Citizen Journalism, Fake News and Political Participation in Nigeria.

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dc.contributor.authorJAMILA MOHAMMED DAHIRU
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-23T10:35:04Z
dc.date.issued2020-09
dc.descriptionThe rise and increasing prominence of citizen journalism has been described as a force that has shifted the relationship between news organizations and their audiences, giving citizens platforms to share and access information and participate in democratic activities of their countries (Bruns, 2010). Citizen journalism is defined by Wilson (2012) as a broadened opportunity for citizens to participate in the production of news contents about issues that concern their respective communities through the gathering, writing, editing, producing and distributing of news and information. The remarkable thing about it is the fact that its contents which are produced by amateurs, stunningly carry effect and influence on the audiences just like the ones produced by the professional journalists. A driving force for this rapid shift was aided by increasing development and participation in social media use by people, specifically in the use of prominent online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as blogs (DeMers, 2013). These platforms evolved in their ability to spur new wave of communication, information distribution/sharing and awareness creation on what is happening in the society. They are also regarded as platforms that enhance political freedom where citizens can play active role in the public sphere making them useful in political risk analysis, provide crisis-related information that can be utilized by response organizations to aid the analysis of potential political risks (Watson, Finn, Baruh, and Scifo, 2014). There was low political participation in Nigeria because majority of the citizens lacked the means to be actively engaged in sharing their views and comments on the issues of governance. For example during the 2011 general elections in Nigeria, INEC reported that out of the182, 201, 962 people registered for voting, only 68,833,476 people voted. Among possible reasons was the prevalence of fake news about conflict and electoral activities, and lack of adequate means of disseminating and sharing of information. People now engage in political processes increasingly because of the way they use social media platforms in a similar way that the citizen journalists employ it to disseminate information about political practices and processes to them. This has been proven to be effective towards pushing people to participate in political activities. Amuchie (2012) reported that the former INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega, said that the use of social media during the Nigeria’s 2011 elections enhanced transparency and participation in the electoral process and made INEC more accountable to the public in the conduct of elections. Therefore, the rise in social media use aided citizenjournalism, and has impacted positively in increasing awareness and facilitating wider participation and informed decision- making on issues of governance. However, the same rise in social media has been accompanied by rise in the incidence of fake news which also may threaten political literacy and democratic processes. This paper aims to clarify the nexus between rise in social media and the increased political participation as well as the threats of fake news to political participation in Nigeria
dc.description.sponsorshipSelf
dc.identifier.citationDahiru, J. M., & Jimoh, I. Citizen Journalism, Fake News and Political Participation in Nigeria. Journalism Practice, Teaching and Research in Nigeria, 445.
dc.identifier.isbn978 – 978 – 8543 – 94 – 7
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.uniabuja.edu.ng/handle/123456789/957
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherAhmadu Bello University Press Limited, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.
dc.subjectCitizen
dc.subjectJournalism
dc.subjectFake News
dc.subjectPolitical Participation and Nigeria
dc.titleCitizen Journalism, Fake News and Political Participation in Nigeria.
dc.typeBook chapter

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