Nigerian newspaper headlines on Covid-19: a reflection of government and citizens’ perception and attitude

Abstract

The paper, through content analysis, examined headlines and front-page news of two prominent Nigerian newspapers—The Guardian and Vanguard. The newspapers were purposively selected to measure their coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria and government and citizens’ perception against what obtained elsewhere. The level of awareness created to the spread of the pandemic was the major variable used to measure both government and citizens’ attitude. The study covered 4 months from when the virus was first discovered in the country in February 2020 to the imposition of lockdown and its relaxation in June. The following research questions guided the research. Which of the two newspapers gave more headlines on Covid-19? Which one had more front-page news on the pandemic? Was the prominence given to the virus a reflection of government’s/citizens’ attitude to it? How did the citizens perceive Covid-19 arising from information obtained from the newspapers? The findings show that both papers effectively covered the outbreak. It concluded that the Nigerian government paid lip service in its response to Covid-19, and this reflected in citizens’ indifference to the virus, notwithstanding the media coverage accorded it and contrary to what obtained in other countries.

Keywords

• Coronavirus/Covid-19
• pandemic
• Nigeria
• lockdown
• newspaper headlines