FUNCTIONS OF A MAGAZINE

The function of any magazine depends on its type (classification) as well as its mission and philosophy. Generally magazines perform the following functions:

·                     Provide in-depth coverage and analysis of issue

·                     Provide materials for  entertainment and relaxation such as short stories, jokes, puzzles;

·                     Serve as a veritable platform for advertising. Magazine show off the advertiser’s product or services through their glossy paper and high reproduction quality; and other practical advice to help readers make informed choices and decisions Anaeto et.al. (2009:11)

 

        HISTORY OF NIGERIA MASS MEDIA

In the history of Nigeria mass media, the first medium of disseminating information was the print media, which into existence in the year 1859. A Christian missionary named Reverend Henry Townsend, in Abeokuta, the current capital of Ogun State published the first newspaper called “Iwe Iroyin Fun awon Ara Egba ati Yoruba”.

Thereafter, several Newspapers came up and they all began to serve as sentinels, scanning the society and warning the populace of imminent dangers. Electronics media (precisely radio) started in Nigeria in 1932 when Lagos began to relay   the British Empire services from Daventry, England. In 1959, the then western region government under the premiership of Late Obafemi Awolowo brought Television to Nigeria.

Ever since then, these media of communication have changed position of   things in the country. However, the role played by the print media during the colonial period attracted many.

This made the print media popular among the people. The press took it as its responsibility to perform its function of surveillance of the environment so as to enlighten the people on the current happening in the society.

MASS MEDIA

Media is the plural of medium which means channels or vehicles through which something is carried or transmitted. Mass media are channels of communication in a modern society, primarily the print and electronic media.

By print media, it means books, magazines, journals, newspaper, direct mail and sky writing. On the other hand, electronic media refer to radio, television audio, video records and film. The radio and television are also commonly called the broadcast or electronic media.

The mass media is broadly classified into print and electronic media according to the mechanism involved in the process of conveying messages. The print media have a mechanism that depends on printing items of information.

On the other hand, electronic media use devices that can transform or change sound or light waves into electrical signals which are reconverted to things that can be heard or seen on radio or television (Daramola 2001).

McQuail described the mass media as the organized means for communicating openly and at a distance to many receivers within a short space of time. Mass media denotes a section of the media specifically designed to reach a large audiences. The term was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspaper and magazine. However, some newspaper and magazine media such as books and manuscripts had already been in use for centuries.

 Mass media includes internet media (like blogs, messages boards, podcasts, and video sharing) because individuals now have a means to exposure that is comparable in scale to that previously restricted to  select group of mass media producers.

Each of the media is presumed to affect perception and behaviour in a distinctive way. They can affect the society and society can also affect media. It must, however, be noted that mass media are the uniquely  modern means of public communication and much importance lies in the fact that they are major cause of whatever  perception, thought, public discourse, individual, group, organization and political  actions. The mass media have tremendous impact on society because of their size and the large number of people they reach.