Analysis of Newspaper Framing of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum Election Crisis of 2013

Abstract

The Nigerian Governors’ Forum election crisis of 2013 has resulted in the polarization of the Forum into two factions. The Forum which has become a powerful lobby has come to assume a strategic importance in the process of deciding who governs in Nigeria. While researches have addressed several issues in the coverage of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) election crisis, the focus of the press is in the reportage of the events that transpired during and after the election is not known. Based on framing theory which argues that how the media focus on and report issues is how the issues are understood, the study content-analysed 81 stories from five national dailies. The study was guided by four research questions in a multi-stage sampling technique. The findings suggest that, overall, the newspapers’ coverage of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum election crisis failed to promote peace building process but encouraged the escalation of the crisis. The study concludes that pessimistic leads, headlines and phrases with negative undertones in newspaper reports tend to heighten crisis, and that the calm situation that prevails amidst prolonged misunderstanding do not in any way translate to peace. It is contradictory that the press which is out to promote the de-escalation of crisis is found to whip up sentiment, provoking further crisis instead.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s1p315