EFFECTS OF MEDIA LANGUAGE POLICIES ON MEDIA HOUSE AND THE YOUTHS: USING TELEVISION AND RADIO IN BENIN AS A CASE STUDY

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on the effects of media language policies on media houses and the youths. The study use television and radio in Benin as a case study. Media is one of the most powerful tools of communication in developing countries, as well as in the developed countries. It can aid in promoting the right things at the right point in time or can make use of any situation to create disturbance around the people or in the society. The study examined a brief history of Nigerian media (TV and Radio), language use on air, the Nigeria media language policy and the relationship between media and the youths. The study also examined the effect of media language policy on media and youth. The procedure and method used in sourcing information for the study was the descriptive research design. Data needed for this study were source from secondary such as textbooks, journals, and articles and primary data such as the questionnaire to elicit information from the staff of ITV and Radio, Benin City. The study find out that for the media to function effectively they must given favorable legal environment or regulatory framework, which guarantees media freedom, independence, and pluralism. The result of the findings also shows that there is a relationship between media and the youth development in Nigeria. The study recommended that the National Assembly should pass the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill into an Act to give media practitioners’ unimpeded access to vital information to execute their onerous assignments.