Voters' Perception of Government - Owned Broadcast Media Coverage of Political Candidate's Campaigns in the 2019 Gubernatorial Election in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

This research aims at evaluating voters' perception of government-owned broadcast media coverage of political candidates' campaigns in the 2019 gubernatorial elections in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The rationale behind the study was to find out whether the broadcast media provided equal level playing ground to all political contestants during the election. This was embarked upon against the claim that media ownership influence tends to exert pressure on the mass media during political campaigns. The study employed survey research design and the questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. The agenda setting theory and the social responsibility theory of the press provided the theoretical framework of analysis for the study. From a sample of 570 respondents, the study found that the broadcast media gave a substantial coverage of the political candidate's campaigns in the elections to a very great extent (53.5%). The study further established that 54.4% of broadcast media coverage projected the ruling party (APC) and its candidate more than other political parties/candidates during the election. In this study I also presented the factors that predispose the media to give more coverage to a particular party or candidate. Being a candidate of the ruling party gives an aspirant an edge over other contestants. Other factors are popularity of candidates/parties, manifestos and policies of candidates, political party affiliation among several other reasons. The study further found that voter's assessment of the general performance of the broadcast media coverage of the election was not fair and balanced among the various political parties and their candidates. This is because the broadcast media did not give equal level playing ground to the various contenders. More attention was given to the ruling party (APC) and their candidate. Based on this therefore, the study recommends that broadcast media stations should adhere to the guidelines provided for political campaigns by the National Broadcasting Commission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]