Sources of News about Military Operations against Boko Haram Insurgents in Nigeria Newspapers: a Content Analysis Investigation

Abstract

Nigerian military has been battling Boko Haram insurgents since 2009 with mixed successes amid claims that Nigerian troops were reluctant to engage the terrorists because the media framed the group as winning the battle, therefore, this study investigated the sources of news about military operations against Boko Haram. The theories supporting this research were the Agenda Setting and Framing Theory. Using content analysis of four Nigerian dailies; Daily Trust, Premium Times, The Nation & Vanguard, the research analysed sources of news about military operations against Boko Haram from 2014-2016. Findings revealed 185 stories with an average of 1.5 sources, most are identified by their full names, most stories are reported with sources from mainly one side of the divide without corroboration and the dominant sources were military sources. There was no factual basis supporting media bias against Nigerian newspapers, instead media reports were more in support of military positions.