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Despite reportage of the impending flood by the mass media, the 2012 flood was the most devastating in the history of Nigeria as it adversely affected 33 out of 36 states in the country. Therefore, this study examines people's perception of and attitude toward mass media reportage of the 2012 flood. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 300 households in rural communities in Delta and Anambra states while data analyses were by descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and regression analysis. More than 75% of the respondents received information about the flood from either radio or television, and there were significant spatial variations in perceptions of flood reportage. Furthermore, the regression results showed that generally, mass media reportage of the flood was not too effective in influencing people's attitude. Subsequently, recommendations were made on how to ensure that populations affected by floods have access to comprehensive, easily accessible, and effective information. SAGE Openproactive measures that could combat the effects of the floods and minimize its effects. These mass media messages were seemingly ignored, which led to the devastating effects of the flood as almost all states of the federation reported colossal destruction of properties, farmlands, animals, and even loss of human lives (OCHA, 2012).Evidence from studies in Nigeria indicates that people seem to have a negative perception of media reportage of issues. For instance, Afolabi (2010) noted that the mass media have not been timely in their reportage of conflicts and insurgencies. Other researchers also show that the Nigerian media have not effectively played a surveillance function in the reportage of conflicts and insurgencies, neither have they displayed a high level of objectivity in their reports (Okpara, 2010;Oputa, 2011;Lawrence, 2011;Hamida & Baba, 2014). This can partly be attributed to the fact that most media organizations in the country are owned by state (sub-national) governments and individuals, and as such, they are primarily used to promote the interests of their owners. In addition, it has been revealed that the Nigerian mass media do not give significant coverage and provide effective awareness on climate change issues even as they fail to offer adequate explanations to environmental issues in general (Batta, Ashong, & Bashir, 2013;Moeti, Maraisane, & Marou, 2008;Ukonu, Akpan, & Anorue, 2012). This can be seen in the reports on the 2012 flood as majority of the flood messages were presented in the straight news format, devoid of in-depth reports that could increase the knowledge of the populace on the causes and risks associated with the flood.In the event of disasters such as the 2012 flood, the importance of risk perception in disaster risk reduction and mitigation has been highlighted to include the anticipation and comprehension of people's responses to disasters, effective communication of risks information, and initiation and implementation of disaster prevention and mitiga...

This study investigated audience perception of television animated cartoons as tool for political communication. The specific objectives of the study were: to find out the frequency of exposure to television animated cartoons between males and females; to find out the frequency of exposure to television animated cartoons between audience members with primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education; to find out the perception of television cartoons between males and females and to find out the perception of television cartoons between audience members with primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The sample size was 384 selected from three areas-Lokoja, Makurdi and Lafia of North Central Nigeria-while multi-stage sampling technique was adopted for the study. A self-developed questionnaire was the instrument of data collection. Findings showed a difference in the mean scores of males and females on their exposure to and perception about TV animated cartoons. Result also showed a difference in the mean scores of respondents with primary, secondary and tertiary education on their perception about TV animated cartoons. The researcher recommends, among others, that TV cartoonists should think out of the box and come with crafty cartoons that effective convey political messages.Key words: audience assessment animated cartoons, TV for political communication

Over the years, the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has always received negative media publicity due to its restive youth who, under several fronts, have been campaigning against alleged pillage of the region by the oil companies as well as "neglect" of the region by the federal government of Nigeria. The region has also been agitating against the "massive destruction" of their farmlands, water resources and the general ecology of the region, occasioned by the activities of oil companies in the region, resulting in environmental degradation and pollution. This study is a content analysis of four mainline newspapers in Nigeria: The Guardian, Vanguard, Daily Sun and Thisday. It was aimed at ascertaining whether the Nigerian press covers environmental pollution and the extent of the coverage, in addition to forms of environmental pollution in the Niger Delta, as covered by the Nigerian press. Using random sampling, 90 issues of each of the papers were selected (from 1092 issues) within the study period-September 2010 to May 2011. The study found that environmental pollution in the region by the press received low coverage. The study also revealed that environmental issues are largely confined to the inside pages of the newspapers.