Tackling social responsibility issues through television: A study of audience perception of professor johnbull television series

The television drama series, Professor Johnbull, had been a weekly series on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and other stations to engender social responsibility and good citizenship. Despite its long period of transmission, the extent of its influence on the audience is yet to be ascertained. It was in view of lack of studies that this research was conducted with objective of ascertaining the viewership of this drama series; determining the extent to which the series had instilled social responsibility; identifying specific aspects of social responsibility emphasized; and ascertaining the extent to which the social responsibility messages in the drama brought about social order among Nigerians. The study adopted the social responsibility theory, using Cochran formula, a sample of 625 respondents was drawn from a population of 12, 738, 700, which covered the North-Central geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. It was found that the level of exposure of Nigerian audience to the television series was high as attested to by 75% of the sample. The level at which Professor Johnbull drama advocated social responsibility on the viewers was also significantly high (51.9% very high and 31. 6% high). But the influence in curbing lawless activities was not as very high as expected. Most of the respondents (63.9%) said the series had high level of conviction against social irresponsibility on them, but the impact on maintaining social order in actual and general terms was not so felt, judging from the fact that Nigeria was still witnessing incidences of anti-social behaviour among the people. The study therefore concluded that mass media should intensify efforts in the direction of championing social responsibility advocacy through attitude-changing communication strategies in drama. The findings of the study among others also recommended that the drama series should be sustained and made more regular. Content developers should intensify efforts at creating content that highlights good characters, social responsibility and decency in private and public conducts. It was also recommended for the viewers to pay attention to the social responsibility messages conveyed in the drama series to create a stable environment development for all aspects of life in Nigeria.