AUDIENCE'S PERCEPTION OF BROADCAST MEDIA WATCHDOG ROLE ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S FOOD PALLIATIVE DISTRIBUTION IN TARABA STATE

This paper major on audience perceptions of the watchdog role of broadcast media in Taraba State in reporting the distribution of food and other palliatives provided by federal government of Nigeria as succor to pacify the harrowing effect of hunger in the country that prone the Youths to embark on Nationwide protest against bad governance. The paper beams its searchlight on broadcast accountability role of the media three weeks before the ten days #EndBadGovernance agitation to know if broadcast media are creating awareness, monitoring and reporting efforts made by government officials in responding to the public demands with focus on residents within Jalingo metropolis Taraba state capital city. Using the Media Dependency and Social Responsibility Theories of the Press, findings reveals that even though awareness were created by broadcast media in the state about federal government food palliative, Broadcast media in Taraba state seldom feed the public with information on the movements and distribution of palliative items in the state, which indicates why some political officers in the state outrightly sale out what significantly meant for the public at exorbitant price for personal gain. conclusively, the study recommends that broadcast media in Taraba state should brace up in their reportorial approach by holding elected public officials responsible for the promises and actions as a tenet of democratic settings to prevents power abuse and corruption at all cost with the press positioned as independent overseer.