The media and civil protests in Africa: contextualising Nigerian press coverage of #EndSARS

Abstract

ABSTRACT Within the context of Nigeria’s multiculturalism, the operations of the press revolve around the dynamics of political, economic, and ethno-regional contestations for power which impact the discourse it anchors on national issues. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Cultural Discourse Studies (CDS) as the research methods, this study underscores how these factors shaped the coverage of #EndSARS in two national dailies from the northern and southern regions: Daily Trust and Punch. Data is coded across five major themes that constituted foci of interest in the protest: calls for police reforms, youth revolution, human rights violations, destruction, and politicisation/regionalisation/ethnicization of #EndSARS. Findings indicate that political and ethno-regional factors significantly impacted the priming and framing of the themes by the newspapers as reflected in their choice of words and other linguistic/journalistic techniques. Daily Trust’s approach exemplifies northern Nigeria’s pro-Buhari administration’s sympathies as reflected in its amplification of violence and destruction in the protest while downplaying the agency and revolutionary strides of the youth towards driving political reforms. On the other hand, Punch projected state repression and youth agency against violence and destruction. This confirms that ethno-regional politicking shaped the Nigerian press approach to #EndSARS coverage. Theoretical and practical implications are highlighted accordingly.