| Abstract: |
Radio has developed to be one medium of communication that plays pivotal role in rural development. Besides breaking the hitherto seemingly insurmountable barriers of illiteracy and media inaccessibility on the side of the rural population, radio, perhaps because of its content decentralisation and democratisation, has successfully veered into “experimental broadcasting” as a sharp contrast to embedded broadcast-journalism, with its phenomenal exploration of special areas such as harmful cultural practices. Culture is unequivocally overarching in society, but its harmful aspects have affected negatively on the people; thus constituting an enduring wedge between them and their emancipation. This paper presents an empirical evidence of such a quantum leap for a society that is devoid of harmful cultural practices by radio through a study carried out on Ezza natives of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Adopting uses and gratification media theory as its theoretical base, the paper used survey as its method, and as well used interview schedule to gather its data. Findings revealed that radio has greatly contributed to the reduction of harmful cultural practices in Ebonyi rural communities. The paper, therefore, recommends the sustenance of the radio campaign against harmful cultural practices on Nigerian radio in the overall interest of humanity. |
