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| Inyali Peter |
16 November 2020
Why do some radio sports presenters in Nigeria feel that sport news is best served in a fast-talking Busta Rhymes manner?
I’ve listened to many sports presenters across the globe but I see this strange style only in some radio stations in Nigeria.
In Cross River for instance, the Correct FM and CRBC guys are very committed to thus style.
This trend started with the defunct Cosmos FM, Enugu when Ralph, the presenter was known for fast-talking when presenting sports news.
Many sports presenters that came after him adopted the style just like that. I know that to entertain is one of the roles of the mass media but are these people striving to just entertain with their style of presentation or to fulfill the other two functions of informing and educating?
No doubt, sports itself is entertainment but should the news also serve only the function of entertainment without informing?
Sports presenters need to ponder over this question to know exactly what they strive to achieve when they come on air.
If their objective is to create only entertainment with news, then they may be achieving that with their rapping style but if it’s to inform, then there’s a problem because many of their listeners don’t clearly grab the information they share because of their Busta Rhymes style.
And if they strive to achieve both, then they’re giving one (entertainment) more attention than the other.
Inyali Peter lectures at the Department of Mass Communication, University of Calabar.
