Attitudinal Reorientation For Sustainable Economic And Social Development In The Face Of Covid-19in Nigeria: A Review Of The Mediating Role Of The Media

Abstract

The researchers investigated the attitudinal reorientation for sustainable economic and social development in the face of Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with particular emphasis on the mediating role of the media. A sustainable society implicitly implies a positive change of behaviour and actions ranging from economic, environmental, social and cultural. Thus, arriving at a sustainable society includes achieving economic, social as well as environmental sustainability. The media is one of the pillars of economic growth which plays significant role towards sustainability. The media is responsible for getting the information and the messages out to people, Media plays a major role in changing mind-sets, and it has the power to change perception and can be utilized positively especially in the current dispensation as Covid-19 is ravaging the entire world. There is no better time than this that the media should leverage their resources and creative talent to advance awareness of the current situation. In this paper we focus on the role of mass media as an important information channel and agenda-setter, and analyze their modes of sustainable communication. The researchers adopted the library research method. The work anchors on three theories namely the Agenda setting theory, Media framing theory and The Transtheoretical Model. It was argued that the media predominantly inform people and set the agenda by communicating themes of current interest. The researchers recommended among others that in a bid to achieve attitudinal reorientation for sustainable economic and social development in the face of COVID-19, the media should seek diverse sources of information, and they should distinguish what is known to be true from what is thought to be true and what is speculation or opinion.