Electoral Advert and Hate Speech Campaign in the Print Media: An Analysis of January, 15th 2015 Punch Advert

Description

The media is an important tool in disseminating important messages. This explains why the press is viewed as a very powerful tool during election as the way a candidate is presented poses a strong influence on the people’s opinion towards him. The media can also shape the opinion and attitude of people, especially about their capacity (Andrew, Foster and Mark, 2010). This is because it helps the electorate to make informed choice on the candidate to cast their vote for. The media achieve this in the form of campaigns advert, news stories, write-up by columnists, commentaries, features and interpretative stories by journalists. But while the public demands information from the media, there is also an underlying cynicism in the Nigerian culture against the media and politicians for negative campaign coverage and a perceived media bias. The traditional media most especially the print media which is supposed to be a very objective has therefore become an instrument of spreading hate speech and distorting facts during election.