DIGITAL COMMUNICATION

This study explores the discourse of political ideologies surrounding the Rivers State politics in Nigeria by examining the communicative functions and socio- political implications of Internet memes within the context of the Wike-Fubara political crisis in Rivers State. It adopts the discursive use of Kress and ven Leeuwen's Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) to analyze the multimodal nature of the cartoons that convey the Wike-Fubara political crisis. Overtime, memes have emerged to become a powerful multimodal tool in computer mediated discourse combining both visuals and written texts to convey political information. Through the analysis of memes, a discourse is engaged to intercept the Wike-Fubara political crisis, capturing the roles and influence memes have in contributing to public perception, and shaping the Nigerian politics. This research made the following findings: citizens use memes to mock and challenge political authority by turning serious issues into humorous visuals, godfatherism, security threats, and political tensions remains a dominant theme in Nigerian politics, and also that emergency rule is both a subject of satire and a source of anxiety. In conclusion, this study concluded that memes function as instruments of communication especially during the Wike-Fubara political crisis in Rivers State. It serves as the public voice expression frustration, hope and uncertainty.

This study examined the intersection of digital communication and modern-day journalism practice within the National Television Authority (NTA) and Independent Television (ITV) broadcast stations in Benin City, Nigeria. The research sought to understand the extent to which these organizations have adopted digital communication tools, assess the impact of digital communication on their journalistic practices, identify the challenges they face in integrating digital elements, and ascertain the audience responses and engagement with the implemented digital communication initiatives. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study and survey was the research instrument. Findings of the Study include that NTA and ITV have made progress in adopting and utilizing various digital communication tools and platforms, such as social media, online news portals, and multimedia content. More so, the the implementation of digital communication channels has influenced the way the audience engages with and responds to the news offerings from NTA and ITV. It was recommended that NTA and ITV management should conduct a comprehensive audit of the organizations' current digital communication capabilities and infrastructure to identify areas for improvement. This should Involve evaluating the adoption and utilization of various digital tools and platforms across the newsrooms, and developing a strategic plan to enhance the integration of digital communication into core journalistic workflows.