). Therefore reducing maternal mortality rates and achieving universal access to reproductive health require efforts by the government, communities and the nation at large. The media as instruments of mobilization, awareness creation and information exchange have been called by the MDG implementation committee to play important roles in reviewing performance, identifying problems and assessing successes towards achieving the MDGs. All these however are just prescriptions of what the media can do. To measure media performance in this regard requires an empirical study. Thus, this study is aimed at assessing the performance of the press in covering Maternal Health issues from 1st January 2001 to 31st December 2007 by looking at frequency of coverage, themes or issues of Maternal Health that are covered, the direction of coverage and the level of prominence given to Maternal Health issues in the selected publications.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to assess the press coverage of Maternal Health issues in Nigeria and the specific objectives are to:
1. Examine the frequency of the coverage of issues of Maternal Health in features, editorial and news presentations of the selected publications,
2. Identify themes of Maternal Health that are reported by the selected publications
3. Find out the direction of coverage of Maternal Health issues; and to
4. Examine the level of prominence accorded to the coverage of Maternal
Health issues by the selected newspapers.
1.4 Research Questions
1. What is the frequency of the coverage of issues of Maternal Health in features, editorial and news presentations of the selected publications?
2. What are the themes of Maternal Health that are reported by the selected publications?
3. What is the direction of coverage of Maternal Health issues on residents of Ibadan North Local Government?
What is the level of prominence accorded to the coverage of Maternal Health issues by the selected newspapers on residents of Ibadan North Local Government?