Abstract

Nigerian newspapers share in the responsibility to rid society of corruption. This paper analysed newspaper reporting of corruption between 2000 and 2006 to investigate the form of newspaper  reports on corruption, the major events shaping news of corruption overtime, and what prominence newspapers accorded corruption on their news agenda. The paper found that newspapers lacked investigative efforts and relied on pseudo events and handouts to report corruption. Corruption reporting was episodic, and came in short straight news accounts and as isolated incidents. Corruption was an important issue of policy but never got attention it deserved, and most news of corruption were buried on inside pages, The paper observes that until newspapers become aggressive and proactive in pursuit of transparency in public affairs, their huge potentials for holding government accountable to the governed in Nigeria, would continue to be stymied by corruption.

Key Words:  Corruption, News Reporting, Newspaper Coverage, Public Accountability

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, April 2010, 143 – 154.

About the author

Rodney Ciboh, Ph.D, is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria.

Full Article

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Pages: 12

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Article Citation

Ciboh, R. (2010): The form of newspaper reports on corruption in Nigeria. Journal of Communication and Media Research 2(1): 143 – 154.