NJOMACS

As the Nigerian broadcast industry has expanded significantly since the deregulation of broadcasting in the 1990s, it has also brought with it a proliferation of unprofessionalism, including sensationalism, partisan reporting, insufficient fact-checking, and commercialisation of news. These ethical failures erode public trust and compromise democratic discourse. The study investigated the perception of residents of Ikeja Local Government Area, Lagos State, towards the unprofessional media practices of broadcast media practitioners in Nigeria. Anchored on media effects theory and perception theory, the study adopted a quantitative survey with a validated questionnaire as an instrument, distributed to 374 television viewers. Data were analysed descriptively. Results indicated that unprofessional media practices are identifiable among broadcast media houses (x? = 4.18). The findings further revealed that unprofessional media activities have a negative influence on broadcast credibility (x? = 4.23). This study concluded that audiences are aware of such unprofessional behaviour, since they are pervasive, and their perception of the unprofessionalism is causing severe damage not only to the particular broadcasters but also to all broadcasting stations. The study recommended the creation of extensive audience feedback mechanisms, mandatory ethics certification of practitioners and an independent, technology-enhanced broadcasting regulator.