Newspapers’ Reportage of the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria: Implication Towards De-Escalation of Electoral Violence

Abstract

The mass media play a crucial role in electoral processes. Most scholarly attention has primarily been focused on media coverage of election conflicts, with little attention on the deescalation of electoral violence in the media reportage. This study, therefore, aimed at assessing the prominence given to de-escalating electoral violence in the coverage of the 2015 general elections in Nigerian newspapers. Employing exploratory design, the research utilised media content analysis and in-depth interviews as methods. Four newspapers Daily Trust, Nigerian Tribune, Daily Independent, and The Sun were purposively sampled. A total of 520 editions of the newspapers were coded and analysed using a coding sheet. Additionally, twelve interviews were conducted with editors, correspondents, and INEC officials. Quantitative data were analysed using frequency counts and percentages, while qualitative data were analyzed through the narrative technique. Findings revealed that newspapers gave high prominence to the de-escalation of electoral violence in their coverage and reportage of the 2015 general elections in Nigeria. The study underscores the importance of media operators being more conflict-sensitive in their presentation of sensitive issues like elections and adherence to professional journalistic ethics.