Abstract:
The aim of the study was to ascertain the knowledge level, views and level of application of advocacy news reporting among Nigerian journalists. The constructionist theory and perception model formed the theoretical framework. The study adopted descriptive survey design. Registered members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt totaling 5,982 were used as the population of the study. Four hundred and twenty-one respondents were selected using the sample size calculator from the Electronic Data Information Source of the University of Florida. Stratified and systematic sampling techniques were used to select the respondents. Frequencies and percentages were used to answer the research questions while chi-square test was used in hypotheses validation. The study found, among other things, that the majority of the journalists, 80.8%, knew about advocacy news reporting, 60% had favourable views towards it while 50.2% practised it. Most of those who did not practise it believed objectivity should be the hallmark of journalism. It was recommended, among other things, that the NUJ should embark on enlightenment campaigns in the form of seminars and book projects to raise awareness about advocacy news reporting because of its capacity to resolve the age-long objectivity versus subjectivity debate among journalists. It was also suggested that advocacy news reporting should be made a new course or become part of News Reporting and Writing in journalism training institutions.
