Abstract

This article, through latent content analysis of the following Nigerian newspapers: Nigerian Tribune, Punch, Vanguard and The Sun newspapers emphasises the importance of newspaper headlines, and the framing of crime stories. Anchored on the Social Responsibility theory of the press, the authors examine and explain the nature of crime framing in the newspapers. The study adopts purposive sampling for the selected newspapers covering a five year period (2010-2014). Adopting Ruiz’s (2009) Sociological Discourse Analysis, the study attempts to contextually draw inferences from the audience interpretation of the selected newspapers’ crime stories. It was found that the headlines are often misleading, ambiguous and episodic, emphasising the incident rather the context. It also found that newspapers do feast on crime stories to arrest the readers’ attention and that the headlines and the sensationlised stories often conflict. The paper concludes that newspapers should treat crime as an epidemic requiring proper diagnosis, through thematic rather than episodic reporting.

Key Words: Framing, Media Portrayal, Social Responsibility, Headlines, Thematic, Episodic

JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 13, No. 2, October 2021, pp. 63-71

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

About the authors

* Mustapha Olalekan Rufai, Ph.D., orcid.org/0000-0001-8426-289X, is a Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. He is a beneficiary of TETFUND and holds a PhD from the North-West University, Mafikeng, South Africa.  His research revolves around Journalism (Media and Crime Communication) and Strategic/Applied Communication.

** Abiodun Salawu, Ph.D., is a Professor of Journalism, Communication and Media Studies and Director of the research entity, Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) at the North-West University, South Africa. He has taught and researched journalism for over two decades in Nigeria and South Africa. He is a co-vice chair of the journalism section of International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) and a member of the Codesria’s College of Senior Academic Mentors.

Full Article

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Article Citation

Rufai, M. O. & Salawu, A. (2021). Discourse analysis of the framing of crime stories in selected Nigerian newspapers’ headlines. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 13 (2): 63 – 71.