Electronic media practitioners' perception of entertainment – education utilization for agricultural information

Abstract

The study investigated electronic media option in Entertainment – Education (EE) utilization for agricultural information dissemination in Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was administered on 238 respondents from 24 randomly selected media houses. Findings reveal that EE format utilization is favorably perceived by 83.1% of media practitioners across various educational levels, varying professional experience (88.3%) and of different professional statuses (74.8%). Majority of the respondents identified funding (88.6%) and neglect of agricultural sector (50.8%) as perceived constraints for EE format utilization. Media practitioners' perception is significantly related to their level of education (X² = 14.4; P<0.05), experience (r = 0.26; P<0.05) and programs currently handled(r = 0.31; P<0.05). Media practitioners' experience (P= 0.024) and programs they had handled (P = 0.006) more positively contributed to practitioners' views on the relevance of EE. However, media practitioners from radio and television media do not differ in their perception of EE format utilization (t = 0.81; P>0.05) for agricultural information dissemination. This implies that electronic media practitioners are favorably disposed to EE format utilization, which justifies its integration into radio and television programs for agricultural information dissemination in Nigeria.

Keywords: electronic media, perception, entertainment– education, agricultural information dissemination

Moor Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 5(2) 2004: 162-170