| Abstract: | The education sector in Ethiopia, as one of the major instruments to take the country out
of this quagmire of poverty, should be supported by those that can make a difference. The
mass media could of course be a case in point here. The three major pillars which most
of the mass media use as their mission to achieve are educating, informing and
entertaining the public.
Private higher education institution, as part of the driving forces for the advancement of
education in the country, shall also be encouraged and supported through all the
important means including the mass media.
This study tried to assess the extent to which PHEIs are satisfied with the service
rendered by the national Ethiopian television and radio organizations. In addition, what
they need from the mass media was also determined. A questionnaire which was
designed in a Likert scale mode was used to collect the data. Document analysis has also
been employed to substantiate the findings.
In conclusion, it can be said that the majority of the PHEIs are dissatisfied with the
consistency and amount of news and /or feature stories coverage given to them. They are
unhappy with the scope of the coverage given in relation to the wide range of activities
that they believe are doing.
Unfair distribution of air time access among the PHEIs was also identified as an area of
concern of the institutions. On the other hand, timeliness of coverages and reasonable representation of views
whenever there are conflicting stories was recognized as positively done. Research
works, social contributions, challenges and opportunities, policy debates; other
countries’ experience in the private education sector were some of the issues that they
want to be covered by the mass media. |
