THE EFFECTS OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND OTHER GRAPHICAL ILLUSTRATIONS ON NEWSPAPER READERSHIP AMONG NIGERIAN STUDENTS: A STUDY OF RUGIPO STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

The issue of newspaper readership is a major issue that newspaper publishers are daily concerned with because the end point of all effort put into the production of dailies is that the target audience should purchase and read it, the former being of much more interest to the publishers. Over the years there has been several academic debates as to the parameters for determining newspaper readership, some argue that newspaper readership cannot be determined by the unit of sales as there are many who would not purchase but will likely read from those who did. Readership issues as it has to do with the audience, especially students are often determined by different parameters ranging from accessibility of newspaper production, financial capability of the targets amidst many other. However, there is also the issue of attraction. Many newspaper readers oftentimes have one or the other news content that lures them into buying a newspaper or surfing online platforms for news. Two of such contents are photographs and graphical illustrations.

This study therefore examines the effects of photographs and graphical illustrations on newspaper readership among Nigerian students using Rufus Giwa Polytechnic as case study. The study tries to ascertain what percentage of RUGIPO students reads the newspapers, and whether photographs and graphical illustrations make the list of the many reasons why those who read the newspaper among them do so.

Findings from this research shows that above average percentage of RUGIPO students reads the newspaper, either the hard copy or online format and photographs and graphical illustrations happen to determine that percentage of readership. The study therefore recommends that photograph and graphical contents of newspapers be enhanced and given more attention in terms of quality and quantity so as to sustain or encourage continuous readership among the student population who does read the newspaper, while further researches aimed at luring more students to read newspapers may be embarked upon.

Keywords: Photographs, Graphical Illustrations, Newspaper Readership.