Media Coverage of Conflicts in Nigeria: Comparative Analysis of Two Nigerian Newspaper

The mass media serve as important players in peace building during conflicts. With their ability to pervade spaces and direct people’s attention on important issues, they can either play a key role in escalating or de-escalating conflicts. This research is conducted to compare the coverage of conflict between two national dailies in Nigeria within a 12 months period in 2018. The issue of conflict is an important one in Nigeria. Being a large country with two main religions and multiple ethnic groups, Nigeria has experienced different forms of conflict since the 1960s. These conflicts have caused a breakdown in society, loss of lives and property and have heavily affected how the various tribes and ethnic groups in Nigeria relate with each other. A sample of 46 newspaper edition was systematically selected for both newspapers (n = 92). Three questions guided this research; what themes are dominant in the coverage of conflicts in the Punch and Thisday newspapers between January and December 2018? Do the Nigerian press aggravate conflict by reporting winners and losers in a conflict? Do the Nigerian media assign blames in their coverage of conflict in Nigeria? The study is theoretically situated within agenda setting theory and peace journalism. The findings of the research determined that the Nigerian media exercised restraint in their coverage of conflict in the period of research. It was not clear if the observed restraint was a deliberate attempt at practicing peace journalism. In the future, research should be conducted to determine the perception of journalists on peace journalism in Nigeria. Keywords: Mass media, Conflict, Peace Journalism, Peace Building, Nigeria