An assessment of newspaper coverage of gender violence in Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated newspaper coverage of gender violence in Nigeria with specific attention on, frequency, depth, and prominence. Two newspapers- The Daily Trust and the Daily Sun-were purposively selected for the study. The study duration was 24 months while content analysis was adopted as the study design. Result showed, among others, that the frequency of coverage of gender violence by the two newspapers within the study duration is 43%. Result of this study further revealed that 24.4% of the stories from the two newspapers on gender violence within the study duration were on front page, 31.1% 32.2% and 12.2% were on inside page, back page and centre spread in that order. The result of this study has implications on the quest to reduce cases of gender based violence in Nigeria as it provides evidence on the how The Daily Trust and The Daily Sun in particular and Nigerian newspapers in general have contributed against the fight against violence against persons on the basis of their gender. Based on the result of this study, the researcher recommends, among others that, Nigerian newspapers should improve in their coverage of gender violence with a view to promoting a gender violence free society.