Borrowing lenses from the West: Analysis of an African media representation of western nations

Abstract

This study considers the representation of western nations in Nigerian newspapers. It is conceived as a response to western media portrayal of African nations, which has received extensive research attention. The outcome of this substantial body of research points to a negative representation of developing nations, which are characterized by poverty, violence and instability. However, little or nothing exists on the counter-representation of western nations in the African media, and this is the focus of our research. To this end, we employ quantitative content analysis to identify the tone and theme of the representation of western nations in two newspapers based in Lagos, Nigeria. Our findings show that, although the tone of western representation in the Nigerian media is complex, it is largely negative, and the theme focuses on the political and global power of western nations. We contend that this pattern of representation reflects the existence of structural imperialism, particularly in the news reports of Nigerian newspapers, almost all of which were dubbed from international news agencies. This leads us to argue that the representation of western nations in Nigerian newspapers indicates the existence of borrowed lenses, with implications for the construction of knowledge on regional and global affairs.