Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

5-1999

School/College

School of Communication (SOC)

Degree Name

MA in Communication

First Advisor

Professor Chris C. Ulasi

Abstract

There has been argument about imbalances in the international news flow and presentation, and the dominance of the Western news agencies. And it has also been observed that the Third World countries' news events were under-reported by the Western media. Moreover, most of the scanty news events reported were negative. The purpose of the study was to examine the news coverage of Nigeria by Christian Science Monitor (CSM), New York Times (NYT), and The Times of London (TTL) from January-December, 1985-1995. Nigeria is a Third World country. The findings can contribute to the debate. A research method employed in the study was content analysis. The accessible population consisted of the entirety of the CSM, NYT and TTL publications from January 1985 to December 1995, excluding Saturday and Sunday editions. The total was 8,6l3 publications. A sample of 1,320 was selected by the stratified random sampling technique. For a reliable collection of the data, news categories, subject . categories and news direction categories were developed. Descriptive statistics were 2 employed for the analysis. The data analysis produced the following results. The CSM, NYT and TTL carried a total of 82 Nigerian news articles from 1985 to 1995. The CSM carried 28 (34.15%) news articles with a mean of2.55 yearly; the NYT-- 35 (42.68%) with the mean of 3. 18, and the TTL--19 (23. 17%) with the mean of 1. 77 from 1985-1995. The CSM covered 17 (20.73%) news events on politics/government, six (7.32%) on economy, one (1.22%) on education and sports, and three (3.66%) on "others". The NYT carried 21 (25.61%) on political/government, six (7.32%) on economy, two (2.44%) on education, and six (7.32%) on "others. The TTL carried 13 (15.85%) on politicS/ government, three (3.66%) on economy, and three (3.66%) on "others". The CSM reported 14 (17.08%) positive news and 14 (17.08%) negative. The "NYf carried 10 (12.20%) positive and 25 (30.48%) negative. The TTL published four (4.88%) positive and 15 (18.29010) negative. The 2.55 mean of yearly publications of Nigerian news by the CSM, 3.18 mean by the NYT and the 1. 17 mean by TTL can be considered very scanty and under coverage. The following limitations were observed in the study. First, the CS􁪽 NYT and TTL were not perfect representatives of thousands of different dailies published in the West. Therefore, the results from the study cannot be a perfect representation of how all the dailies in the West reported the Nigerian news events. Secondly, the size of the sample allowed only generalization to the research population and not to all other populations by the three newspapers. In other words, the results cannot be generalized to other publications of the three newspapers outside the period under review. 3 However, the findings are likely to generate other studies in the area. First, the present study can be replicated in order to compare the future findings with the present results. Secondly, other Western newspapers can be investigated to determine the coverage on Nigerian news events. Thirdly, the coverage of other Third World countries by the Western newspapers can be investigated. Finally, in future studies the size of the sample can be increased depending on the availability of enough fund and time. The findings from the increased sample can provide an opportunity for more generalization

Download

Share

COinS