Abstract

The history of Nigerian journalism dates back to 1859, when Iwe Irohin, the first newspaper of which there is a record, was published in Abeokuta by an Anglican Church clergyman, the Rev. Henry Townsend. As with pioneers in every sphere of life, Iwe Irohin continues to be a focus of interest to journalism historians. More than 150 years since its debut, the newspaper continues to be remembered primarily as a religious publication. Little exists in literature with regard to the full panoply of its character, contents and focus. This study is a comprehensive examination of the newspaper’s contents from March 1860 when it debuted to October 1867 when it stopped publication in order to thematically analyze its contents. The objective is to answer the research question: Was Iwe Irohin merely a religious newspaper? The study was encouraged by the availability of archival issues of the newspaper in the New York Public Library in the United States. All issues of the paper were made available to the authors through inter-library loan facilitated by Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. We based our thematic listings on a review of reporting beats covered by contemporary reporters, from which we extrapolated 15 dominant editorial themes. We found that Iwe Irohin was far more than “a Christian newsreel;” as it covered the major issues of public interest, and significance for the audience of its day. The paper reported political, social and economic issues at home and abroad, just as contemporary newspapers do.

Key Words : Iwe Irohin, Religious Newspapers, Townsend, Editorial Themes, Nigerian Journalism History.

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*Prof. Chris Ogbondah, Ph.D. is a Professor of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa, U.S.A.

 **Prof. Etim Anim, Ph.D. was a Professor of Mass Communication, Bingham University, Karu, Nassarawa State, Nigeria.

 #This article was written by the two authors and submitted for publication before Prof. Etim Anim passed on to glory in October 2015. Publishing this article is thus a sort of tribute to him. May his soul rest in peace.

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 7, No. 2, October 2015, 15 – 33