Getting Out of the Dark: Assessing the Role of Radio Political Programmes in Improving Political Awareness among Residents of Owerri

Abstract

This study assessed how radio political programs influenced the people of the Owerri metropolis' level of political awareness. The Agenda-setting theory served as the foundation for the investigation. For this study, the descriptive survey research methodology was used. The Wimmer and Dominick online sample size calculator was used to get a sample size of 384 from the population of 555,500 people in the Owerri metropolitan area. In this investigation, a multi-stage sampling technique was adopted. The instrument used to collect the data was a questionnaire, and percentages were used to assess it. The results showed that 44.0% of the respondents in Owerri metropolis are aware of radio political programs to a large extent. On average, 68.4% of the respondents have the following perceptions: that radio political programs make them politically alert and that this gives them the opportunity to contribute to the political issues in Nigeria. Furthermore, 47.0% of respondents confirmed that exposure to political programs has significantly increased their level of political awareness. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the fact that just 44.0% of the respondents in Owerri metropolis are aware of radio political programs to a large extent is not enough. Hence, radio stations should intensify their efforts in carrying out political programs so that more people will get to know about different political programs that will help them make wise decisions when participating in politics. Producers of political programs should be innovative or creative in the production of their programs so as to keep improving the political awareness of residents with the intention of getting them involved in the political affairs of their locality and, by extension, the country.