Transmission of Cultural Heritage Function of the Press and the Social Media: an Analytical Introspection

The importance of promotion and preservation of cultural heritage in every society by media cannot be overstressed, especially in developing African countries such as Nigeria. Culture is learned, socially acquired traditions and lifestyles of a society. The promotion and transmission of cultural heritages has been a herculean task to accomplish as western culture and media have created undeniable changes in the Nigerian cultural space, subjecting it to continuous changes positively or negatively. Hence, there is a dire need for the Nigerian media to counter or check the influx of western media contents and increase efforts toward the promotion and preservation of indigenous cultures. Culture cannot be transmitted without communication; it must be through a channel of communication if it must reach a heterogeneous audience or populace such as Nigeria’s. Deploying Albert Bandura’s social learning theory (SLT), this study assesses the functioning of Nigerian media as promoters and preservers of Nigerian cultures. It uses the qualitative approach through the modalities of historical-analytic and direct observation methods. In doing this, it highlights the relevance and influence of local media contents as packaged and disseminated by conventional or mainstream media to promote and preserve Nigerian cultural heritages. It concludes that the Nigerian media, going by their growing indigenous contents, are powerful cultural agents that should be increasingly used to project the Nigerian culture and people to the outside world