Media As A Tool for Environmental Awareness

1. TOPIC: MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
A STUDY: PERCEPTION OF BAYERO UNIVERSITY STAFF
BY
FATIMA MURITALA
(SPS/18/MMC/00014)
BEING
AN ASSIGNMNT ON ADVANCE MEDIA RESEARCH (MAC 8301) TO THE
DEPARTMENT OF
MASS COMMUNICATION, BAYERO UNIVERSITY KANO.
COURSE FACILITATOR:
Prof. BALARABE MAIKABA
JULY, 2019

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge
including substantive finding as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a
particular topic.
Studies on environmental communication have tended to focus on the issue of attitude change of
the expression of concern with environmental issues as a result of media coverage of the
environment (De Boer, 1977 and Erskine, 1972).
In this chapter, the study reviews the works of scholars on the significance of the media in
creating environmental awareness with special focus on Nigeria. This calls for reflection of
media in creating environmental awareness in which staff of B.U.K. is chosen as the study
2.2 Environmental problems in Nigeria
There is no doubt that technological advances in agriculture, industry, and transportation greatly
improve man’s way of life. However, these activities, while providing the raw material for
production of goods and services have also resulted in pollution of land, atmosphere, vegetation
and rivers (Okojie, 1991).
Many of Nigerians environmental problems are those typical of developing states. Excessive
cultivation has resulted in loss of soil fertility. Increased cutting if timber has made inroads into
forest resources, exceeding replanting. By 1985, deforestation claimed 1,544 square miles of the
nation’s forest land. Between 19883, and 1993 alone Nigeria lost 20% of its forest and woodland

3. areas. Oil spills, the burning of toxic wastes and urban air pollution are problems in more
developed areas (Falade 2002).
More than 65% percent of Nigeria lives of nature and its goods. Farming, fisheries, logging and
manufacturing are all examples of this, 70-80 percent of Nigerians original forests have
disappeared through logging, and agriculture losses may city expansion, expansion of roads and
building of industry. This has led to loss of plants and animals that depend on these forests. With
the expected consequences of climate change these losses may increase (Ogunleye 2002).
There is no doubt that technological advances in agriculture, industry, and transportation greatly
improves man’s way of life. However, these activities, while providing the raw materials for
production of goods and services has also resulted in pollution of land, atmosphere, vegetable
and rivers (Okojie, 1991).
As in most other countries of the world, the Nigerian environment today presents a grim litany of
woes. Every state of the federation suffers from one form of environmental problem to the other
in varying degrees. The northern part of the country is being literally “blown away” by wind
erosion while the southern part is being washes away into the ocean. Between 1976 and 1988, a
total of 2000 report of oil spillage was recorded with the discharge of two million barrels of oil
into the environment (Ikporukpo, 1988). Urban cities and town in Nigeria are increasingly
threatened by pollution of air and water and improper disposal of solid erosion, deforestation,
and bush burning (NEST, 1991).
Poverty and illiteracy are causes as well as consequences of environmental degradation. The high
level of poverty and illiteracy in Africa directly linked to the current level of environmental
pollution and degradation in the continent. The poor and the illiterates are often more interested

4. in issues related to their daily survival than environmental management ; this lack of interest and
awareness often lead to more reckless environmental behavior which in turn breeds more
environmental problem and leads to a vicious cycle of poverty (Ekpeyong, 2009.)
Health related environmental problems in Nigeria vary with the social and economic
development achieved by different states. According to world Development Report (1992),
annually, more than two million deaths and illnesses such as typhoid, cholera, river blindness
and guinea worm are attributed to water pollution and poor household hygiene. Major public
health problems associated with poor environmental sanitation and exposure to communicable
diseases and
This reduces resistance to diseases especially among vulnerable groups i.e children, pregnant and
lactating mothers and the aged.
Over 2 million tones of soil are lost annually in south-central Nigeria, and this has caused great
decline in agricultural yield (Dike, 1995). According to the NNPC (2010), a large proportion
(about 63%) of the gas produced is Nigeria is being flared. By 2002 and 2003, gas flared
remained as high as 45.4% and 42.7% while gas used was 54.6% and 57.3%, respectively. The
economic costs in terms of lost incomes and reduction in the standard of living can therefore, be
expected to be staggering.
2.3 Environmental problems in developing countries
Osahon and Idada (1999) assert that most of the most of the causes of environment problems are
as a result of our behavioral patterns and value system.

5. In the developing nations of the world there are certain socio-cultural and economic problems
that render most environmental conservation efforts ineffective. These problems include the
following desertification and loss of natural habitat, poverty, oil spills, ignorance, illiteracy etc.
Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989, it was one of the worst oil spilling history. Falade (2002)
observes that man’s socio-economic activities have serious negative effect on the state of the
environment.
Laflin (1989:19) suggest that communication can play a role in creating awareness, community
mobilization and promotion of individual behavior. He points out that the media have been
successful in raising awareness in the developed world that there are environmental problems
and awareness in Kenya. That country has produced newspaper for children focused on
environmental issues. A major step in changing the situation is to acknowledge that all
individuals, irrespective of socio-economic status, will work for a safe and clean environment.
Winnet et al (1984: 38) argue that other type of behavioral change is possible and simple where
the change is perceived as meaningful and constraints are considered not extensive.
For a developing world a marriage between traditional and modern media is necessary to bring
about environmental awareness. This strategy have being tried in some countries with success .It
has being used in India to mobilize support and spread the message of conservation, for example
voluntary groups use traditional media because of limited resources and the recognition that the
people they are communicating with are villagers most of them illiterates. Face-to-face
communication is found to be more effective. Village leaders and opinion makers like school
teachers are first won over, and village fairs and weekly markets are the centres of
communication (Baskaran, 1990: 15 and valbuena, 1987).

6. 2.4 Environmental communication
Richard et al (2010) believes that environmental communicator helps people to be
environmentally literate through a comprehension communication planning. They argue that
communication planning is a strategy that makes environmental communication effective.
Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function,
and particularly, behavior and ecosystem to live sustainably. The role of communication is
inform, popularities, legitimize and report on the goal and activities (Decker, 1989: 2). And
communication can promote individual behavior change when the change is simple, “susceptible
to research, description and then prescription. Laflin suggests that communication strategies
must remember that decisions taken today will promote long term consequences because many
generations will make and re-make same or similar decisions many times over in years to come.
“For all these reasons, communicators must weigh more carefully which communication and
education strategies are appropriate from development sectors” (Ibid).
Lipsey (1977 : 366) in a review of literature on communication and the formation of attitude in
America, finds evidence that public concern with the environment are related to media coverage .
And there is a close relationship between awareness and concern environmental issues. Most
people get their information about environment issues (such as pollution) from television or
newspapers.
A person communicating environmental information needs to be able to judge accurate and
relevant scientific information and data, and relate it on credible ways to other people who are
mostly non-scientific audiences. Likewise, able to judge what human activities are sustainable
requires the communicator to know about the functioning of the environment to be sensitive to

7. extra ecological pressures placed on the environment by modern humans, and to know what
constitutes wise decisions (OECD, 1999).
Corbett (2006) argues that all environmental communication stems from a complex, evolving
system of beliefs about the natural world. Regardless of how well it is understood or recognized ,
an environment belief system inhabits each individual and inform him or her about where
humans fit in relation to the rest of the non-human world . How you value red woods, insects,
and ecosystem as well as the environmental message you send and receive all have roots in this
belief system.
OECD argues that if communicators cannot motivate and mobilize their audiences to take action
and commit themselves to the environmentally friendly practices, raising awareness or creating
interest indeed will not be enough. This process from awareness to adoption works best if the
social groups concerned are actively involved and supported in a partnership based on trust.
Therefore, it is crucial to identify and analyze carefully the stakeholders and the actors, i.e
environmental problem in question especially those addressed by the communication strategy
and for whom a change in practice is expected.
Environmental journalist, therefore have a challenging task before them as according to
Rademaker (2004) for what the journalist translate for the public is a language full of
possibilities where the presentation of information, ideas and outcomes is a significant
assignment.
Also, Boltanski and Malidier (1970: 101) who studied French biologist find that the
“popularization of science is a marginal or negligible activity not possessing any clearly defined
status within the scientific community”. Besides scientists, another source would be governments

8. and their support system of social institutions, corporation, unions, pressure groups and political
party. Pressure groups, for instance are an important source of environmental news, and have
succeeded in keeping the environment on the media agenda, particularly in Europe.
Environmental requires someone to understand the scientific terms to the environment in order to
communicate to the audience in simple terms the environmental issues because environmental
communication becomes somewhat an area of communication that is not common to journalists.
2.5 Role of media in national development and environmental awareness
Einsiedel (1990: 8) puts the impact of media coverage of environmental issues in terms of their
responsibility. She says first, it is essential in terms of establishing salience of an issue in the
public mind by virtue of those issues… (the media) choose to elevate or ignore. Second. The
media play a role in establishing context for public understanding of this issues by the way these
issues are framed. Third, they play an important role in terms of the images cultivated over time.
Mass media as an aid to understanding what roles they are or may be playing in social contexts
is pertinent to characterization of its nature. The mass media in Nigeria are urban –based. Radio
remains the only widely accessible medium of communication that offers immediate contact with
rural populace. Hoyness and Croteau (1997) assert the communication between and in the middle
of the sender and the receiver of that message.
Dixit (2001) state the growing gap between the worlds haves and have note is today reflected in
the gap between the know and knows not. If we want to turn the information into knowledge and
give our people a chance to take a short cut to development, environmental safety and prosperity,
this gap needs to be bridged urgently.

9. Leal Filho (1995) says: to ensure didactic potential of the media for environment information and
there are a number of items, which need to be considered. Some of these items are diversity of
information, time relevance and accuracy.
The Nigerians
National communication policy seeks ways of using mass communication institution and
channels to achieve the growth and transformation of the society at different levels.
Akinfeleye (2003 : 65) citing Fraser and Estrade (1998) observes that a prime factor in fostering
change for development is the planned and systematic use of communication to help individuals,
communities and societies to introduce and accept changes.
Aneto et al (2010) argues that the communication policy highlights the various media of
communication and their roles in the country. It also dwells on media development (print and
electronic media), culture, arts, film and video, government communications, legislations and
regulations of the media, resource mobilization and allocation to communication, human
resources development.
The policy according to him advocates the development of community broadcasting. It advocates
that all radio and televisions stations shall allocate at least 20 percent of their programs to rural
programing, while community-based media shall allocate 80% of their programmes to their
immediate localities.
However, despite the media’s role for development communication through creating
environmental awareness, some scholars argue that the campaign meant for preservation and
development is faced with many challenges.

10. Maxwell (2010) asserts that we need specialization science reporters who understand
biodiversity and the green house gases. This shows that for effective and comprehension
environmental programmes, journalist must specialize in environmental reporting through
understanding the concepts and issues for informing the audience properly otherwise the whole
coverage may be distorted.
2.6 Media construction of environmental issues
The role of media is deemed important in determining how society constructs environmental
issues and at the same time how they engage in environmental discourse. An understanding of
environmental issues is complex- how the audience understands media content and interpretation
of meaning depend on the media texts that have been produced and broadcast, as the
Dependency theory of Ball-Rokeach and DeFeur (1976) states that the influence of the media in
the construction of meaning is dependent on how readily available meaning-relevant experiences
are everyday life. Most people do not have any experience of global warming, so the media plays
an important role in providing the information that is understood.
Effective reports can beneficially provide accurate information to the society while at the same
time increase awareness of the important of importance. According to Cox (2006:163-164)
The perception and attitude of the public towards nature and environmental problems are
mediated by many sources such as popular culture, news shows, scientific reports, film, political
debate and education. After all, the most important and influential basis of information about the
environment are derived from mainstream news and entertainment programing, commercial
films, wide circulation newspapers and magazine, advertising, radio news and talk show.
Nevertheless alternative media such as internet news services, web T.V, blogs, independent

11. journalists and environmental groups have also contributed in giving information about
environmental news.
Various mass media formats play an important role in disseminating information and knowledge
about environmental issues to the general public. Dispensa and Brulle (2003) further assert that
the media play an important value and ideas in society concerning the manner in which citizens
should understand environmental issues. According to Geok et al (1998) students acquire
information and knowledge about the environment through magazines and newspapers and also
through electronic media such as the radio and television. Mohammed Zin et al (2003) note that
the role of the media through television, radio and documentaries in environmental literacy in
Malaysia is important. This is agreed by Jamaludeen (2002) whose argument shows the need to
highlight the environmental issues through media and seminars in Malaysia.
In the local context understanding environmental issues among Malaysians is still at low level
due to lack of exposure to environmental issues (Hamid et al., 2012). In this respect Utusan
Malaysia, 23 December 2008 reports that: the media has being identified as an important role in
determining how the public understand environmental issues. In addition media has also been
regarded to provide a two-way communication model-with effective report that gives accurate
and transparent news to the citizens in order to make people understand environmental issues.
Education is a factor in understanding the issues of environment aired on the media in Malaysia
as Zin et al, (2003) reveal that members of the Malaysian public with high level of education
background are more likely to be sensitive and aware of environmental issues compared to those
with limited education. Similarly another study conducted by Mukhaji (2004) emphasizes a
deeper level of knowledge of environmental issues among audience in different social setting.

12. Findings show that modern society in urban areas is more concerned about environmental issues
compared to those living in rural areas. The mass media, according to him, such as television,
radio, internet and newspaper are seen as important tools in delivering educational and fact based
information to them.
2.7 Environmental education and public awareness
The public has the right of access to environmental information held by public authority and
making information about the environment publicly available and essential for achieving
sustainable development (EIR, 1992). With access to environmental information, the people have
full knowledge of the implications of their activities on the environment and are able to
participate more effectively in decision making processes that affect the environment (UNESCO,
1992).
An urgent need to educate people on conservation and sustainable uses of natural resources
through environmental education and awareness has been accepted as a global necessity.
Kaushik (2006:81) argues that:
The UN conference on environment and development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and
popularly known as earth summit followed by the world summit on Sustainable Development at
Johannesburg in 2002, just 10 years after the first Summit, have highlighted the key issues of
global environmental concern and attracted the attention of the general public towards the
deteriorating environment.

13. Any government at its own level cannot achieve the goal of sustainable development until the
public has a participatory role in it. Public participation is possible only when the public is aware
about the ecological and environmental issues.
In Agenda 21, a holistic view of environment education was adopted and acknowledge by 175
countries at the UN Earth summit. The famous Agenda 21 identifies education as a vital tool to
support all the needed changes for sustainability to take place. The signatory nations agreed to
pursue actions to include environment-sustainable development as a cross-cutting matter in
curriculum at different levels of education, and also to ensure it reaches different audiences,
including those located at remote communities. The need to protect our environment is vital.
This certainly led to the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and
Development (UNCED). The conference came up with AGENDA 21 which spelt out the
strategies for improving the quality of the environment. This document emphasized the need for
environmental education as a weapon that could be used by all nations to arouse people’s
consciousness, positively change their attitudes and instill in them those value and skills that can
promote effective environmental management (UNESCO, 1992).
Mukherjee (2002:94) concedes that:
Environmental problems are mounting day by day and they need a solution. This solution does
not just entail the curbing of environmentally offensive activities of the larger bodies-industries
and governments. We must also increase awareness among ourselves, so that our activities
themselves are carried out with due respect to our surroundings. The response to this need for
awareness from the public and the academic circles has culminated in a new discipline known as
the environmental science.

14. Public environmental education and applied communications are the key tools for expansion and
effective delivery awareness campaign to different target audience.
The Nigerian government through the Federal Ministry of Environment (FMENV) formerly
known as federal Environmental protection Agency (FEPA) and other relevant agencies, have
being making effort to educate the people on environmental issues using both print electronic
media. One of the recommendations of FEPA is that Environmental conservation clubs set up in
secondary schools. The agency is in collaboration with the federal ministry of education on the
development of Environmental Educational Master plan and curricula for both formal and
informal educational system in Nigeria. In its efforts to provide the public with excellent and up-
to-date residing reading materials on environmental issues, the Agency established an
environmental reference Library at its Headquarters in Abuja in 1994 in addition to the existing
library in Lagos office (FEPA, 1989).
The National Environment standard and Regulations Enforcement Agency has recently begun
nationwide sensitization exercise on key environmental issues of great concern to government, as
water pollution, indoor and outdoor pollution, industrial pollution, biodiversity loss, erosion,
flooding, land degradation, desertification, poor urban solid waste management, indiscriminate
burning, noise pollution and wildfire crimes (Daily Trust, 2012).
Therefore, this is to say that awareness in developing countries can be improved through both
formal and informal education. Mass media, art and traditional knowledge are elements that can
greatly contribute to the encouragement of environmental awareness and shaping public
knowledge.

15. 2.8 Environmental reporting in Nigeria
According to Nwabueze (2007) “the Nigeria media play their basic roles of information,
educated and entertained in the society. The information role includes message dissemination on
environmental of green issues in the nation and in the global scene. When incidents with great
significance to the environment and to the health of people take place in the society, the media
expose such incidents and make the public aware of them. However, the basic questions
according to Nwabueze are: what is the nature of media coverage on environmental issues in
Nigeria? Do the media give adequate coverage to the environment in view of its vital place in
human existence? Even when the media cover environmental issues, what approach is adopted in
treating news or what is the nature of message content of the coverage? Can the coverage be said
to be purposeful and capable of achieving social change towards ensuring an environmentally
sustainable nation?
Referring to the foregoing questions, the history of environmental reporting in Nigeria is vital.
The environmental reporting in Nigeria can be traced back to the 1980s when the dumping of
toxic waste in Koko incident, individual reporter cover droughts, desertification, or flooding, but
there was no coherent, consistent, systematic reporting of environmental issues as environmental
themes were occasionally covered by reporters from other beats.
In his argument Akingbade believes that the Guardian Newspaper, created in the mid 1980s by
Alexander Uruemu Ibru, was the first newspaper to include the environment as one of its official
specialized beat. Yet what prepared Nigerian readers for this new type of environmental
reporting was the dumping waste incident that occurred in Koko, Delta state.

16. Emphasis here is placed on access to information and the importance of awareness cast as a role
for the media of communication in Nigeria. Umejie (2010) observes that the media in Nigeria
appear to be relatively aloof in matter so creating awareness on the environmental issues, that
Nigeria risks the ravage of global challenges posed by climate change. In this assessment, the
Nigeria media seem to lack behind in awareness campaign on environmental issues and tend to
leave it for individuals. Umeije’s position is that most Nigerians are not informed on climate
change and other environment issues and the media have the urgent duty to assume a prominent
role in creating awareness on the issues.
Nwabueze (2007) observes that the Nigeria media have not being doing well in the coverage of
the environment, with specific reference to environmental pollution in the Niger delta region,
which seems to dominate environmental agenda in Nigeria’
Asongudoudo, (2006) observe that the media have not done well in the coverage of pollution in
the region especially in the area of emphasizing with, and expressing the views of local
communities hit by the pollution.
In a study of media coverage of world environment Day (WED) activities, Olatunji (2006) notes
that from 2000-2004, dominant environmental issues in the media were environmental
awareness, water pollution and sea/ocean pollution. However, little or no attention was paid to
other equally critical environmental problems such as unsustainable practices of natural
resources exploitation problems such as unsustainable practices of natural resources exploitation,
conservation, air pollution, flooding/erosion, deforestation/desertification and urban waste
management.

17. In another study on media images of environmental issues and problems in Nigeria, Nwosu and
Uffoh (2005) discovered that the media gave poor quality coverage to environmental issues they
handled within the period of the study. Galadima (2006) studies news magazines and found that
they also gave inadequate attention to environmental issues.
Quality coverage on environmental reporting depends to a large extent on specialization. Lack of
specialization and interest on environmental reporting makes it poor. Detjen (2000) believes that
one must have an understanding of scientific language and practice, knowledge of historical
environmental events, the ability to keep abreast of environmental concern with the ability to
communicate all of that information to the public in such a way that it can be easily understood
despite its complexity.
According to Weingart et al (2000) how the mass media cover scientific subject matters in many
ways, whether scientific like it or not….. Whatever the subject, media coverage has helped to
shape public perception, and through it, affected how science is translated into policy, most
notably in regard to the environment, new technologies and risks.
There is no doubt that many media in Nigeria are out to make profit and stay afloat. As they have
specialized in what is known as “Junk Journalism” which Omu (1997) says is characterized by
sexual permissiveness, social frivolities and irresponsible and reckless invasion of privacy. This
shows that since environmental reporting is nor worth selling the media prefer to pay less
attention on it.
Ogunleye (2002) states that two environmental programmes in Oyo state only gave five minutes
jingle on dustbin usage. This shows that environmental reporting is hard to sell in Nigeria. The

18. environmental reporter must read widely on every issue and relate his stories to governance and
people in order to sell his story.
In his research of newspaper in Nigeria Ogunleye finds out that that 61.2 percent of the coded
reports on climate change in Nigeria newspapers pertained to the politics/economics of climate
change. This is an indicator that newspaper reporting of climate change in Nigeria is
predominantly about agreements, meetings, funds, governance and related matters. Natural or
bio-physical climate change occurrences such as heat waves, floods, ocean surges,
desertification, drought, etc. are less frequently reported. Also less reported are issues relating to
climate science and socio-cultural issues relating to climate change.
With regard to the imbalance of coverage, Shanahan (2000) argues that less coverage of science
in environmental reportage is because science is no longer the basis for interest on the issue
while politics, economics and international relations are. The nature of environmental reporting
today in Nigeria gives more emphasis to the coverage of disaster and other environmental
hazards rather than creating awareness on how to be safe from such dangers. Oso (2006) adds
that the mass media give haphazard coverage to environmental issues in Nigeria with mainly
spot news reports as a result of environmental hazard. Some instances have confirmed that. A
BBC news report of September, 24, 2010 broadcast how flooding affected seven include Borno,
Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Kano and Kebbi. Also, it was reported that the 2010 flooding of Lagos
and Ogun states sacked schools in Ajegunle and other parts of the states (Daily Triumph, 2010).
Similarly, the NTA networks news of August 26,2011 reported the death of 10 people as a result
of flooding in Lagos.

19. The catastrophic consequences of environment make it absolutely necessary for media to work
proactively through dedicating some reporters to specialize on environmental reportage in order
to get quality coverage that will easily be understood by the public.
2.9 Theoretical framework
For the purpose of this study, the researcher uses Development Media Theory as the relevant
theoretical frame work.
The Development media theory implies that the media must accept and carry out positive
development tasks in line with national established policy. Good and healthy environment is part
of the processes of processes of development; as such the media are expected to report issues that
should be open to economic priorities and development needs of the society (McQuail 1987).
It is important for media to create environmental awareness as part of development initiatives
considering serious environmental problems affecting the country. An understanding of the true
cost of environmental degradation through media awareness campaign will enable policy
makers, project proponents, and environmental concerns. This will lead to environmentally
development projects as initiated by the media which Folarin (2002) says development theory
has already provided bearing for the concepts of development journalism.