The Broadcast Media and Political Campaign in Yobe State

Since the Second World War, radio has been playing a significant role in the dissemination of political campaign information and influencing public opinion. This study investigated the role Yobe Broadcasting Corporation (YBC) Damaturu radio plays in reaching campaign information to rural areas in Yobe State, Nigeria. This study specifically aimed to find out the perception of voters in rural Yobe toward political campaign information broadcast on YBC radio and whether they were influenced by the information they heard on the medium to make voting decisions from 1999 (when democratic governance returned in the country after over 16 years of military rule) to 2006. Using cluster sampling method, 90 participants of voting ages were selected and interviewed at Babbangida and Maisandari rural communities. It was found that although majority of the electorate accessed political campaign information on YBC radio, only about a half of them had been influenced by the information to vote. Hence, this study concludes that political information broadcast on YBC is perceived with little creditability and that YBC stands the risk of losing its audience and patronage by prospective advertisers.