Buhari's First Year Anniversary in the Eyes of Nigerian Newspapers; An exploratory analysis of the most relevant frames

Abstract

One of the most popular and robust areas of research in mass communication is the framing theory. Framing, which is used by the media to organise media content has attracted researchers’ interests particularly in the domain of media and politics, towards the investigation of strategic dimensions of news framing for social construction, negotiation and social renegotiation which ultimately, has implications on the socio-political disposition of a society. This is a qualitative study which sought to explore how Nigerian Newspapers framed the Buhari administration’s first year anniversary in office using five national dailies - Daily Sun, Daily Trust, The Guardian, The Nation and The Punch. It adopts a qualitative comparative approach to answer the research question on the pattern of coverage accorded three main content categories- security, state of the economy and corruption in the corpus (N= 144). Findings show that, although media reportage on Buhari’s first year in office was generally favourable especially as it pertains to the fight against corruption, it was also critical of the administration particularly in its handling of the economy which had threatened to overshadow the achievements of the administration’s first twelve months. While security was framed using majorly conflict inflammatory headlines/stories particularly with regard to the Fulani herdsmen-farmers’ conflict, the media, had also set agenda for the government through its constant reminder of the abducted Chibok girls who remain in captivity. Keywords: .Framing .Buhari’s administration .Corruption .Economy