ABSTRACT
The study
examined Effect of Free Readers’ Activities on the Circulation of Newspapers in
Nigeria (A case study of Uyo Metropolis) with the intention to know why people
gather every morning at Plaza newspaper stand Ikot Ekpene rd Newspaper stand
and other newspaper stands to know the latest information, locally and
nationally and how the newspapers contents they are
reading are affecting and influencing them. To know the effect of free readers’
activities on newspapers sales volume and circulation. While it also aim to
examine whether free readers’ activities have negative effect on newspapers
sale volume. All respondents read one newspaper orthe other on a daily basis
because respondents were deliberately selected from three major newspaper
stands in Uyo. Most of the respondents visited newspaper stand to read
newspaper because of news update on current social political matter in the
country and beyond national borders. It is also revealed that newspapers’
contents influence readers a lot because it expose them to different issues
ranging from political, economic, education, entertainment even to the sport
while language of newspaper greatly determines it readerships as most newspaper
writing in local language will have local readers which majority of youth and
students will find very difficult of read because of decline in local
languages, also such newspaper cannot be read out the native language thereby
reduce the circulation and income of such newspaper house. The study employed
survey research method to elicit data from the respondents and one hundred and
twenty respondents were drawn through non-probability sampling method. It is
recommended that government should increase the salary of worker so that
majority of them afford buying at least a copy of a newspaper every day. Job
should be provided for the millions of unemployed to improve the standard of
living of Nigeria youth.
