INFLUENCE OF COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS) PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN ON MEDIA USAGE IN NIGERIA

The COVID-19 pandemic global lockdown caused concerns about survival and made people turn to various communication media for information about the virus. This study therefore investigated the extent to which Nigerians used various media before and during the lockdown. The population of the study were resident Nigerians from which 1,250 respondents were selected by the random sampling. A 15-item Google Form was the research instrument. Findings showed that the respondents read hardcopy newspapers and or magazines occasionally before the lockdown while most of them did not read newspapers and or magazines during the period. There were consistent uses of social media, the Internet and online newspapers and or magazines in the period. Finally, education, entertainment, information, motivation and socializing constituted the most frequent needs to which the respondents applied various media. The study therefore recommends that in media selection, advertisers should note the most popular among the respondents.