News consumption of major ethnic groups among youth in Nigeria: A comparative study of uses and gratifications theory

Previous studies have focused on news usage among inter ethnic groups with limited attention on intra ethnic groups. Furthermore, these previous studies have not attempted to correlate the news gratifications sought with the news gratifications
obtained. These studies have not also attempted to examine a possible moderating role of ethnic migration on the news usage of ethnic groups. The study aims at exploring the relationship between news and ethnicity as important social phenomena. This is against the backdrop of the strong influence that ethnicity has on the personality of Nigerians. Mixed method approach was used. Survey
questionnaires were administered on sampled undergraduates in Nigeria. In-depth interviews were also conducted among members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Nigeria. Partial Least Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the quantitative data while qualitative data were analyzed on NVivo software. Findings show a significant difference among the ethnic groups in their news gratifications. Ethnic migration significantly moderates the relationship between news gratifications sought and news gratifications obtained. Our qualitative data show that the ethnic groups differ in several ways on how they use media for news gratifications. Through this study, ethnicity as a predictor of news usage has been further explored from a peculiar context of intra ethnic diversity. Coupled with the novel exploration of ethnic migration as a moderator in the news usage process, this study has expanded the horizon of Uses and Gratifications Theory. Practically, the Federal Government of Nigeria can use the findings of this study to evolve more
realistic strategies for effective mobilization of Nigerian youth.