Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of the Abducted Chibok School Girls in Borno State of Nigeria in 2014, Using the Guardian, Daily Sun, Daily Trust and Leadership Newspapers.
ABSTRACT
The issue of terrorism has attracted global attention. In Nigeria in particular, the terrorist abduction of over 276 Chibok school girls attracted the highest global attention. Hence, this study was set to examine newspaper coverage of the abducted Chibok school girls. It analyzed the content of four Nigerian newspapers: The Guardian, Daily Sun, Daily Trust and Leadership newspapers in their coverage of abducted Chibok school girls in Borno state from April 2014 to September 2014.
The researcher systematically selected a sample size of 224 editions of the four newspapers for six months to generate data for the study. 79 editions out of the sample do not have stories on Chibok girls while 145 editions of the total sample yielded 374 stories on Chibok girls which were analyzed. The major findings are that Nigerian newspapers down played the coverage of issues about Chibok girl’s abduction.
The Nigerian newspaper coverage of the Chibok girl’s abduction suffered lack of in-depth and interpretative analysis. The findings showed that the volume of coverage was poor. The published materials were not given prominence by virtue of their placement or position in the newspapers as over 78.6% of them were placed in the inside pages of the newspaper. It was concluded that there was much of quantitative coverage than qualitative coverage because of the high disparity between the numbers of straight news items to interpretative news items.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page —————————————————————————————— i
Certification ————————————————————————————— ii
Dedication —————————————————————————————– iii
Acknowledgment———————————————————————————- iv
Table of contents ——————————————————————————— v
List of tables ————————————————————————————— vi
Abstract —————————————————————————————— vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study —————————————————————— 1
1.2 Statement of Problem ———————————————————————- 4
1.3 Objectives of the Study ——————————————————————– 5
1.4 Research Questions————————————————————————- 5
1.5 Significance of the Study—————————————————————— 6
1.6 Scope of the Study————————————————————————– 6
1.7 Definition of Terms ———————————————————————— 7
Reference ————————————————————————————- 8
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Focus of Review —————————————————————————- 10
2.2 Terrorism————————————————————————————– 10
2.3 Terrorism and the Mass Media ———————————————————– 12
2.4 The symbiosis between Terrorism and Mass Media ——————————— 15
2.5 Boko Haram and Terrorism in Nigeria ————————————————– 21
2.6 Boko Haram Attacks on Educational Institutions in Nigeria ———————— 25
2.7 Mass Media and Strategic Communication against Terrorism———————- 31
2.8 Theoretical Framework ——————————————————————– 33
Reference ———————————————————————————— 39
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design —————————————————————————- 43
3.2 Population of the Study——————————————————————– 44
3.3 Sample Size ———————————————————————————- 45
3.4 Sampling Technique———————————————————————— 47
3.5 Instruments for Data Collection———————————————————- 47
3.6 Unit of Analysis—————————————————————————– 48
3.7 Validity of the Instrument—————————————————————– 51
3.8 Reliability of the Instrument————————————————————– 51
3.9 Limitations of the Methodology ——————————————————— 53
Reference ————————————————————————————- 54
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Description of the sample —————————————————————– 55
4.2 Data Presentation and Analysis ———————————————————- 56
4.3 Discussion of Findings ——————————————————————– 69
Reference ———————————————————————————— 74
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary and Findings ——————————————————————– 75
5.2 Conclusion ———————————————————————————– 75
5.3 Recommendation ————————————————————————— 76
Bibliography ——————————————————————————– 78
INTRODUCTION
Different parts of the world are today enmeshed in one form of violent crime or the other. These crimes take one or combine the following forms namely armed robbery, drug trafficking, kidnapping/abductions, assassinations, bank raiding, militancy and terrorism. However, among these violent crimes, terrorism is that which commonly employ the use of others to attain its objectives.
Terrorism as a result generates more concern among the common people who are always at the receiving end of the deadly attacks perpetuated by the terrorist. It also generates so much concern because it is one crime that even the most powerful country/countries in the world are still struggling to contain in their own territories. Eze, (2011) concurred that the greatest danger facing the world today is terrorism.
Virtually no nation is safe from terrorist activities. Terrorism has come to represent the only option for individuals or groups to vent their anger or seek recognition. In fact, terrorism has been dubbed the “poor man’s warfare”, and often times, terrorism often lack a “return address”. According to Dershowhz (2002), terrorism is often rationalized as a valid response to its “root causes” – mainly repression and desperation.
Global terrorism and precisely Nigerian terrorism is thus a phenomenon largely of our own making. In Nigeria, acts of terrorism have been on the increase thereby prompting the national assembly to pass the Anti-Terrorism Bill in 2011. The Independence Day bombing of 2010, the Police headquarter suicide bombing in Abuja, the United Nations building suicide bombing… and lately, the monumental abduction of Chibok school girls marked the zenith of these acts of terrorism in Nigeria.
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