Peace Journalism in Nigeria and Content Critique

As with many things in life there are usually several shades of grey, and that is what I have found when it comes to peace journalism reporting in Nigeria. Some sources I have come across say that the reporting in Nigeria is the most vibrant and well done in all of Africa. Other sources say that the media in Nigeria is irresponsible, sensational and outright lies and gives misinformation. Having never been to Nigeria for myself or spoken with Nigerian reporters it is hard to say exactly what I believe to be true.

One study done by Uzoechi Nwagbaran says, “In spite of the challenges and convulsions that beleaguer the Nigerian media, it has been a veritable platform for the dissemination of information, education of the citizenry, molding of  people’s thought and criticism of the state. To me this sounds like a great foundation for peace journalism, journalism that is done for the people. Another study by David O. Edeani says journalism in Nigeria “tries to act as a motivator of the people to rise above their differences, and even as a conciliator for the warring parties.” This also sounds like a fundamental element of peace journalism, an entity that doesn’t take sides and offers a way to facilitate dialog to possibly end conflict. 

However, on the other hand there are also many sources that contradict those statements. According to an article titled The Media, The People And Politics In Nigeria: A Disconnect  it says “It is a fact that headlines are unnecessarily sensational, media houses report half-truth, misinform and engage in outright reportage of lies if the price is good.”  Also, a political organization Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) based out of Germany has similar beliefs.  KAS is an organization who says they are “aimed at training journalists to enable truthful reporting practices in a sensitive manner that does not incite additional violent conflict”. They say, “Conflicts in Nigeria often emerge along ethnic or religious cleavages. In the past, tensions have often been fostered by irresponsible news coverage that provoked further escalation.” 

Upon my own examination of a newspaper article using our class rubric as a guide, I’ve established the writing to be war journalism. I evaluated an article titled 56 Killed in Yobe Market Attack written by a journalist for the National Mirror newspaper. The writing contains emotional words such as heinous and despicable. Even the opening line reads “It was a bloody day in Potiskum.” These words would definitely stir up emotions in a place that is already on edge. The victims were labeled “victims” many times and were never reached for comment.  Only what had been done to them was reported. The story never gave them a platform to say what they thought or to offer solutions. It made them seem helpless. The article did not use demonizing language and just used vague terms like robbers or attackers. 

This story also made opinions seem like facts. For instance, one source said 56 were killed and two other sources confirmed that only 34 were killed. However, the writer uses the 56 killed in the headline and treats the 54 deaths as if it were fact. It also said “scores of others were injured.” This is irresponsible reporting because how many people constitutes a score? Also, eyewitness accounts were treated as facts as well.  

This piece is very one sided with only one view portrayed. The only people that were interviewed in this story were public officials. There is no comment from either side of the conflict or regular people. The story also spreads official propaganda from police and government entities.  They say that security needs to be stepped up to stop the violence; they don’t promote any other solutions. To me, it wasn’t exactly clear if the writer’s opinion was included in the article but the suffering was only shown on one side. The article continually described the attack and suffering of the victims and their property and livestock. The article did say that the attackers may have acted out of retaliation, but it did not give any insight about the suffering on the other side or how they were wronged previously. It split the parties into good guys and bad guys.

The underlying issues were not addresses whatsoever and the blame was actually put on the security personnel. The article said that they need to step up their intelligence to keep things like this from happening. It seems that they were to blame for not putting a stop to the violence and that if they had more intelligence these kinds of attacks would cease. Peace proposals were never mentioned as a way to fix the situation. The article made it seem that peace could only be possible if the police force was better. There were no alternative solutions given and the story never mentioned the similarities of the two groups or really even the differences. That seemed to be implied. 

I found that the television news of Nigeria to be war journalism as well. I critiqued a news report from NTA News 24, a state run operation that broadcasts in English. This report was about the very same market attack in Yobe. The general topic of the report was destruction and suffering. The only person who was interviewed was Governor Ibarahim Gadam of Yobe State. There were no outside opinions or views to balance the story. Peace prospects were not mentioned and it seemed the only solution to the violence was more security. The video contains some raw footage of the burned market and security personnel walking through. It showed burned livestock and property as well as people lying in hospital beds. The video follows the Governor visiting victims in the hospital and is mostly about him and what he thinks about it all.

Peace Journalism Content Analysis Rubric --  (56 killed in Yobe Market Attack)
Written/spoken reports
		1=Never	2=Sometimes	3=Often
Language
Inflammatory/emotional language used			2
Victimizing language used			2
Demonizing/name calling language used		1
Writing/reporting
Opinions treated as facts				3
Historical wrongs mentioned		1
Writer's opinion/position is clear (one sided)			2
Only "one side" interviewed/quoted				3
Story spreads official propaganda				3
Info/quotes taken out of context			2
Event				3
Suffering/"criminal acts" by only one side shown				3
Covers mostly violence, not underlying issues
Parties
Blame assigned to one party				3
Solutions
Peace proposals ignored or dismissed				3
Story dwells on differences; shuns similarities				3
SCALE:
Peace Journalism=14-19 points
Some characteristics of both peace and war journalism=20-29
War Journalism-30 or more Total 34 =War Journalism

(Video- Potkisum Market Attack) Visuals--video and photo
		1=Never	2=Sometimes	3=Often
General topic is suffering				3
General topic is destruction				3
Subject—Military officials; Government officials				3
Image is culturally insensitive/mocking		1
Subjects are primarily military/political leaders				3
Subject is held in contempt by photographer		1
Editing: Video is raw/unedited; or still is edited			2
to change meaning of the original photo
Images taken out of context/don't reflect reality		1
SCALE:
Peace Journalism=8-10 points
Some characteristics of both peace and war journalism=11-15
War Journalism-16 or more                        Total 17= War Journalism