Journal VOL. 2 NO. 2, September. 2021, ISSN: 2811 - 2628
Online Newspapers and Coverage Issue in Extrajudicial Killings in Nigeria
Okunade Joshua Kayode, Balogun Rachael Feyisara
ABSTRACT
The unlawful killing of citizens by national security officials originally instituted to safeguard their life is a problem fast becoming a common reality in Nigeria. The media, in its role as the foremost provider of information, has the responsibility to make available to the public, adequate and relevant information on these issues. This research examines “The Punch” and “Vanguard” online newspapers’ coverage of extrajudicial killings in Nigeria. The content analysis of the newspapers was within a twelve-month period from May 2019 to April 2020, with the purpose of determining the level of prominence, sources and form in which the stories were presented. Both the Agenda Setting theory and Social Responsibility theory were deployed for the study while the content analysis sampling technique was adopted. A total of ninety-three articles were examined, in which “Vanguard” had 44% stories more than “The Punch”, and 22.6% of the issues were reported in the month of April, 2020. Security organisations were major informants with 31.2% of the stories, while accounts from victim’s relatives were 6.5%. The stories were majorly presented in the form of hard news. Overall, it is concluded that issues of extrajudicial killings in Nigeria do not receive optimum coverage in newspapers, the dependence on security organisations who constitute the act of extrajudicial killings can have adverse effects on the reliability of the news, and the lack of indication of court trial in 71% of the stories covered poses as an indicator that there was probably no or delay in justice for the victims. The study recommends that the press invest more in investigative reporting; government should reform the police force and other security organizations in order to eliminate possible excuses for misconduct and that Civil Society Organizations advocacy against the violation of human rights should be recognized and supported by the media.
Keywords: Citizen, Extrajudicial-killings, Editorial, Online, Newspaper
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