Reality Check on Official Codification and Practice of Broadcast Professionalisation in Nigeria

This study examined how the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) constructs broadcast professionalisation in Nigeria through the Sixth Edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code (2019). Anchored on Authoritarian Press Theory and Systems of Profession Theory, the study adopted Qualitative Document Analysis and applied the READ (Ready, Extract, Analyse and Distil) procedure to interrogate profession-related clauses in the Broadcasting Code. Findings revealed that the Code frames broadcasting as a specialised profession requiring structured training, continuous capacity development, ethical judgement, verification, and adherence to codified professional standards. However, the study identified a major internal contradiction within the regulatory framework. While the Code prescribes rigorous professional expectations, it simultaneously permits entry into broadcasting with an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and also allows untrained individuals with “proven aptitude” to practise broadcasting prior to formal training. This regulatory inconsistency undermines broadcast professional identity, weakens competence and ethical performance, and constrains effective self-regulation within the industry. The study concluded that broadcast professionalisation in Nigeria remains largely aspirational due to the misalignment between entry requirements and prescribed professional competencies. The study therefore recommended raising entry qualifications into broadcasting to at least a university degree certificate, abolishing aptitude-based practice, enforcing mandatory pre-practice professional training, and strengthening continuous professional development to support a coherent and sustainable professional broadcasting system in Nigeria.

Keywords: Broadcast Professionalisation, Nigeria Broadcasting Code, National Broadcasting Commission, Systems of Profession Theory.