Nigerian newspaper coverage and media audiences’ opinions on the major candidates in the 2016 US presidential elections

Abstract

ABSTRACT The unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential elections triggered a global torrent of backlashes on US democracy and indicated changing patterns in perceptions of candidate authenticity and media influences on voter preferences. The study adds Nigeria’s voice to ongoing discussions on international news flow and media effects on local and foreign audiences. It focusses on the factors that shaped newspaper coverage and opinions of Nigerians on the candidacy of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. From four regional capitals and five statistically selected newspapers, a total of 1, 396 residential buildings and 452 newspaper editions were used for data collection. Multivariate factor analysis was used to identify relationships in the factors that shaped respondent opinions. The study found a similarity between newspaper reports and audience opinions, which tended to indicate a Clinton win over Trump, and to portray Trump far more undesirably than Clinton. Age, region of origin and religious affiliation contributed significantly in shaping opinions (F (6, 1042) = 428.819, p < .000). The study highlights the implications of findings to existing theories on international news flow and the influences of local and international media and non-mediated social networks on foreign audiences.