Abstract

It is a general assumption among stakeholders in the Catholic Church that evolution and history of Catholic press in Nigeria have not gotten a deserved attention among media scholars. It is in response to this concern that this study examined a detailed account of press-related activities of the Catholic Church from 1900 to 2019 in order to establish ways Catholic publications contributed to journalism in Nigeria. Anchored on McLuhan’s theory of media evolution, qualitative research method was used. For data collection, in-depth interview was used. Findings showed the establishment of the first three newspapers and one magazine during the early newspaper period. During post-civil-war period, there was the review of condition of Catholic newspapers. Dioceses began establishing diocesan newspapers and professional associations emerged. The early period provided opportunities for indigenes to learn how to print. The printers, in turn, established personal printing presses to serve the production needs of Nigerian press. The regional pastoral institute in Ede translated papal communications from Latin to Nigerian languages for press use. The study concludes that these contributions are commendable despite the numerous challenges such as use of volunteers to perform basic tasks, and the difficulty to access Church information and data. It recommends regular formation and training of press workers for improved performance. It also recommends establishment of archival resources of past editions of Catholic newspapers to make research in this field of study easy for researchers.

Key Words: Catholic Church, Media, Press, Newspaper, Missionaries

^JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 14, No. 1, April 2022, pp. 62-69

© Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON).

About the author

Peter Kehinde Akodu is a doctoral student of the University of Lagos, Nigeria. His research interest focuses on the Catholic press, which is an emerging field in the religion-media interface.

Article Citation

Akodu, P.K. (2022). Evolution and history of the catholic press in Nigeria, 1900-2019. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 14 (1): 62 – 69.

Full Article

Words: 5,474

Pages: 8

To access full article, click on download.