Media Preferences and Perceptions: The Case of Bahir Dar University Instructors

The main intent of this study is to empirically examine media preferences and perceptions of instructors at Bahir Dar University (BDU) in selected Faculties, Colleges and School. The survey method of research was employed to conduct the study, and questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. Proportionate stratified random sampling techniques were used for selecting the study participants. The findings reveal that Bahir Dar University instructors consume news on a daily basis.With regard to media usage, TV stations, radio stations, and websites are the most chosen information source of respondents. Among TV programs, foreign TV news programs are the most viewed by respondents, and ETV has taken the lead as compared to other local TV programs. Concerning radio programs, foreign radio programs are favourites of respondents, and Ethiopia radio programs are their preferences. In addition, instructors use the Internet on daily basis, mainly for searching for information related to their subject areas, sending and receiving e-mails, and searching for daily news.The media content that instructors regularly consume are social issues, sport and politics. Respondents perceive media roles positively, and the highest level of agreement was expressed with the statement that the media help people become better informed and educated. Impartiality & credibility, and independence from political interest are the major criteria for respondents to choose a particular media over another. Finally, age, background, sex, and academic rank are factors that affect respondents’ media perception.


Respondents
As shown in Table 2, the majority of respondents 143(79.9 %) stated that they consume news on a daily basis, while 31(17.3%) of them indicated that they consume it three to five times a

Discussion
Though it is needless to say that our surrounding is trafficking with various media outlets, this section discusses BDU instructors' media preferences and perceptions in relation to international experiences. BDU instructors consume news on a daily basis which is inconsistent withthe findingof Prpic (2009) which was studied in Slovenia on university students in that only slightly less than one-fourth of respondents consume news on a daily basis. Main source of information for BDU instructors is TV stations followed by radio stations and websites while websites are the primary source for Slovenian university students.
While foreign radio stations are favourites of BDU instructors, local radio stations are the most beloved information source for Slovenian university students. BDU instructors use the Internet everyday mainly for searching for information related to their subject matter, and this result appears to be consistent with the findings of Prpic(2009) in such a way that Slovenian University students use the Internet on a daily basis but for e-mail purposes. However, BDU instructors' purpose of using the Internet seems inconsistent with Loan (2011:156) citing Pew Internet and American Life Project (2003) in that ''Americans used the Internet most for sending electronic mail, using search engines, researching products and services before buying, and looking for information for hobbies and leisure activities''. While BDU instructorsrate social issues their first media content preference followed by sport and domestic politics, Slovenian University students chose domestic politics first followed by sport and science/ technology. BDU instructors chose media mainly based on impartiality and credibility criterion, where as Slovenian University students prefer media mainly for quality and originality of individual authors.
Regarding perception of media, BDU instructors have shown positive media perception in that the highest level of agreement was expressed among instructors with the statement that the media help people become better informed and educated while Prpic's(2009) finding proved that Slovenian University students tend perceive media negatively in that the highest level of agreement among respondents expressed with the statement that the media encourage consumerism.

Concluding Remarks
The data obtained through questionnaire were analyzed, interpreted and concluded as follows. Bahir Dar university instructors consume news on daily basis from which men respondents prevail women in daily news consumption. With regard to media usage, television stations, radio stations, and websites are the major information sources of respondents. Among TV programs, foreign TV news programs are the most viewed by respondents. However, from domestic TV programs, ETV has taken the lead as compared to other local TV programs. Concerning radio programs, foreign radio programs are choices of respondents, and Ethiopia radio station is their preferences among local radio stations.
In addition, instructors use the Internet on daily basis, and the three most cited reasons that respondents use the Internet includesearching for information related to their subject area, sending and receiving e-mails, and searching for daily news.The media content that instructors regularly consume are social issues followed bysportand politics. With regard to the perception of the role the media play in society, the highest level of agreement among respondents was expressed with the statement that the media help people become better informed and educated.Impartiality & credibility, and independence from political interest are the major criteria for respondents to choose a particular media over another.