Developing Effective Private Education Nigeria (DEEPEN)

An Assessment of the Media Market for Private Education in Lagos State

This media market assessment for private education in Lagos State was carried out by DEEPEN primarily for the programme to generate market knowledge and insight on current practices around the coverage of education by Lagos media. The study examined the key players – their functions and relationships; commercial business models and incentives for reporting on educational issues in general and on private schools in particular; the level and quality of educational programming; and the prevalence, use and quality of information sources amongst other related issues.

Key media market players in relation to education coverage identified in this study can be grouped into four broad categories namely (i) internal media players – comprising in-house media personnel; (ii) media buyers – sponsors and advertisers; (iii) media market enablers; and (iv) consumers – comprising the audiences of education content and programmes. The in-house media personnel (such as journalists, producers and editors) are the primary producers of education contents and programmes. They work with in-house marketers who source for buyers, though not exclusively, for educational products or even ideas. Within this group too are media managers and owners who decide the direction of the business, including what to produce and broadcast.