NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF TERRORISM CASES IN NIGERIA: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF FOUR NATIONAL DAILIES IN NIGERIA
Abstract
This study sought to examine newspaper coverage of terrorism in Nigeria with the aim of finding out if Nigerian newspapers set agenda on the menace of terrorism considering how important security is to the development of any country. The study adopted content analysis as its research method. The chosen newspapers were four national dailies namely: Punch, The Sun, Daily Trust and Nigerian Tribune which were purposively chosen and studied for a period of three months (October 2023 to February, 2024). Using simple random sampling techniques, the study arrived at 368 editions of the newspaper to be studied. The Pearson correlational statistical technique was used to calculate the inter-coder reliability. The study found that 45.8% of the news stories were reported on the front pages of the chosen newspapers indicating high prominence given to the issue of terrorism in the country. Results indicated that 57.0% of the news stories reported on the pages of the chosen newspapers were negatively reported, meaning that Nigerian newspapers condemned the act of terrorism as perpetuated by the terrorists in the country. Further analysis also indicated that 28.7% of the news stories published were reported within the space of 6-10 inches of the chosen newspapers, which is a moderate reportage of terrorism in “volume-estimate”. The study concluded that newspaper coverage of terrorism in the country has been impressive. It was however, recommended that the media should improve on its investigative journalistic role to see if it would be possible to monitor the activities of these terrorists, in order to help government curb their actions.
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