The role of the media in the democratic process was studied in the context of Nigeria's First Republic, 1960-1966, which was a society in transition from colonial dictatorship to a fledgling democracy. The article deploys the historical method of studying its subject matter in time perspective, and thus takes a longer historical view that is often absent from contemporary analyses. It posits that the role of the media in democracy need not be generalized and patterned structurally on Western oriented media theories. Rather the processional approach should be emphasized since it establishes the trends and patterns of press performance, upon which theories should be built. This is particularly the case when taken in the peculiar context and experience of African nations in transition, as illustrated with the Nigerian example.