The study “Newspaper Coverage of the Niger Delta Crisis: A Comparative Analysis of Government and Privately Owned Newspapers in Nigeria” was motivated by the need to check crises in the country as well as proffer solution to resolving the crisis in the Niger Delta region especially as the crisis had taken a rather horrendous dimension in recent years. The media have been said to be at the fore front of the crisis, either escalating or helping to resolve the crisis. The purpose of the study was to find out whether government and privately owned newspapers in Nigeria represented by The Pointer, The Nigerian Observer, The Punch and The Guardian newspapers had given significant coverage to the Niger Delta crisis between January 2006 and December
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Wikipedia (2009), reports that the ethnic unrest and conflicts of the late 1990s led increasingly to the militarization of the Delta. According to the report, by this time, local and state officials have become involved by offering financial support to those paramilitary groups they believed would attempt to enforce their own political agenda. Such groups include: Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV), Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Pan-Niger Delta Resistance and so on. All these are reflected daily on pages of newspapers locally and globally.
Meanwhile, in trying to highlight the relationship between media coverage and conflict, Gerald (1963); Rivers and Schramm (1969) in Tichenor et al. (1994, p.97) explains that the role of newspaper and the mass media in community conflict is often recognized and frequently, the media are charged with creating conflicts. They opined that the media may be accused of “sensationalizing” and “blowing things out of proportion” or …show more content…
It reflects whether the story is quarter page, half page, full page or just a paragraph story. Full page stories are ranked 4, half page 3, quarter page 2, paragraph 1.
Year The Pointer The Nigerian Observe r The Punch The Guardian
Quarter Page Half Page Full Page Paragraph Quarter Page Half Page Full Page Paragraph Quarter Page Half Page Full Page Paragraph Quarter Page Half Page Full Page Paragraph
2006 30 6 6 - 13 3 - - 47 4 - - 31 7 3 3
2007 30 1 3 - 9 - - - 26 1 5 - 37 4 4 1
2008 30 2 7 - 2 - 3 - 46 10 2 3 37 10 5 2
2009 16 3 3 - 18 1 3 - 53 2 1 1 33 9 4 -
The table above reflects the government owned newspaper, The Pointer as carrying 19 full page stories; on the other hand, the privately- owned newspapers, The Punch and The Guardian had 8 and 16 full pages reports respectively.
More so, the government- owned newspapers, The Pointer and The Nigerian Observer were significantly poor in the use of pictures and information graphics. In comparison with the frequency of report of the Niger Delta crisis, both the government owned and privately owned newspaper did not give the crisis the required depth of treatment that could have been considered significant. Bulk of the stories from all the newspapers were quarter page
Wikipedia (2009), reports that the ethnic unrest and conflicts of the late 1990s led increasingly to the militarization of the Delta. According to the report, by this time, local and state officials have become involved by offering financial support to those paramilitary groups they believed would attempt to enforce their own political agenda. Such groups include: Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV), Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Pan-Niger Delta Resistance and so on. All these are reflected daily on pages of newspapers locally and globally.
Meanwhile, in trying to highlight the relationship between media coverage and conflict, Gerald (1963); Rivers and Schramm (1969) in Tichenor et al. (1994, p.97) explains that the role of newspaper and the mass media in community conflict is often recognized and frequently, the media are charged with creating conflicts. They opined that the media may be accused of “sensationalizing” and “blowing things out of proportion” or …show more content…
It reflects whether the story is quarter page, half page, full page or just a paragraph story. Full page stories are ranked 4, half page 3, quarter page 2, paragraph 1.
Year The Pointer The Nigerian Observe r The Punch The Guardian
Quarter Page Half Page Full Page Paragraph Quarter Page Half Page Full Page Paragraph Quarter Page Half Page Full Page Paragraph Quarter Page Half Page Full Page Paragraph
2006 30 6 6 - 13 3 - - 47 4 - - 31 7 3 3
2007 30 1 3 - 9 - - - 26 1 5 - 37 4 4 1
2008 30 2 7 - 2 - 3 - 46 10 2 3 37 10 5 2
2009 16 3 3 - 18 1 3 - 53 2 1 1 33 9 4 -
The table above reflects the government owned newspaper, The Pointer as carrying 19 full page stories; on the other hand, the privately- owned newspapers, The Punch and The Guardian had 8 and 16 full pages reports respectively.
More so, the government- owned newspapers, The Pointer and The Nigerian Observer were significantly poor in the use of pictures and information graphics. In comparison with the frequency of report of the Niger Delta crisis, both the government owned and privately owned newspaper did not give the crisis the required depth of treatment that could have been considered significant. Bulk of the stories from all the newspapers were quarter page