Evaluation of Development Communication Content of Yoruba Newspapers

Professor Abiodun Salawu is of the Department of Communication, University of Fort Hare, South Africa. He holds a PhD in Communication and Language Arts of the University of Ibadan, PGD and MSc in Mass Communication of the University of Lagos, and a B.A (Hons) English Studies of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife.

This study investigated the Yoruba language newspaper, particularly, in relation to their development communication content. The study adopted, principally, the content analysis method, and as a supplement, stylistic analysis. The three newspapers content-analysed were: Gbohungbohun, Iroyin Yoruba and Isokan. Yoruba language newspapers are weeklies. A total of 125 editions of the newspaper, spanning eleven years (1986-1996) were sampled. Stylistic analysis of the newspapers was done at the following levels: the graphitic/graphological, the grammatical, the lexical and the semantic. The following are some of the findings: Development-oriented items constituted 27.4% of the entire editorial content of the newspapers analysed. Among other measures, 17.3% of these stories were placed on the front page; 16.4% the back page; and 66.3% the inside pages. The treatment given to development-oriented stories in the newspaper was considered to be fair. The newspapers disseminated their development messages mostly through the news genre. This genre constituted 66.9% of all development-oriented items content-analysed.