A CONTENT ANALYTICAL STUDY OF SELECT NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF FULANI HERDSMEN AND FARMERS CRISIS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study examined the frequency of the coverage and prominence given to the Fulani herdsmen and Farmers crisis in Nigeria in the Punch and Vanguard newspapers. The study adopted content analysis as the research design to study and analyze the manifest content of the select newspapers from May to August, 2021 which gave 246 of the total population of the study. The paper sought to determine the genre of reportage of the issue adopted as well as the direction of their reportage. The study was anchored on the two theories: Social responsibility and the agenda setting theory. The study involved content analysis of data obtained from sample of 71 editions of The Punch and Vanguard. The information obtained showed that the select newspapers studied reported the herdsmen-farmers crisis but more of from the unfavourable direction with low prominence in terms of story placement, space allotted and story format. The researcher recommended among other things that the select newspapers should give more prominence to the crisis as it will show their increased interest and commitment to the issue. Also, the press should give in-depth analysis of the issue and take an objective stand in their reportage so as not to project a party with contempt.