Readership Pattern of Indigenous Language Newspapers Among Selected Nigerian

Abstract

Indigenous language press which was the harbinger of journalism in Nigeria is suffering serious neglect. The neglect reflects in a number of ways among which is poor readership. Although, the fact of poor readership of indigenous language newspapers is a common knowledge, but it lacks empirical documentation as many researches on readership of newspapers were concentrated on newspapers written in English. This research attempt therefore examined the readership pattern of Indigenous language newspapers among selected university undergraduates and compared the pattern of readership of English and Indigenous language newspapers. The study is a survey of 150 students of Ajayi Crowther University selected through purposive sampling. Data were generated with Indigenous language Newspaper Readership Pattern Instrument (ILNRPI).The results reveal poor readership pattern of Indigenous Language newspaper with the readership pattern of English Language newspapers faring better. On the basis of the findings, useful suggestions were made. 
Key words: Indigenous; Language; Readership pattern; Undergraduates