The Impact of Social Media on Conventional Journalism Practice in Nigeria: A Study of Journalists’ in Jalingo Metropolis

Abstract

This study examines the impact of social media on journalism practice in Nigeria. It explores the extent to which social media has changed journalism practice in Nigeria with special reference to Journalists in Jalingo metropolis. The quantitative survey method was adopted for the study. The population is comprised of 293 Journalists in Jalingo metropolis registered under Nigerian  Union of Journalists. The study employed Taro Yame’s formula to sample out 75 journalists. Questionnaires were used as the tool for data collection. The researcher administered questionnaires to 75 purposively selected Journalists, and 70 were duly answered and retrieved. Data gathered were analyzed with SPSS version 20 with devices such as frequency counts and simple percentages. Data analyzed were presented in tables. Findings revealed among other things that a considerable number of journalists in Jalingo metropolis are computer literate, and they have internet access at various levels. Findings also revealed that journalists in Jalingo metropolis go online very often and that they prefer Facebook to other forms of social media and this assist them in faster gathering and dissemination of news. The study recommends among other things that Journalists should conduct researches on the accessible online networking organizing apparatuses to check which one of them is more and solid, keeping in mind the end goal to guarantee the validity of sources.