ABSTRACT:

The mass media are the conscience of the society. Any nation in which the mass media are muzzled is bound to suffer dearly under the wide hands of tyranny, for the mass media reveals wisdom through its educative ability and freedom through its conscientization. Ownership patterns tend to affect the ways and extent to which these ideal functions could be performed and that is what this work is set out to find out - ownership, control and democratic development in Niqeiia. Media ownership and control is a controversial issue in the social and politico I discourse, especially when it is placed against a democratic system. In Niqeria, since the arriual of democracy, several calls have gone out on the need for the mass media to improve all its fundamental functions of informinq, educating, and entertaining. the public, and III its watchdog role over the government. But the effective performance of these highly sensitive functions is greatly determined by the system of ownership and control in the society. This article is (111 explorative analysis into the issue of media ownership control and democratic development in Nigeria. The onus of the paper is to examine the diverse patterns of media ouinership con trol and democratic deuelopment using the Nigerian situation as a case in point