Media, Ethnic Rivalry and Economic Development

Ethnic rivalry, economic development and the role of the media are of utmost importance in Nigerian due to the diverse ethnic identities that exist and tend to impinge on the economic development. This study investigates the role of the media to play down ethnic rivalry through unity messages to enhance economic development. Descriptive survey was used to collect data from 200 respondents purposively chosen from Port Harcourt metropolis. The findings show that a good number of people are aware of unity message(s) in the media and such message(s) encourage them to be patriotic and contribute to economic development beyond their ethnic base. The study further reveals that the use of unity message(s) in the media by the respondents is poor as 25.27% assessed it as low and 14.29% very low. The study recommends that media should improve on their social responsibility roles by emphasizing unity message(s) to down play ethnic rivalry in Nigeria