Patronage Of Graphic Showbiz: A Comparative Study Of Students And Workers At Osu

ABSTRACT

This study sought to find out the profile of readers of Graphic Showbiz, an arts and

entertainment newspaper, especially as it relates to students and workers.

Mass media audiences comprise individuals who select the media among other

available sources to satisfy specific needs. For this reason one area of media

studies, which has had a great deal of attention, is newspaper readership.

Owing to the large number of subject areas that newspapers cover, it can be

understood that readership will be similarly segmented. Segmentation is based on

subject areas that a newspaper covers as well as along other lines such as age,

socio-economic status, level of education and gender.

Newspaper readership surveys in Ghana have tended to examine readership

patterns as they relate to a selection of general news newspapers instead of

specialised or one-subject newspapers. This study took a different approach in an

attempt to find out the profile of readership of a single newspaper, Graphic

Showbiz, which specialises in arts and entertainment news. It also attempted to find

out why people patronised this particular newspaper.

I The research method used in this study was the survey method using self-

IV

I·

administered questionnaires for 150 respondents.

Two specific independent variables - students and workers - were compared to

find out which of the two patronised Graphic Showbiz more. It was the

researcher's position that given the large amount of music and entertainment

related news that Graphic Showbiz published, it was more likely to attract students

than workers.

The findings of this study, however, indicated that the reverse was true. From the

findings of the study the number of workers of various categories who patronised

Graphic Showbiz amounted to approximately thrice the number of students. Thus,

the largely music and entertainment content of the paper provided no special

attraction to students as it did workers.