retainership definition
retainership deal as a means of generating income, finding out the perception of journalists about „retainership‟ deal between their media houses and the government, finding out the factors necessitating „retainership‟ deal between media houses in Nigeria and state governments and government agencies, examining the problems arising from making money through „retainership‟ deal by Nigeria media and finding out ways of generating funds for mass media survival in Nigeria. Using in-depth interview, 18 journalists of editorial ranking were sampled for the study, across radio, television, print and online media. After a qualitative presentation and analysis of data, it was found out that many media houses go into „retainership‟ deal to sustain their day-to-day running and since advertising no longer thrives as before, organisations prefer paying heavily to media houses to distort negative information about them. In addition, „retainership‟ deal is reached by media houses to distort information from the public domain, while the peoples rights to information is violated. It was recommended among others, that media regulatory bodies monitor media houses and prevent them from submerging information meant for the public.