PRINT MEDIA REPORTING OF TAXATION ISSUE IN DELTA STATE

1.1 Introduction

Print media refers to forms of media that disseminates printed material, they include newspapers and magazines. In this research, print media means the Daily Nation and the Standard Newspaper. Print media as one of mass communication areas is a device for delivering information thought, knowledge, ideas and attitudes of mass communication students towards print journalism, it is of great important to streamline students attitude in order to know if it is positive or negative.

People rely on the media for information, education and entertainment. Journalists play a vital role in the society since the public depends on what is communicated through the media to make decisions. Taxpayer education in Nigeria is done through the media and the responsibility is vested on the media to give the public responsible information about taxation. Taxation is a means by which governments finance their expenditure by imposing charges on citizens and corporate. Governments use taxation to encourage or discourage certain economic decisions (Johnsson et al 2004).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

In Nigeria, since the late 1980s, taxation has become a major instrument of stabilization. The reasons for the instrumentality are not inconsiderable. First, due to the dominant role of the public sector in major economic activities in Nigeria; this can be traced to several factors, which include the emergence of oil sector and its attendant oil boom of the early 1970s, the need for reconstruction of the devastated areas in Nigeria after the civil war that lasted between 1967 and 1970, the industrialization strategy adopted (import substitution policy) in the economy and the militarization of governance. The second reason for increasing dominance of taxation in the management of the economy is the fall in the international price of oil in the late 1980s.

Mass communication systems are as old as the world itself and existed even in primitive societies. The use of modern of communication in the so called civilized world is merely an outgrowth of the basic symbols of expression tonal, gestures, or symbolic. The history of the print journalism is characterized by political, social, economic and technological developments that have changed the shape of the newspapers, magazines and books in the final analysis.

History made us to understand that the earliest written words were made with the Egyptian papyrus called hieroglyphic writing however, some historians said that printing paper was invented by the Chinese and spread to the Arabs in 751, a Moslem army in central Asia captured some Chinese among whom were a number of paper makers. Those pioneers were brought to Samarkand where they established a paper factory.

A German industrialist by name Johann Gutenberg invited printing press and introduced movable type to the western world. Gutenberg cast his type in soft material rather than carving it in wood blocks.

Tax is a major player in every society of the world. The tax system is an opportunity for government to collect additional revenue needed in discharging its pressing obligations. A tax system offers itself as one of the most effective means of mobilizing a nation’s internal resources and it lends itself to creating an environment conducive to the promotion of economic growth (Azubike, 2009).

Print media can be traced back to Julius Caesar when he introduced the earliest newspaper ACTA Diurnal, which he started in ancient Rome, forty four years before the advent of Christianity. William Caxton introduced the printing press in Great Britain in 1487 and established a profitable London printing company. After the invention of printing, the urge to have a mass circulated newspaper came as more book went into print, people were encouraged to learn how to read. As literacy grew, people became curious and realized that knowledge of economic conditions and commercial information from other towns and countries could be beneficial to their own efforts. Publication sprang up across Europe to meet these needs. However, there are also some reservations and challenges preventing full adoption of social media for lecturer-student engagement, such as differing opinions about social media’s role in the higher education environment and the rather informal nature of social media (Draskovic et al., 2013; Madge et al., 2009).

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Print Media Reporting of Taxation Issue in Delta State.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that Despite the challenges faced by print media in Nigeria is that only a few publishers had access to printing press, when printing was the only medium available to journalists, but online journalism has given journalists the opportunity to reach their audience simultaneously.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to scrutinize the print media reporting system on taxation issue in Delta State using Ughelli North Local Government Area as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To establish the prominence given to stories on taxation by the print media in the area under study;
2. To examine the prospects of print media reporting of taxation in the study area;
3. To investigate the challenges confronting print media reporting system of taxation in the area under review;
4. To find out the taxation issues that are reported by the print media in the area under study; and
5. To determine the frequency of reporting of taxation issues in the print media in the area under study.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Are there challenges confronting print media reporting system of taxation in the area under review?
• What is the prominence given to stories on taxation by the print media in the area under study?
• What are the prospects of print media reporting of taxation in the study area?
• What are the taxation issues that are reported by the print media in the area under study?
• What is the frequency of reporting of taxation issues in the print media in the area under study?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There are no significant challenges confronting print media reporting system of taxation in the area under review
• H1: There are significant challenges confronting print media reporting system of taxation in the area under review

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1.7 Significance of Study

The findings of this research will help bring out the issues the media cover regarding tax and how they cover them. It will guide the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) on its planning regarding how to frame the tax issues for them to get adequate coverage. Also, it will help the media to know areas where they have been putting more emphasis in reporting, the tone of their reporting and how they can make their coverage better.

Finally, this study will be beneficial to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Print Media Reporting of Taxation Issue in Delta State using Ughelli North Local Government Area as a case study.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Operational Definition of Terms

Tax: It is a compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on workers' income and business profits or added to the cost of some goods and services.

Print Media: It refers to forms of media that disseminates printed material, they include newspapers and magazines. In this research, print media means the Daily Nation and the Standard Newspaper.