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AUDIENCE REACTION TOWARDS NEWSCASTERS MODE OF DRESSING. A STUDY OF RIVERS STATE TELEVISION CHANNEL 22 PORTHARCOURT

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Abstract

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INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

Among the many media of communication, television has been acclaimed one of the most dependable means. This is so because to carry out its role of informing, educating, entertaining, and serving the economic needs of the people, television captivates its audience by appealing to the senses of sight and hearing through the use of audio visual effects. The television is a box like apparatus for receiving pictures and sound. It is a method of broadcasting still and moving pictures as well as sound over a distance by a means of electrical waves moving through the air.

Any discussion on television as an aesthetic structure according to Rose Ralph must assume a basic premises that “television as a theatre act of the air requires the use of skilful and intelligent means to achieve its ends”.

Consequently, the ability to communicate a situation in a believable way has to do with aesthetic structure. This can be done or enhanced using the five senses of sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing.

In the same vein, we will note that art is ordered, intensified, and clarified, and one experiencing it must feel it. Shannon and Weaver have contributed immensity to our understanding of the art of effective communication. The Shannon and Weaver model depicts communication as a linear flow of information from source to receiver. Their concept of a message as being redundant which has to do with effect in communication are reminder to the communicator to create the necessary balance between their services for effective communication while off-setting noise in channel.

Redundancy however can be expressed through repetition, expression, gestures, mode of dressing etc. Relating this to television, we will realize that the broadcast artist may distract his audience from concentrating on the intended message once he does not follow aesthetic principles. Smugness, conceit and stress as well as insincerity are clearly portrayed by the television camera. A broadcast artist must be a genuine, honest, and moderate personality.

By adding sight to sound, television emphasizes the importance of appearance. The audience are easily affected by what they see than what they only hear. Whether or not they got the message as intended by the source depends on the many factors. One of which is the presenter or news casters mode of dressing part of aesthetic. Hence, this study is focused on how the audience react or feel about RSTV news caster’s mode of dressing and how it enhances effective communication.

 

 

1.2

The electronic media especially television plays very important role and has a major impact on the socio-political activities of our nation.

Television is at its best and advantaged as it offers us faces, reactions and explanations of emotion registered by human beings.

Unfortunately, unlike the radio which is very portable, the television cannot be carried about so that mobile workers can monitor news on them.

The major news on our local television station, the Rivers State Channel 22 Port Harcourt comes on at 7:30pm when most workers are still at work and housewives still in the kitchen.

Moreover, not all members of RSTV audience understand the significance of the Rivers State native attire the newscasters adorns. Besides, many of them who are non-indigenes are not interested on fascinated attire. The television should not be used as an avenue to advertise native attire like RSTV does. News casting is a serious business, its major focus should be to communicate events as they are and effectively to the audience without misleading.

1.3

Audience reaction towards newscaster’s mode of dressing. A study of Rivers State Television Channel 22 Port Harcourt is aimed at finding out if the television as a means of communication has attained its primary objectives in informing people through news.

Other objectives include:

1. To find out if mode of dressing affects the level of attention and misunderstanding of message by the audience.

2. To find out audience view about television news casters mode of dressing.

3. To ascertain it noise could be avoided through the manipulation of aesthetic elements on television.

4. To find out if attention or understanding of news content could be achieved through the use of aesthetic elements.

1.4

The essence of any communication is to share news on air, they have to pay particular attention to what is being said and not what makes up the screen background or the personality. It is thus clear and parliament, the role the finding in this study would serve to redress the minds of television news casters to eliminate noise in their communication environment, be it semantic, mechanical or visual so that their news presentation will be in accordance with its objective and guidelines, among which is to inform, educate and entertain.

This work is also aimed at portraying the impact of using aesthetic elements in broadcasting and recommends ways RSTV news casters in particular as other news casters can enhance their mode of message delivery. Since there has not been much study in this area, this study will contribute to broadcast artists understanding of aesthetic principles and audience selectivity. It will contribute to the already existing scanty literature and serve an aid to future researchers.

1.5

From the foregoing, this research will provide answers to the following questions:

1. To what extent do the audience react to television news caster’s mode of dressing?

2. How the news caster’s mode of dressing enhance effective communication.

3. Can an understanding of news content be achieved through the use of aesthetic elements?

4. Does the priority given to television news casters’ mode of dressing effect the degree of consumption of news content?

1.6 LIMITATIONS

Like in every worthwhile endeavour, the road to a successful accomplishment of academic struggle is rough. The process of making it a practical reality was not an easy one.

So many constraints were inevitably encountered while embarking on the research but as hard work would lead to success, it was possible to eventually cop with a research study as this.

It was not an easy task to be attending normal lectures which is also significant in attaining the same goal of graduation and at the same time running about my project work.

The time allowed for this study was not enough for a very intensive research. Besides, the distance between Anambra State and Rivers State where the researcher is picking the sample population is a far one.

Another difficulty was doing administration of questionnaire. Some respondents did not turn in their responses. But with great zeal and enthusiasm these problems were put aside to achieve this result.

1.7 DELIMITATION

There is no gain saying that there exist very scanty literature on dressing. Much attention is however, focused on aesthetic knowing that dressing, if well blended can engage the audience attention.

Consequently, this study is limited to television news casters mode of dressing and audience variables. Other paradigms like ownership, media, voice and influence as well as microphone personality shall be the concern of other researchers.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. Aesthetics: That aspect of communication presentation that generate feelings (attraction) in the respondents.

2. Noise: Interference, lack of effectiveness of the message, semantic, mechanical or environmental noise has energy for change.

It represents factors which interfere with receiving or interpreting sensation.

3. Non- verbal: Gestures, postures, facial expressions, communication: symbolic clothing and similar phenomena in communication.

4. Audience: Refers to such concepts as selective variables: attention, recall and retention as well as selective exposure.

5. Media Factors: Refers to such variables as credibility off media casually called sources credibility to create images of social reality by which the public may structure their views of the world.

6. Selective Exposure: The orderly to refer exposure to communication that supports one’s opinions and attitude.

7. Selective Attention: Ability to process certain part of the stimuli available to us while filtering out others.

8. Selective Perception: The ways people distort message to record with their own view of things.

9. Selective Retention: Tendency of the audience to retain only what they want to.

10. Selective Recall: The tendency of one to remember only what one likes to remember