Uses and gratifications of news among ethnic groups in Nigeria

Abstract

Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theory has enjoyed substantial usage for news study among media scholars. Previous studies have also explored news consumption among ethnic groups through the uses and gratifications approach. However, most of this effort has focussed on inter-national ethnic groups with little attention on intra-ethnic settings. This study examines the influence of ethnic identity on news motives among the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria.. We also examine the relationship between ethnic identity and gender as predictors of news usage. Survey questionnaires were administered on 400 undergraduates in three universities in Nigeria between January and April, 2014. We use Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach to measure the relationships among the variables. Findings show that there is a significant difference among the ethnic groups in news usage.