THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN MANAGING CONFLICTS IN THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTIONS

ABSTRACT

The 2023 general election in Nigeria witnessed several dimensions of political conflicts ranging from class conflicts between the bourgeois and the masses, to religious conflicts, tribal conflicts and media conflicts. Over the years, there’s been a populace perception that the media because of its ownership influence or alignment to a politician or political party have resulted to bias reportage. It is on these notes that this research seeks to investigate the role the media played in managing the conflicts in the 2023 general elections using Edo State as a case study. On the course of this research the study situated its theoretical background on the agenda setting and social responsibility theories of the press. The investigative method adopted for this research was the survey method. From the findings of this research, the media seemed to have played a major role in managing the political conflicts in the 2023 general elections in Edo State through its high level of neutrality in reports and portraying of peace by sensitizing citizens to shun political violence. However, this research recommends that citizens should collaborate with the media in making available necessary information that will help in dishing out credible reports and in doing that the media should always have a firm attitude, upholding their ethics.