THE INFLUENCE OF THE MASS MEDIA ON GOVERNMENT POLICIES (A CASE STUDY OF THE ANTI GAY LAW IN NIGERIA)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Policymaking is a political process which is affected by various social and economic factors and the media plays an integral role in shaping the social context in which policies are developed. Through the media, citizens learn how government policies will affect them, and governments gain feedback on their policies and programs. The media acts as the primary conduit between those who want to influence policy and policymakers controlling the scope of political discourse and regulating the flow of information. Policymaking follows an orderly sequence where problems are identified, solutions devised, policies adopted, implemented and lastly evaluated. In reality, the policy process is more fluid, where policies are formed through the struggle of ideas of various advocacy coalitions. The policies, on which the media focuses can, and often does, play an important role in determining the focal issues for policymakers.
Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual and lesbianism. The term was originally used to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy". The term's use as a reference to homosexuality may date as early as the late 19th century, but its use gradually increased in the 20th century. In modern English, gay has come to be used as an adjective, and as a noun, referring to the people, especially to gay males, and the practices and cultures associated with homosexuality. Wikipedia (2013). However, the law that criminalized the act of gay, (homosexual/ lesbians) marriage in Nigeria is called Anti Gay Law or Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act. The Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act criminalizes same-sex marriage and provides for up to 14 years in jail. Membership or support of gay organizations, associations or clubs carries a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
The new law reflects a highly religious and conservative society that largely considers homosexuality a deviation. In areas of northern Nigeria law is enforced by Islamic Shariah courts and homosexuals can be stoned to death. There is a rapidly growing literature on the economics of the mass media, leading to a series of important new insights in an area which for a long time was neglected by economists (McCluskey and Swinnen, 2008). Media economics represent economic theoretical and practical economic questions specific to media of all types. Of particular concern to media economics are the economic polices and practices of media companies and disciples including journalism and the news industry, film production, entertainment programs, print, broadcast, mobile communications, Internet, advertising and public relations. An important part of this literature concerns the role of the mass media in political markets and its effect on public policy-making. Most of this literature on the relationship between mass media and government policy is theoretical. A few studies have tried to assess the effect of media on policy outcomes.
Access to mass-media empowers people politically and, as such, increases their benefit from government programs (Stromberg and Snyder, 2008). This influence has been found for different types of government programs and different countries, such as unemployment relief in the United States (Stromberg, 2004), public food provision and calamity relief in India (Besley and Burgess, 2001, 2002), and educational spending in Uganda. All of these studies measure the effect within a single country, which has the benefit of keeping many other factors fixed but has the potential disadvantage of having limited variation in policy and media.
.