NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF COVID-19 ISSUES IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF TWO NEWSPAPERS

Abstract

This study examined the newspaper coverage of COVID-19 issues in Nigeria with attention to the frequency, story format, news prominence and also the sources of the news. Two newspapers were content analysed between February 2020 and January 2021. Focus was on The Punch and The Guardian newspaper. Results indicated that these newspapers performed well in terms of covering the virus outbreak, which in turn creates awareness. However, the coverage of these stories was not in-depth as most stories reported were short and mostly was straight news. It was also observed that the Newspapers cited Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), government officials and Health Practitioners. Also, in the study, it was discovered that most of the stories published were alarming and induced fear and panic in the audience. Most common stories were coverage of cases in Nigeria, death rates, recovery rate, isolation, and concern about Nigeria preparedness, the effect of the virus on educational sectors. The Nigeria newspaper house should refrain from over usage of alarming and panic tone in presenting the stories of COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, because the Virus on its own is already dreadful to the masses.