The Press and Nigeria’s Foreign Policy: A Content Analysis of Selected Issues (1985 – 1995)<br />  

Abstract

Objectives of this study include but not limited to ascertaining the extent to which the press contributed to the formulation and implementation of some foreign policies during the period under study, scrutinizing the nature of publications on the foreign policies by Nigerian press during the period under review and bringing to light, the relationship between media ownership structure and press performance in foreign policy issues. This study examines the extent (using directionality, frequency and content categories) to which the press contributed to foreign policy issues during the period under review, with regards to the selected foreign policy initiatives. The study is based on historical, content analysis and case study design. The study examined six privately-owned newspapers and magazines and also two government-owned newspapers. The population of the study was drawn from newspapers published in Nigeria between 1985 and 1995. Namely, The Daily Star (now defunct) Daily Times, The Guardian, National Concord (now defunct) However, a total of 300 editions of three newspapers and two magazines published within the period of the study (African Guardian & African Concord) were content analyzed. From the research questions, findings indicate that the press played a significant role in the three foreign policy issues. In the three issues examined, the press had a total of 21 publications, it is clear that the press through news stories and commentaries enlightened the people and contributed immensely to the implementation or otherwise of the loan policy under Babangida’s regime. ). Invariably, the press forced the government to drop the idea of Nigeria joining the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) for that period.