Newspaper coverage of the herdsmen–farmers conflict in central Tiv Land, Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates newspaper coverage of the conflict between farmers and herdsmen in central Tiv land, Benue State, Nigeria, with specific emphasis on text format, frequency, prominence, depth of coverage, language of reports and audience assessment of this coverage. Two newspapers – Daily Sun and Daily Trust – were selected for the study which covers a period of 12 months. Content analysis and survey were adopted for the study with email and telephone interviews as instruments for the survey. Results showed, among others, that the text format for both newspapers was mostly straight news (64.5%). Findings further showed that the newspapers only covered the conflict as it happened but little attention was paid to victims of the conflict in newspapers reportage. The result of the study also showed that 71.3 percent of the stories on the conflict were published on the inside page. It is recommended that Nigerian newspapers should refrain from episodic reportage and set a proper agenda for the Nigeria public on conflicts. Further studies are also recommended to include more newspapers in the sample.