SOURCE:

Faculty: Social Sciences
Department: Mass Communication

CONTRIBUTORS:

Duru, H. C.
Ekwenchi, O.

ABSTRACT:

This study examined newspaper representation of ethnic interest groups in Nigeria within the context of the language-ideology-power nexus. It was a language-based analysis of newspaper content as it relates to the activities of the ethnic interest groups to reveal the ideological tendencies and power interests linked to the language of the reportage. The study adopted quantitative content analysis, critical discourse analysis (CDA) and key informant interview (KII). Four national dailies i.e. Daily Sun, Vanguard, The Nation and Daily Trust were purposively selected between May 29, 2015 and May 29, 2017, while 432 editions (108 issues for each paper) were selected. One title editor and one reporter were interviewed from each of the newspapers. Data analysis was both quantitative and qualitative. Findings showed that the newspapers gave regular and prominent coverage to the ethnic interest groups, and that the language of representation of the groups was shaped by the newspapers’ bias for the democratic ideals of equal rights, freedom of association and freedom of expression as well as their economic interest, ethnic sentiments and the imperative of law and morality. As such, the power interests that were active in the gatekeeping process included the newspaper owners, journalists, ethnic interest groups, advertisers, readers, government and media professional bodies. While the language of representation seemed to favour particular ethnic groups of the respective newspaper owners, this was found to be largely a function of the owners’ economic and political interests, even though the role of their ethnic sentiments may not be entirely ruled out. The dominant discourses of ethnic interest groups in Nigerian newspapers included those of legitimacy, conflict, compromise and unity. The study concluded that representation of ethnic interest groups in the newspapers was largely a reflection of the political, economic and cultural circumstances of the newspapers and society in general; in other words, discursively generated meanings regarding ethnicity reproduced themselves in the newspaper pages as news, features, pictures, cartoons and editorials. The study recommended that newspaper houses should work towards adopting editorial policies aimed at improving objectivity and fairness in their representation of ethnic interest groups.