Journal of Mass Communication & Journalism

The present paper discusses how new media is put to use by the youth. The focal area is how youth is using or not using the variety of new media available, for peace building tasks. The study was conducted with 150 respondents, and aimed to relate the usage of new media by youth to peace building activities. With the innovations in new media, if the youth was completely abreast with the latest technologies, shall be a part of the findings of the study. Furthermore, it will try to comprehend if the youth is putting the knowledge of new media to optimal use. In majority of the cases, it is found that youngsters use new media to connect to people via social network sites, read online, use various application-based programs, and use new media for financial transactions, online shopping and bookings. It was a rarity that they would use new media for activities to enhance peaceful coordination and associations in the society, unless they belonged to such a social group or organisation that works for peace building tasks in the society. In all this, the fact remains that conflicts of the nation per se, and the entire world have to be resolved by one way or the other, in order to bring about universal peace. Herein, the role of youth in peace building comes into play. Hereby, the paper aims at gauging the number of youth (a representative section of a larger whole), willing to work for peace-building, with the help of new media. Peace building is a much diversified genre to be understood in basic terms. It can apply to almost every happening or event or people involved therein, in the society. The study conducted to understand if the youth was aware of the utilization of new media technologies for peace building tasks in the society, has been successful in finding valuable data and tried to arrive at workable solutions in that regard.

Political Communication is a sub-field of Political Science and Communication that deals with the production, dissemination, procession and effects of information, both through the mass media of communication, the Newspaper Press, Radio, Television, Social Media, Ora-media and interpersonally within a political context. This study examines political communication in the 2015 General Elections with special/particular reference to Oyo State of Nigeria- “the wild, wild west”. The study analyses the political communication strategies of fourteen (14) political parties in thirty-three Local Government areas of Oyo State, the speeches of eight (8) gubernatorial/governorship candidates/ politicians (political speechifying), those who tried to influence the political process and the outcome of the 2015 election in the state. The paper examines the formal and informal conversations among members of the Oyo State public and did a content analysis of some of the Newspapers, Radio and Television Stations both government - owned and private ones that were used to cover the Presidential, Gubernatorial, National Assembly, and State Assembly Elections in the State. Policy recommendations are made for future political communication in Oyo State in particular, and Nigeria in general.