Nigerian researcher debates exclusion of religious minorities from the media

The study “Muslim Minorities and Media Access in a Predominantly Christian City – the case of Port Harcourt”, of Prof. Walter Ihejirika, PhD in Sociology of Communication, aims not only to provoke reflexion on the problems of lack of space in the media faced by minority religious groups in Nigeria, but also to present the strategies of communication adopted by these minorities.

Prof. Ihejirika states that, although the Nigerian National Broadcasting Code grants equal access to the media to all religious groups of the community, minorities hardly ever get air time, especially on TV networks. “Due to the quest for ever higher revenues, broadcasting channels do not offer free space for minority religous groups to air their programs. A TV director asked rethorically: ‘How is it possible to invite groups to come here to preach for free, when there are others waiting in line, and with money?’”.

Tradução: Daniel Cruz (FACEL)