"Conflict is a dangerous situation but when it is properly managed and reported, it becomes a blessing to the parties experiencing it. This study examined the responsibilities of journalists and the pressure they encounter while reporting conflicts in Benue State of Nigeria. The study adopted a qual ... itative research method with 20 journalists purposefully selected from Radio Benue, Makurdi; NTA Makurdi; Sun Rays FM, Korinya and The Pavilion Newspaper, Makurdi including male and female journalists. Research questions focusing on the purpose of the investigation guided the study. A standardized open-ended interview format was used to collect data. The data collected were analyzed using an explanation building model. The result of the research questions showed that there are factors that influence journalists, pressure that influence framing of news by journalists, strategies journalists employ in reporting conflicts are many. The study revealed that journalists are contributors of peace building before, during, and after crises. The study recommended among others that journalists should be peace-oriented when reporting conflict, especially those of cross-border nature. And journalists can do this by providing a forum for a critical analysis of issues in a conflict through incisive, informed and critical comments from editorialists, columnists, opinion and feature writers among others so as to open up the space for discussion from all fronts which would enlighten the reading public and possibly, the official negotiators in a conflict." (Abstract) more

"This study examined the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of digital safety among journalists in Kano State. It aimed at examining the awareness of digital safety and threats and also the mechanisms used by Kano state online journalists to respond to such threats. The study adopted the Protect ... ion Motivation Theory (PMT). The study employed a survey method using structured questionnaires. Data were gathered from 210 respondents through a simple random sampling of online journalists. Findings of the study revealed that most online journalists in Kano state are quite aware of digital safety and digital threats. However, the majority of journalists just use strong password and changing of password as a mechanism to prevent attacks online. Findings also show that most female journalists in Kano experienced intimidation and harassment online. This could be due to the fact that women in northern Nigeria are not given much freedom like men. Therefore, there is a high need for professional training of Kano journalists, especially female journalists, on advanced strategies to prevent themselves and their data online." (Abstract) more

"Adoption of innovative technologies is central to improving agricultural productivity. Farmers in developing countries rely heavily on social learning in adopting new technologies. Barriers to social learning such as heterogeneity or social fragmentation can therefore limit technology adoption and ... consequently stunt productivity growth. Can mass communication play a role in spurring technology adoption and productivity growth particularly when there are significant barriers to social learning? To answer this question empirically, I examine how the introduction of regional farm radio broadcasts impacted the adoption of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of rice and wheat during the Green Revolution in India. To identify the causal impact of regional farm radio broadcasts, namely, dissemination agro-climate-specific information about HYVs through radio, on the adoption of the HYVs, I exploit the staggered expansion of the regional radio stations across the country. Using an annual district-level administrative dataset from 1966 to 1978, I find that introduction of regional farm radio broadcasts led to a persistent increase in the adoption of HYVs of rice, a spatially heterogeneous technology not amenable to social learning. The impact on adoption, measured as percent of the gross cropped area under HYVs was 2.4 percentage points, which is approximately 25% of the average increase in adoption over the period and close to 0.3 standard deviations. By contrast, there was at most a transient impact on the adoption of HYVs of wheat, a spatially homogeneous technology with a lot of scope for social learning. Importantly, I find that the regional farm radio broadcasts increased rice yields by 15%, a magnitude potentially large enough to justify the investments in the expansion of the regional radio network. Overall, this paper demonstrates that mass communication can indeed play a key role in diffusing profitable agricultural innovations when there are significant barriers to social learning." (Abstract) more