A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF OBJECTIVE NEWS REPORTAGE BY GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATELY OWNED MEDIA ORGANISATIONS IN BAYELSA STATE, NIGERIA

This study compared privately held and publicly owned media outlets in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, to critically assess the journalistic ideal of objectivity in news reporting. The major objective was to find out how much objectivity is possible in journalism, how much journalists follow this ethical rule, and whether private media are more objective than public ones. Additionally, the study aimed to determine what variables, both immediate and underlying, impede impartial news reporting in Nigerian mainstream media. As an all-encompassing theoretical framework, the ideas of gatekeeping and social responsibility served to direct the study. We used a survey methodology to gather data from 230 registered journalists in Bayelsa State. They were given structured questionnaires to fill out. Under perfect circumstances, journalists can be objective if they are well-versed in the code of ethics that governs their field, according to the results. Nevertheless, the study also discovered that other variables greatly impact the way news items are framed and presented. These elements include media ownership and influence, incentives from news sources, cultural and religious orientations, political affiliations, and personal interests. In light of these results, the research urged Nigerian journalists to act professionally and with integrity while carrying out their constitutionally mandated responsibilities as members of the country’s fourth estate.