Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Nigeria – Newspapers'

This thesis explores the manner in which the conflict in the oil-rich Niger Delta in Nigeria is represented in western Anglophone media. Large oil reserves in the Niger Delta have contributed millions of dollars towards the growth of Nigeria's export economy. Despite this, the Niger Delta is the least developed region in the country and is characterised by high rates of inequality. Residents of the Niger Delta have been outraged by the lack of action on the part of the Nigerian government and multinational oil corporations. Their discontent over the inequalities in the region has resulted in the proliferation of armed groups and militants who often use violent and criminal tactics to communicate their disgruntlement. This thesis closely examines the representations of the violent insurgency in the Niger Delta by conducting a Critical Discourse Analysis of 145 news texts selected from four western Anglophone newspapers from 2007 to 2011. The depiction of the conflict as it appears in the four newspapers is discussed in relation to an overview of scholarly literature which explores the portrayal of Africa not only in western media, but also in other forms of western scholarship and writing. The research undertaken in this study reveals that to a significant extent representations of the Niger Delta conflict echo and reflect some of the stereotypical and age-old negative imagery that informs meanings constructed about the African continent. However, the analysis of the news texts also shows that there are certainly efforts amongst some newspapers to move beyond simplistic representations of the conflict. The disadvantage however, is that these notable attempts tend to be marred by the use of pejorative language which typically invokes negative images associated with Africa. This study argues that the implications of these representations are highly significant as these representations not only affect the way in which the conflict is understood, but also the manner in which the international community responds to it.

Thesis (M.A. (Journalism & Media Studies))--Rhodes University, 2004.
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies.

The resurgence of the polio virus in Nigeria following vaccine rejections poses a severe threat to the total worldwide eradication of polio. Vaccine refusals are a huge problem in Nigeria, especially in the North, which accounts for about 60 percent of polio cases in 2013. These refusals were informed by claims that polio vaccines contained anti-fertility properties that were designed by the ‘West’ to reduce the Muslim population. These claims and subsequent vaccine rejections culminated in the killing of health workers during an immunisation exercise in February 2013. This study is an analysis of the coverage of the polio eradication controversy by two newspapers- Punch and Daily Trust, following the killings of the health workers. Daily Trust is situated in Northern Nigeria, while Punch is situated in the South. The choice of these newspapers is based on the argument by Ayodele (1988) and Omenugha (2004) that the Nigerian press has been accused of escalating tension in the country because they view many aspects of the Nigerian reality from the lenses of religious, political and cultural prejudices. Because it is a text-based study, the chosen research method is Fairclough’s (1995) model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), following a preliminary thematic content analysis. In addition to Fairclough’s model, the study employs textual analytic tools such as narrative analysis and rhetoric/argumentative analysis. The selected texts, which comprise editorials and news stories are analysed based on the themes identified during the thematic content analysis. The study concludes that while the two newspapers differ in their locations and stylistic approach to news, they are similar in their coverage of the polio eradication crisis. They both side with the Federal Government and help perpetuate the South versus North animosity thereby ignoring the intricacies involved in the polio eradication controversy.

This study identified the media frames that dominate Thisday newspaper's coverage of China's engagement with Nigeria and relate these frames to frame sponsors, who articulate and contest these framings. Frame analysis is applied to a sample of 40 news, feature and opinion articles between the sample period of 1 November 2011 and 31 December 2012. The study analysed media content from Thisday newspapers, drawing on the four dimensions of frames identified by Entman: define problems, diagnose causes, evaluate causal agents and their effects, and recommend treatment (Entman 1993). Using an inductive approach to frame analysis, the study identified two overarching mega frames, contested among the ruling elites who sponsor their views on China in the media, which define China's engagement with Nigeria; partner/role model and predator. The two mega frames mirror the broad characterisation prevalent in the academic literature on China in Africa. The primary partner/role model mega frame constructs China's engagement with Nigeria as a mutually beneficial economic partnership while on the other hand the predator mega frame constructs it as unequal and exploitative. The study identified the activities of frame sponsors who are articulating and promoting their views on China's engagement with Nigeria in the media as primarily responsible for these framings. The study also identified the activities of frame sponsors (ruling and economic elites) was key to the exclusion of ordinary peoples' voices, civic organisations, trade unions and human rights organisation in the text. However, the study also attributes the exclusion of ordinary voices, human rights, democracy and civic engagements in the text to the weakness of Thisday journalism in mediating the framings of China being promoted and articulated by elite frame sponsors. This is, however, symptomatic of the fault lines of journalism practice in Nigeria.

This thesis studies print culture in colonial Lagos against the background of the public sphere, and brings together a variety of English-language and Yoruba-language newspapers. Such an approach allows for highlighting the practicalities of newspaper production and foregrounding the work accomplished by newspapermen in a changing 'information environment' and political context. It offers insights into Lagos politics, contributes to the history of the educated elite, and to more global histories of communication. Using newspapers as well as archival records, and focussing on events that strikingly reveal dynamics in the public sphere, this thesis narrates a nuanced history of a discursive field which was, amongst other things, central for Lagos politics. This thesis complicates a Habermasian notion of the public sphere as an open discursive space, and not only highlights that the public sphere was an arena of contested meanings, but also illustrates axes along which the composition of this social structure was negotiated. When newspapers emerged in the late nineteenth-century, discussions in the press were largely restricted to the elite. The economy of recognition that was at play in the public sphere was to change in the 1920s. This thesis highlights how newspapermen and contributors sought to carve out niches for themselves in the public sphere in new ways and how their becoming a speaker in this discursive field was challenged and contested. It highlights the nuanced ways in which newspapermen and contributors convened publics through their papers: how they did so around particular issues, in distinction from each other, and how they adapted the convening of publics to new political dynamics in the 1940s. This thesis gives insight into the complex relationship between English-language and Yoruba-language newspapers, and moreover illustrates how the practicalities of the newspaper business were coming to bear on dynamics in the public sphere.

A ideia de que os brasileiros estabelecidos em Lagos elaboraram identidades cambiantes que se reformularam em resposta aos contextos apresentados ao longo do período de 1840 a 1900, constituiu o foco central desta tese. Neste sentido, proponho compreender os contextos em que os brasileiros de Lagos tiveram de ressignificar e atualizar os signos responsáveis por conferir identificação aos integrantes de seu grupo. Para isto, selecionei um conjunto de documentos formado por três tipos de fontes. Com o propósito de entender como os brasileiros eram representados por missionários anglicanos e metodistas, exploradores, oficiais da marinha e cônsules britânicos analisei as narrativas de viagem, relatórios enviados ao Foreign Office e artigos publicados em revistas mantidas por associações científicas da época. O segundo grupo de documentos corresponde a três jornais publicados em Lagos entre os anos de 1881 e 1900, a saber: The Lagos Observer, The Lagos Weekly Record e o periódico oficial do governo colonial britânico, The Government Gazette. A leitura destas fontes revelou aspectos importantes acerca da participação dos brasileiros na sociedade lagosiana da segunda metade do século XIX. O terceiro compêndio de fontes é formado por relatórios anuais elaborados pela administração colonial da cidade e reunidos sob a denominação de Blue Books. Este conjunto de registros trata dos mais diferentes assuntos relacionados ao governo britânico operado na cidade e constitui importante fonte para análise acerca da maneira como os brasileiros eram representados pelo governo colonial. A partir destes três conjuntos de documentos tornou-se possível perceber as formas como os signos de pertencimento que definiam as identidades dos brasileiros foram elaborados a partir do contato, das trocas e das disputas entre os demais componentes sociais existentes na cidade de Lagos oitocentista.
The Brazilians established in Lagos developed shifting identities which were reshaped in response to the presented contexts throughout the period 1840 to 1900, was the central focus of this thesis. In this regard, I propose to understand the contexts in which the Brazilian from Lagos had to reframe and update the responsible signs for checking identification to the members of their group. For this, I selected a set of documents composed of three types of sources. In order to understand how Brazilians were represented by Anglican and Methodist missionaries, explorers, officers of the Navy and British consuls, I analyzed the travel narratives, reports to the Foreign Office and articles published in magazines kept by scientific associations at the time. The second group of documents corresponds to three newspapers published in Lagos between the years 1881 and 1900, namely: The Lagos Observer, The Lagos Weekly Record and the official journal of the British colonial government, The Government Gazette. Reading these sources revealed important aspects concerning the Brazilian participation in Lagos society in the second half of the nineteenth century. The third compendium of sources consists of annual reports by the colonial administration of the city and gathered under the name of Blue Books. This set of records focus on the most different topics related to the British government based in the city and is an important source of analysis about the way the Brazilians were represented by the colonial government. From these three sets of documents it was possible to see the ways in which the belonging signs which defined the identity of Brazilians were prepared from the contact, exchanges and disputes between the other social components existing in the Lagos of the nineteenth century.

The success of Nigeria’s 2015 general elections was unexpected, given the tense political and security climate in which the polls were conducted. It is against this backdrop that this study explores the contribution of four newspapers (The Guardian, Vanguard, Independent and Leadership) and, in particular, their editorials, to the relatively peaceful and mostly credible 2015 general elections in Nigeria. This qualitative study, located with an interpretivist tradition, draws on both in-depth individual interviews with editorial writers, and thematic content analysis of selected editorials to explore three themes: - violence-free polls, rational voting and credible electoral process. These newspaper editorials made moral and ethical appeals urging “supra-national” and patriotic attitudes as well as more detailed process interventions. Drawing from the theories of argumentation, the research suggests that three kinds (forensic, epideictic and deliberative) of arguments were made and three modes of argumentation (logos, pathos and ethos) were used by editorial writers to advance their arguments. This study examines what the editorial writers hoped to achieve and the normative ideals they drew on in the discharge of what they saw as their editorial duties. Drawing on theoretical insights from normative theories of journalism, and particularly social responsibility theory, this research posits that editorial writers hoped to arrest the spate of violence in the Nigerian polity, raise the level of discussion and redirect the attention of politicians in particular to core issues confronting ordinary Nigerians. The study finds a correlation between the editorials written and the normative ideals embodied in the social responsibility theory, which, the study finds, is the most influential normative ideal in the ‘mainstream’ Nigerian news media, at least in print. This study thus argues that in view of the range and frequency of focus on three core themes, and the persuasive power of writing, a case can be made for the editorials of these four major newspapers playing a constructive and positive role and making some contribution to the eventual peaceful and credible outcome of 2015 national elections in Nigeria.

This research is about the coverage of corruption scandals in the Nigerian press. It is a comparative study that This research is about the coverage of corruption scandals in the Nigerian press. It is a comparative study that develops an intra-national framework for the study of the Nigerian media system using corruption scandals. The scandals studied are the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) scandal and the Former Governors Scandal. The study used both interviews and qualitative content analysis by means of critical discourse analysis. The results of the study suggest that the press in Nigeria is regionally and ethnically divided. These factors influence the way the press report issues including corruption scandals. The study also suggests that factors like clientelism, regionalism, corruption within the press, and lack of training are among the challenges faced by the Nigerian press. It is the position of this study that the press in Nigeria is active in reporting stories about corruption scandals, but has not done enough when it comes to the application of such aspects of journalistic practice like investigative journalism which contributes in the watchdog role of the media. The study concludes by suggesting areas for further research.

This research project surveyed the Influence of ethnicity in newspaper coverage of the Plateau State conflict in North-Central Nigeria. It analyses how conflict journalists reported this violent episode that has spanned nearly twenty years and the significance of this coverage. The conflict has been between the Plateau State indigenous communities (indigenes), on the one hand, and the Hausa/Fulani ethnic group (settlers), on the other hand. Scholars have examined this violent conflict from economic, political, ethno-religious and social perspectives aimed at understanding the causative factors and ameliorate the conflict's problems. Despite these efforts, no study to this point has been done on how ethnicity influenced newspaper journalists' coverage of this violent phenomenon. This, therefore, is the gap in knowledge which this study attempts to close. The research deployed agenda-setting, news framing, and human right oriented journalism as conceptual explanatory frameworks for this enquiry. Through then, this research attempted to understand how conflict journalists constructed and framed the news and reports they produced, by analysing two sets of primary data gathered in the project: Semi-structured interviews with some key journalists (reporters and editors) and newspaper texts of 'The Nigeria Standard' and the 'Daily Trust'. Findings from literature, textual and interview data obtained over the period of this research (three years) evidenced that conflict journalists of 'The Nigeria Standard' and the 'Daily Trust', in constructing their news frames, were influenced more by their ethnic affiliations than by the ethics of the journalism profession of which they were supposed to be bound by. The news framing, which they used revealed how, in some instances, reporters amplified issues, while in some others, de-emphasised them either to aggravate or downplay the conflict. The discursive strategies reporters and editors employed, (propaganda, exaggeration, litotes, and negatives stereotyping, among others) led to the inclusion and exclusion of certain frames, facts, opinions and value judgements. Through these strategies the journalists of the two selected newspapers set agenda for the reading audience. Thus, the study avows that 'The Nigeria Standard' and the 'Daily Trust' journalists' coverage of the Plateau State conflict was influenced more by ethnicity than by the ethics of journalism and consequently led to the intensification of the conflict.

The global information and Communications debate has not only grown in importance but has also carved out a new area of international relations and study, i.e information diplomacy. In the past most attention and studies have been devoted to the imbalance in the flow of news, data and information between Western nations (considered as the most information developed) and the Third World (regarded as less information developed) • However, this study attempts to argue that information imbalance and inequality within and between the Africa and the Western countries is not only an external problem but also an internal (African) one because of socioeconomic inequalities and the problem of national elites. Chapter I discusses the 'information explosion', the channels of (Western) international news flow and the NWICO debate. It presents the main issues, participants and critique of the (NWICO) debate. Chapter II is a discussion of the media in Africa, in comparison with those in the industrialised countries, highlighting on the gaps between them and those of the developed countries. Chapter III analyses various aspects. of the MacBride Commission its composition, mandate, report and recommendations. The Commission's submissions seemed to fit t~e description given them as 'vague general consensus' which ~1d not offend any major participants (particularly Western) 1n the debate. Sharing similar goals with the NWICO, it is suggested that Third World national agencies and News Exchange Mechanisms like PANA, were not established on a sound footing because of the former's (NWICO's) loopholes. Chapter IV introduces the methodology used in the study. These include field interviews, participant observation, secondary materials and content analysis. Chapter V presents the various types of news agencies, with more detailed attention on PANA. PANA' s editorial and organizational structure are discussed as well as other issues (telecommunication, financial, etc) relating to the agency, particularly in the context of its (PANA'S) goals to establish a new information order in Africa. Chapters VI and VII are content analyses of the news chemistry of PANA and some selected Nigerian newspapers respectively. A number of similarities especially with regard to core news values and character were discovered in the news bulletins of the two sets of African media. Separately and jointly the news values of these two media are not found to provide 'alternative' news or information which focus on non-dominant news centres, topics and actors. Chapter VIII presents data testing the awareness of PANA among Nigerian Journalists. It suggests that the respondents' awareness of PANA's services is low, meaning that even if the agency's stories are an alternative to the existing information order, its impact (among Nigerian journalists) in reporting Africa is yet to be felt. In chapter IX imbalances and bias in the news of PANA and the studied newspapers, favouring power holding groups in society, are explained using various levels of explanation. These include political and economic inequalities within and between Africa and the West, allocative, managerial and editorial control patterns, the global spread of Western news production practices, media organizational structures (which are hierarchical) and the socialization and training of journalists into routine media practices and values. It is argued that media (in particular PANA and the newspapers) output also contribute to the maintenance of the status quo. Finally, Chapter X is a general conclusion chapter. Apart from summarizing the main findings in the study, it argues that though developing countries attempt to produce their own news and lessen their dependence on foreign (Western) agencies, the problems of imbalance and bias still manifest themselves in their news. It contends that the main problem seems to be the synchronization of African media to the news production values and practices of Western countries as a consequence of their integration into the global capitalist system.

This study evaluates the performance of the Nigerian press in discharging the duties of a watchdog prescribed for it by the Nigerian Constitution – of monitoring the activities of public office holders and holding them accountable to the people. The study uses three different but complementary methods (content analysis, critical discourse analysis and semi-structured interviews). The first two methods are employed in analysing the headline news content and editorial opinions respectively of two Nigerian independent newspapers, using the framework of the Liberal Media Theory (Watchdog Model). The study also used semi-structured interviews to obtain additional information from Nigerian journalists on their professional practices and working conditions. Overall, the study seeks to establish whether the Nigerian independent press is performing the watchdog role of the press as a facilitator of democracy and good governance, by providing critical news and opinions on key issues like political violence and corruption, or whether the press is serving as a lapdog of the government in power, the political parties or the ruling economic and political power elite. The main findings of this study indicate that despite numerous challenges which impinge on journalists‟ professional practices, and the challenges imposed by ownership and control structures, the Nigerian press has played a critical watchdog role in focusing news coverage on the serious political and social problems of violence and corruption in the country‟s democratisation process, while also challenging the abuse of power by the ruling economic and political elite, although with some regional variations in performing the watchdog role. Overall, the study contends that although the Watchdog Model may appear out-dated in the Western world as a basis for evaluating media performance, this model is still very valid in understanding the normative function of the press within the context of Nigeria as an emerging democracy in Africa.

Ireland experienced an unprecedented arrival of immigrants during the years of economic prosperity. The new diversity was met with divided public opinion towards non-Irish and an increasingly selective immigration policy. The media, as a main contributor to public discourse, play an important role in the construction of migrant images and therefore have a profound impact on such developments. Employing a combination of quantitative and qualitative content analysis, this study examines whether different immigrant groups have the same chance of favourable or unfavourable portrayal in daily newspapers. Based on the most frequent roles and topics associated with Poles, Nigerians and Chinese, a selection of newspaper articles is subjected to in-depth analysis. The overarching result that there is not one image of the Irish media illustrates how difficult, if not impossible, it is to arrive at findings that can be generalised. Individual newspapers are found to pursuit varying and sometimes covert strategies in the representation of immigrants. It is further shown that immigrants who are perceived as culturally closer to Irishness have a higher chance of favourable portrayal than those who are perceived as culturally more distant. Some commonly accepted perceptions of immigrants are unmasked as myths.

Submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Masters of Arts Degree in Language Practice, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016.
This study investigates how language is used to communicate meaning in bank advertisements. It also examines stylistics in advertising with specific focus on selected bank advertisements in South African and Nigerian newspapers and magazines. Stylistics is a branch of linguistics which studies the principles, and effect of choice and usage of different language elements in rendering thought and emotion under different conditions of communication. Advertising is a form of communication used to help sell products and services. Adverts are not only designed to fascinate, but also to achieve their persuasive goal. This study shows how language is used in bank advertisements to convey messages to the public. The stylistic elements employed in the analysis of bank adverts included graphology, phonology, lexis, syntax and cohesion. The use of capitalization and repetition for emphasis, phonemes and Gothic writing to attract the attention of readers and images to stimulate customers’ aspirations were some of the findings of the study. Given that studies on language use are still of high interest to linguists, this study critically interrogates the effectiveness of language choice in bank advertisements. The conclusion is that stylistic devices are important in advertising as they attract customers to the services and products being advertised.
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Ireland experienced an unprecedented arrival of immigrants during the years of economic prosperity. The new diversity was met with divided public opinion towards non-Irish and an increasingly selective immigration policy. The media, as a main contributor to public discourse, play an important role in the construction of migrant images and therefore have a profound impact on such developments. Employing a combination of quantitative and qualitative content analysis, this study examines whether different immigrant groups have the same chance of favourable or unfavourable portrayal in daily newspapers. Based on the most frequent roles and topics associated with Poles, Nigerians and Chinese, a selection of newspaper articles is subjected to in-depth analysis. The overarching result that there is not one image of the Irish media illustrates how difficult, if not impossible, it is to arrive at findings that can be generalised. Individual newspapers are found to pursuit varying and sometimes covert strategies in the representation of immigrants. It is further shown that immigrants who are perceived as culturally closer to Irishness have a higher chance of favourable portrayal than those who are perceived as culturally more distant. Some commonly accepted perceptions of immigrants are unmasked as myths.