Comparative Study of Media Language of Britain and Nigeria Newspapers

Abstract

Media, all over the world, are regarded as the conscience of the society due to the important role they play in the socio-economic and political development of a nation. Britain and Nigeria have a knitted history of media development. This study looked into similarities and differences in the use of English language which is native to British newspapers and officially adopted in Nigeria and use by all national newspapers. The study used oral interviews as the primary source and major British and Nigerian newspapers, books, journals and archives as the source of secondary data to examine language of their news reports, feature articles, advertisements, announcements, headline castings and editorials. The study found out, among others, that most newspapers in Britain displayed professionalism and appropriate use of language as contrary to Nigerian newspapers who received the language. The study recommended that newspaper journalists should improve on their English language skills to be abreast of dynamism of the language. It also recommended that academic curriculum of media studies be enhanced to accommodate more English language courses.