NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS COVERAGE OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IN NIGERIA
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NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS COVERAGE OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IN NIGERIA
National Newspapers’ Coverage of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Nigeria
Name: National Newspapers’ Coverage of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Nigeria.
Format: PDF and MS Word (DOC)
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Length: 50 pages.
ABSTRACT
The media plays an important role during disease outbreaks because of the influence they can have on the public’s awareness and perception of public health issues. The agenda set by the media, as well as how concerns are framed, can influence the direction and outcome of health situations.
A novel coronavirus that originated in China and has since spread to more than 20 other countries has dominated headlines around the world since its initial announcement in December 2019, as scientists and media outlets (including this one) scramble to understand the virus’s origins, trajectory, and impact.
The purpose of this study was to look into the scope and trends of COVID-19 coverage in Nigerian national newspapers. The agenda-setting theory, media framing theory, and social responsibility theory served as the theoretical underpinning for this study.
This study used content analysis as its research approach. Three Nigerian national newspapers, The Punch, The Guardian, and Vanguard, were deliberately chosen. This study was conducted over a four-month period, from January 1, 2020 to April 20, 2020.
The purposive sample technique was utilised to choose weekday editions of the selected newspapers while excluding weekend versions.
The census or complete enumeration technique was employed to investigate the whole weekday issues of the three newspapers issued over a four-month period, yielding a sample size of 1,305 editions from an available population of 1,827 editions.
A total of 687 coronavirus-related contents were identified, categorised, and evaluated using descriptive and inferential statistics.
The findings demonstrated that the selected newspapers were episodic in their coverage of the CORONAVIRUS epidemic, portraying it mostly through news stories while providing little commentary and analysis.
The newspapers gave the herders-farmers conflict little attention, with the majority of stories appearing on the inside pages and significantly fewer on the front page. It was proven that the newspapers varied their coverage across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
The results revealed that the publications relied heavily on government officials such as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, security personnel, and victims/eyewitnesses as their primary news sources.
The study indicated that the selected newspapers helped to mitigate coronavirus coverage and effectively served as a watchdog for society.
The study advised, among other things, that the Nigerian press be more interpretative and analytical in its coverage of coronavirus cases, and that journalists be routinely taught in health-sensitive reporting.
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