The Role of Contemporary Christian Organizations in the Development of Mass Communication in Nigeria: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The main aim of ‘real’ religion is development. This paper is a study of the contributions of contemporary Christian organizations in Nigeria to the development of Mass Communication in the country and in effect, their contributions to overall national development. Religious organizations have always in their various ways strived to contribute to national development. However, until recently, the contribution could not be said to be remarkable or significant in terms of helping to address issues of national needs. They were not able to make impactful contribution to national development due to regulatory constraints and their participation in developmental activities remained relatively dormant. A number of Christian organizations in the last few years have however contributed to recorded development in the Mass communication industry. While highlighting the various modes that the contribution has taken, the paper attempts to situate the various developmental roles of selected Christian organizations to the print and broadcast subsectors of mass communication in the general framework of development in Nigeria. The paper concludes that while the selected Christian organizations engage the print and electronic media in propagating their religious values, they actively contribute to growth in the advertising industry, training and education, employment generation and promotion of reading culture among others. Contributions to these indices of development make for agreement that these organizations have made input and are still contributing to national development through involvement in the media subsector. Keywords: religious organizations, publications, development, contributions