Everything’s negative about Nigeria: A study of US media reporting on Nigeria

Abstract

Previous research on international communication cites under-reporting and negative coverage as major problems of Western media reporting of the African continent. These problems are present specifically in US television coverage of African countries. Utilising agenda-setting and media framing theory, this study content analyses US television media coverage of Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation, in two 5-year time periods, 2005–2009 and 2010–2014. Reports broadcast by the big three networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) were coded for issues, sources, valence, and frames ( N = 643). Results corroborate existing research regarding the predominance of episodic frames and negative coverage across time periods. New findings concerning coverage of Nigeria by Western media organisations are discussed.