SECTOR 2 undeveloped infrastructure and high costs. Ten years ago, the government initiated a national “TV watching” programme in rural areas to reduce the information gap between city dwellers and rural folk. The “TV watching” programme has since collapsed. There is no visible effort on the part of the government to increase ICT access to disadvantaged groups like women, children, people living with disabilities, the uneducated, and rural populations. “People in the rural areas are left to depend on informal sources for information, such as town criers, rumour and gossip” a panellist asserted. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator. 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 1.3 (2008 = n/a) 2.10 Government does not use its power over the placement of advertisements as a means to interfere with editorial content. Aided in part by the tough business climate for the media in Nigeria, public officials and politicians have “A he-who-pays-the found advertising to be a powerful tool in shaping piper-calls-the-tune editorial content to their advantage. By either refusing or granting advertising, government officials often relationship has thus succeed to force the media to promote their agenda. emerged between A culture of “retentions”, whereby news outlets receive regular amounts of money from public officials and public authorities politicians to undertake “special reporting projects”, and the media in makes it difficult for the media to fully play its role of Nigeria.” holding public authorities accountable. It is common to find “Special Issues” that run cover-to-cover sweetcoated reports on an official or institution on the stands. “A he-who-pays-the piper-calls-the-tune relationship has thus emerged between public authorities and the media in Nigeria.” AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NIGERIA 2011 29