Abstract

This is a content analytical research indulging social statistical measures and evaluation of possible disparities amongst four Nigerian national dailies’ quantitative coverage of local, international and foreign health news. The research determines the extent and nature of local, international and foreign health news coverage. Hinged on Development Media Theory for non-empirical perspective, this research advances pivotal attention towards strategic allocation of media space to health news from Nigeria. Four Nigerian national dailies were purposively considered and systematically sampled with an interval of 4:1. Test result indicates improving but still low local health news among three of the four newspapers –showing some significant disparities. International proximate locations of health news are overall higher in terms of percentage coverage than local health news, while foreign health news coverage is the least covered in all the four dailies –as expected. There should be more development communication research based on news analyses along proximate news locations considered herein, as well as better health-news space allocation aided by relevant advanced computer software -which will enable algorithm based inherent news categories and relative news dissemination.

Key Words: Health News; Development Communication; Proximate News Locations; Nigerian Health Media

Authors’ Bio

*    Isaac Imo-Ter Nyam lectures at the Department of Mass Communication, College of Social Sciences, Veritas University, Abuja, Nigeria. His research interest and relative expertise is digital media/communication, speech, as well as data analysis and theorization.

**  Ngozi Okpara, Ph.D. is a lecturer and Head of the Department of Mass Media and Writing, School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria. Her main areas of research are in media ethics, human communication ethics, and journalism.

^JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 11, No. 2, October 2019, pp.  196 - 204