What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to investigate how news commercialization affects the practice of public relations, particularly in Nigeria.

June 18, 2026

News commercialization and public relations practice: Insights from Nigerian practitioners

Key Points

This research aims to investigate how news commercialization affects the practice of public relations, particularly in Nigeria.
Quantitative survey design was used with a questionnaire for data collection.
100 respondents were sampled from the Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.
Theoretical framework employed was the Social Responsibility theory.
The majority of respondents disapproved of paying for news placement as it conflicts with public interests.
News commercialization negatively influences public relations practices.
Commercialization undermines the media's role in providing news impartially and ethically.

Abstract

Abstract This study examined the effect of commercialization of news on Public Relations practice. Relying on insights from Nigerian PR practitioners, the study explored the various dimensions of news commercialization with a view to identifying how the important news function of the media is plagued with the disturbing issue of commercialization. The theoretical framework for the study is the Social Responsibility theory, while the study adopted the quantitative survey design with the questionnaire as instrument for data collection. The population comprised 293 members of the Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) from where a sample size of 100 respondents was drawn for the survey. Findings revealed that majority of the respondents find placement of news stories for a price or based on material gratifications against public goals and interest as a practice that stands against the ethics of the public relations profession. This study found that news commercialization exerts negative influence on the practice of public relations and negates the social responsibility role of the media, which demands that the media disseminates news freely instead of charging for it. Key Words: Mass Media, News, News Commercialization, Public Relations JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 14, No. 2, October 2022, pp. 38-50 © Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON). About the authors * Abigail Odozi Ogwezzy-Ndisika, Ph.D., is the first female Professor of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Nigeria. She has served as the Head of the Department. Her areas of expertise are Advertising, Public Relations and Development Communication; with research in gender studies, social inclusion, political communication, health communication, media and cultural studies, indigenous communication and popular culture. ** Husseini Hassan Shaibu, Ph.D. is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos and Head of Strategic Communication Department at the National Troupe of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture. He has considerable industry experience in Culture and Film Journalism, Broadcasting, Film Production Management and in Public Relations and Advertising. *** Babatunde Faustino is a doctoral student in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos. His areas of expertise are Advertising, Public Relations and Development Communication; with research interest in in gender studies, social inclusion, political communication, media and cultural studies, indigenous communication and popular culture. Article Citation Ogwezzy-Ndisika, A.O., Shaibu, H.H. & Faustino, B. (2022). News commercialization and public relations practice: Insights from Nigerian practitioners. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 14 (2): 38-50. Full Article Words: 8,928 Pages: 13 To access full article, click on download.

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