Audience Perception of Credibility of Indigenous Cable Television News Network in Nigeria

Nigeria namely; Channels Tv, AIT and TVC Cable news. Media scholars believe that audience is more likely to read or watch a medium they think is more credible than the one they think is not credible. Hence this study is guided by source credibility theory. Previous studies have utilized source credibility theory to study the credibility of traditional media such as newspaper, television and magazine. Source credibility theory as propounded by Hovland, Wais and Kelly (1952) argued that audience is more likely to be persuaded when the source present itself as credible. The study was done by comparing credible and non-credible source Abstract: This study examines the perception of the audience on the credibility of Indigenous cable television news in Nigeria. Previous studies established that media audience in Nigeria has strong preference to international cable television news network. This preference stems from the perception that, these foreign outfits offer more truthful and objective reportage of events which the local media are deemed incapable of providing for the audience. With the emergence of Indigenous cable television network in Nigeria and rising criticism of news slanting leveled against international news outfit, this study investigated whether or not these Indigenous cable news network have gained the trust of Nigeria media audience. The study sought to establish the level of audience exposure and gratification sought from these outfit. The study utilized survey method to generate quantitative data. A sample of 360 respondents were drawn from civil servants in Anambra State. The findings revealed that Indigenous cable television network news in Nigeria, to a large extent have gained the trust of media audience since these audience perceived them to be credible sources of news.