ASSESSMENT OF BROADCAST JOURNALISTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND UTILIZATION OF DIGITAL BROADCAST EQUIPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF DELTA BROADCASTING SERVICE, ASABA

Abstract

In November 2017, the Delta State government commissioned the digital radio and TV studio of the Delta Broadcasting Service in Asaba. The implication of this is that the analogue equipment in the station will have to gradually give way to the digital ones. Although the government of Delta State has not provided sufficient digital broadcast facilities for the broadcast journalists, it is expected that practicing journalists will become knowledgeable and key into the new development by learning the use of the digital broadcast equipment, regardless of the government provisions. Hence, the study interrogated the level of knowledge and utilization of digital broadcast equipment and also the challenges facing the use of digital broadcast equipment among broadcast journalists in Delta State Broadcasting Service. Four major variables, namely, knowledge, utilization, challenges, and solutions, were placed under scrutiny using the census sampling procedure of a survey to examine 100 respondents spread across two departments in DBS, Asaba. The study found, amongst many other things, that there is a high level of knowledge and utilization among journalists in DBS, Asaba, as regards digital broadcast equipment, while inadequate skilled manpower, funds, training, and equipment were the major challenges facing the use of digital equipment in the station. The study therefore recommended that there is a need to intensify training and retraining of digital broadcast journalists and that the government and well-meaning people of Delta prioritize the funding of digital equipment at the station.