Abstract

This study was carried out to determine how hate speeches and ethnic coloration were covered and reported in Punch, Daily Trust & Sun Newspapers. The newspapers were purposively selected because they have wide readership and circulates across the Northern and Southern regions of Nigeria. The media has become a veritable arbiter in the process of knowledge formation through its surveillance function of combing the environment. Thus, audience dependence on the media for information needs warranted the need to bring issues of public concern to their notice. The research adopted the Agenda-Setting and Framing theories as justification, while content analysis research method was employed to generate quantitative data for the study. Results showed that542 reports on hate speeches and ethnic coloration were obtained from the 231 editions of the three selected newspapers. Majority (74.9%) of the reports appeared mainly inside the pages of the newspapers, and minimal prominence were given to hate speeches and ethnic coloration by these newspapers. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Nigerian newspapers should give prominence to important and controversial national issues, by publishing the stories on their front and back pages, so that proper attention can be given to the situation and encourage the support to remedy it.

Key Words: Hate Speech, Ethnic Coloration, General Election, Newspapers, Prominence.

^JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 14, No. 1, April 2022, pp. 15-23

© Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON).

About the authors

*    Victor Olusegun Babatunde is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Kwara State University, Malete, Kwara State, Nigeria and a doctoral candidate in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. His research interests include Media and Society, Mass Media Effects, Broadcasting and Development Communication.

**  Olutobi Michael Folorunshois an Education Officer with Kwara State Teaching Service Commission and also teaches on part-time at the Institute of Professional and Continuous Education, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria. His research interests include Development/Political Communication, Print Journalism, Media Research and Public Relations.

***      Usman Nasirudeen Adegboye is a postgraduate student in the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. His areas of specialization are Development/Health Communication, Media and Society and Public Relations.

Article Citation

Babatunde, V.O., Folorunsho, O.M. & Adegboye, U.N. (2022). Assessing newspapers’ coverage of hate speeches & ethnic coloration in Nigeria’s 2019 general election: A study of Punch, Daily Trust& Sun newspapers. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 14 (1): 15 – 23.

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