Impact of press freedom on reportage of corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas industry : a comparative content analysis of four Nigerian Newspapers
- Authors: Ayodeji-Falade, Monisola Bolajoko
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Newspapers -- Nigeria , Freedom of the press , Mass media -- Nigeria
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21805 , vital:51787
- Description: A free press is pivotal to eradication of corruption in the society as the press remains the most powerful channel of communication that cut across all publics. Thus, this study seeks to evaluate the impact of press freedom on reportage of corruption in the oil and gas industry through a content analysis of four Nigerian newspapers (The Punch, Vanguard, Guardian and Nigerian Tribune). The study adopted a mixed research method involving both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Quantitative data were collected and analysed through content analysis of the selected newspapers while the qualitative data collected through interview of the respective newspaper correspondents were analysed using thematic analysis. The study revealed that 534 stories were published on corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas sector by all the newspapers within the study period (July 2018-June 2019), with the Punch having the highest magnitude of stories (n = 196, 36.70percent) while Nigerian Tribune had the highest number of stories reported on its front and back pages (n = 143, 92.25percent). However, Guardian had the highest number of full-paged stories (n = 15, 20percent) whereas the Punch and Nigerian Tribune adopted the widest range of publication formats with news being the most dominant format employed by all the dailies (n = 462, 86.52percent). Although, all the newspapers employed more episodic frame (n = 432, 80.89percent) than thematic frame (n = 93,17.41percent), framing analysis revealed oil theft, vandalism, alleged-fraud, environmental consequences and economic consequences as the major frames used in the coverage of stories on corruption in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Thematic analysis showed that the newspaper correspondents did not have access to adequate information on corruption in the sector while journalists in the country are still being subjected to intimidation, arrest and imprisonment. These findings suggest that the selected newspapers gave prominence to reportage of corruption in the oil and gas sector in country, which implies that the newspapers are fulfilling their agenda-setting roles and social responsibility in the society. Nevertheless, the level of press freedom in Nigeria has partly affected the reportage of corruption in the oil and gas sector of the country as this has restricted the use of investigative reporting occasioned by the lack of access to classified information on corruption and envisaged harm by potential sources and journalists. Nevertheless, this study proposes an anticorruption-media model, which focuses on the significance of the media as an anticorruption agent in a developing country. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
Contesting Boko Haram: A postcolonial critique of media representation of the ethnoreligious, socio-economic and political conflict in Nigeria
- Authors: Mjekula, Somila
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Mass media -- Nigeria , Television broadcasting -- Social aspects -- Nigeria Nigeria -- In mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/22780 , vital:30085
- Description: Representative and narrative discourses from international media and academia present an essentialist and misleading idea of African issues, and this misrepresentation has leaked, by association, into a flawed portrayal of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. That is, just as reductionism, ahistorical attributions, and contradictions tend to occur in writing on African conflicts, this has become the tendency with insufficient attempts to define the identity and explain the actions of Boko Haram. Using a postcolonial critique, this dissertation reveals how news media and scholarly reports often undermine and negate the historical, ethno-religious and ideological nuances of Boko Haram’s identity, as well as the socio-economic and political issues that motivate the actions of the sect. Additionally, the examination of Boko Haram’s origins, influences and ever-evolving identity confronts the contradictions and flaws within the group’s own representation, through its ideology and pragmatism. This multi-fold analysis is done through an initial exploration of Nigeria’s history under British colonial rule and the lasting legacy thereafter, which has been responsible for the contemporary violent conflicts that journalist and scholars tend to reduced to Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. This is followed by a critical acknowledgement of the complicity of Nigeria’s political leadership in the socio-economic injustices prevalent between the two predominant religious populations of Nigeria’s rich and educated Christian South, and the poor and disadvantaged Muslim North. Critical Discourse Analysis is used as a method to analyse the representation of Boko Haram from three academic journal reports by African scholars and three international print media news reports. This study seeks to contribute to reports/writings on postcolonial interpretations of violence and conflict in African media studies, and to account for the historical and contemporary complexities within African countries and their inhabitants who are often negated by influential libertarian media and trusted analytical-scholarly articles.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018