In public relations and political communication, a spin is a form of propaganda achieved through knowingly presenting a biased interpretation of an event or issues. It is also the act of presenting narratives to influence public opinion about events, people or and ideas. In war time, various forms of spins are employed by antagonists to wear out the opponents and push their brigades to victory. During the Nigerian civil war, quite a number of these spins were dominant – for example GOWON (Go On With One Nigeria); “On Aburi We Stand”, “O Le Ku Ija Ore”. Post-war years presented different spins and fifty years after the war, different spins continue to push emerging narratives (e.g. “marginalization”, “restructuring”). This paper investigates and analyzes the different propaganda techniques and spins in the narratives of the Nigerian civil in the past five years through a content analysis of three national newspapers: The Nigerian Tribune, Daily Trust and Sun Newspapers. Findings confirm that propaganda and spins are not limited to war time, but are actively deployed in peace time. This development places additional challenge on journalists to uphold the canons of balance, truth and fairness in reporting sensitive national issues. The authors extend postulations that propaganda techniques, generally considered to be limited to war situations, are increasingly being used in post-war situations. Specifically, they highlight that journalists are becoming more susceptible to propaganda spins and this could affect the level of their compliance to the ethics of journalism.

The mass media play at least five basic functions which include news dissemination, surveillance of the environment, correlation of the components of the society, entertainment and transmission of social heritage.  Sometimes, disruptions and impairments do occur in the performance of these roles and some of these basic functions become dysfunctions, which turn the media into purveyor of negative values. The present study investigates how popular the Nigerian TV reality show, Big Brother Naija (BBN), is perceived by its viewers. Three hundred heavy viewers of the programme were surveyed from Lagos and Ede, South-West Nigeria, and their opinions and attitudes were sought regarding; why they like or dislike the programme; the gratifications that those who like the programme derive and whether the BBN, as media content, is generally functional or dysfunctional to the society. Sixty-six per cent 66 (33.7%) of respondents like the programme because it entertains. Half of the respondents, 99(50.5%) dislike ‘immoral aspects’ of the programme. The viewers affirm that the eviction part of the programme was their highest form of gratification.  Most respondents, despite public outcry against the programme, consider the programme to be “functional”. Findings reinforce the postulation that TV viewers are not passive consumers of media contents.

One of the biggest challenges facing publishing in Nigeria today is how to integrate or adopt "epublishing" (electronic publishing). Across the world, the coming of computer has completely revolutionized the printing process from manuscript development through printing, marketing and distribution. The "destructive innovation" of e-publishing has worsened the fortunes of many news and academic publishers and major corporations have gone under as a result. Yet, stakeholders differ remarkably in their readiness to embrace the innovation. While some believe e-publishing should be approached and adopted with caution, many others believe it should be rapidly adopted. This study sought to find out the perception of electronic publishing by Nigerian publishers and end-users on: how beneficial do stakeholders consider e-publishing; how ready are end-users for electronically published products; and to what extent have stakeholders in the publishing sector deployed epublishing. The design for the study was quantitative-cluster and stratified sampling was used to strategically select 39 publishers and 150 end-users. A focus group discussion was conducted among stakeholders to give perspectives to the findings. The study revealed that publishers were considered the main beneficiaries of e-publishing, while authors and marketers benefit the least. End-users of electronically publishers are however more prepared than publishers for e-products. The news publishing sector has deployed e-publishing more than other publishing sub-sectors in Nigeria.