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First Published (print): Mar 01, 2018
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Submitted : Oct 19, 2023
Abstract
As the fourth estate of the realm, the press helps a nation to further its interest, objectives and goals. Since the dawn of information revolution, the press have been an important element in opinion making/ building, creating heroes and villains, and creating monsters and enemies. This article, relying on quantitative and qualitative framing analyses, examines the role of the press in the Boko Haram insurgency looking at Leadership and Vanguard newspapers headlines and first lead of each story from January 2015 to June 2015. The paper found that the newspapers' reports on the war against the Boko Haram insurgency were in two categories. Leadership for instance, reported the Boko Haram insurgency in favour of the Military by glorifying them which may have boosted public confidence in the military's capability to end the insurgency. Similarly, Vanguard gave little attention to the insurgents and most of its report seems to be in favour of the military. It is recommended that the media should provide the clearest, factual, and balanced reports right from headline to the full report as much as possible to prevent the misinterpretation of terrorism-related incidents by the public and government officials who can possibly make sub-optimal decisions regarding countering moves.
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Published Online:
Mar 1, 2018
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First Published (print): Mar 01, 2018