By Raji Rasaq
This report covers the comparative analysis of how the Nigerian Press fared in the coverage of the political and electoral process in the 2019 general elections and beyond. In essence, the period under review covers the period of the general election (January-March, 2019) and post-election period (April-June, 2019).
The IPC is undertaking a media survey in twelve national newspapers, including The Punch, The Guardian, Daily Sun, Vanguard, ThisDay, Nigerian Tribune, The Nation, Leadership, Daily Trust, Blue Print (online version), The Cable (published online only) and the Premium Times (published online only).
The survey tracks the trends in the reportage of the 2019 electoral process under component 4b of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) Project.
Total relevant reports
A total of 17,485 stories were identified and analysed during the period of election (January-March, 2019). In the post-election, these statistics dropped to 4,126 between April and June, 2019.
Performance of the Newspapers in both periods
In January-March, 2019, while The Punch published the highest number of 1,863 relevant reports (10.63%) out of 17,485 stories monitored during the period, BluePrintpublished the highest number of relevant reports with 635 (at 15.39%) out of 4,126 reports in April-June, 2019.
Coverage of Political Parties
(January-March, 2019)
Of a total of 17,485 stories, All Progressives Party (APC) got the highest number of mentions at 2,765 times (54.43%), while People’s Democratic Party (PDP) got 1,735 mentions (at 34.15%). Other political parties shared the remaining 11.42%.
It therefore means that APC got an average of one mention in 6 reports within the period, while PDP got an average of one mention in 10 reports respectively.
(April-June, 2019)
Of a total of 4,126, while APC got the highest number of 705 mentions (55.95%), PDP got 452 mentions (35.87%). Other political parties shared the remaining 8.18%.
It also shows that APC got an average of one mention in approximately 6 reports, while PDP got an average of one mention in approximately 10 reports respectively.
Media in Relation to Political Parties’ Reporting
(January-March, 2019)
In reporting political parties, The Nation had the highest number of mentions on the activities of the APC with 377 reports; while, Vanguard reported the PDP the most with 199 reports.
(April-June, 2019)
While, BluePrinthad the highest number of mentions on the activities of the APC with 119 reports; BluePrint, Daily Trust and Daily Sun each had the highest mention with 66 reports on PDP.
Thematic Issues: Political Conflict
(January-March, 2019)
Of 15,079 reports monitored on thematic issues, 463 (3.07%) reports focused on Political Conflicts. Of these, The Nation published the highest with 66 reports (14%).
(April-June, 2019)
Of 3,607 reports on thematic issues, 115 reports focused on political conflicts, (3.2%). Of these, Daily Sun published the highest with 33 items (28.7%)
Thematic Issues: Election Disputes
(January-March, 2019)
1,083 reports focused on Election Disputes (7.2%). Of these, Vanguard published the highest with 140 reports (13%).
(April-June, 2019)
Considering the series of post-election cases at the tribunal, media have also responded to that as reports of election disputes rose to 1,133 (31.41%). Of these, BluePrintpublished the highest with 199 reports (17.56%).
Thematic Issues: Campaigns
(January-March, 2019)
15,079 reports were monitored on thematic issues within the period. Of these, media reports on Campaigns were 3,804 (25.23%). Of these, Daily Sun published the highest with 564 reports (14.83%).
(April-June, 2019)
Though there were a couple of re-run/supplementary elections within this period, reports on Political Campaigns dropped to 345 (9.56%). Of these, BluePrint published the highest with 70 reports (20.28%).
Thematic Issues: Youths
(January-March, 2019)
69 reports were published on Youth affairs (0.46%). Of these, Daily Trust published the highest on Youths with 14 reports (20.3%).
(April-June, 2019)
The data on Youths came down to 15 reports (0.41%). Of these, BluePrintpublished the highest on Youths with 5 reports (33.33%).
Thematic Issues: Gender Sensitive Reporting
(January-March, 2019)
55 reports focused on Women within the period (0.36%). Of these, The Guardian published the highest on women with 10 reports (18.18%).
(April-June, 2019)
50 reports focused on Women within the period (1.4%). Of these, BluePrintpublished the highest on women with 14 reports (28%).
Thematic Issues: People Living with Disabilities (PWDS)
(January-March, 2019)
21 reports (0.14%) focused on PWDs. Of these, Blueprint published the highest with 5 reports (24%).
(April-June, 2019)
7 reports (0.19%) were published on PLWDs. Of these, The Nation published the highest with 2 reports (28.6%)
The Electoral Management Body (EMB) – INEC
(January-March, 2019)
2,532 (16.8%) were published on INEC within the period. Of these, The Punch published the highest with 389 reports (15.36%).
(April-June, 2019)
Reports on INEC dropped to 588 (16.30%). Of these, BluePrint published the highest with 97 reports (16.5%).
Location of relevant items
(January-March, 2019)
Of the total of 17,485 reports identified and analysed within the period, 1,549 reports (8.86%) were on the Front Pages; 13,779 (78.8%) on the Inside Pages; 127 reports (0.73%) were on the Back Pages. Only 167 (0.9%) of all reports were featured on the Editorial Pages.
(April-June, 2019)
Total reports within this period dropped to 4,126. Of these, 2,622 reports (63.54%) were published on the Inside Pages. Another 418 reports, (10.12%) were published on the Front Pages while 12 reports were published on the Back Pages (accounting for 0.29%) and 19 reports (0.5%) were published as Editorials.
Reports’ genre
(January-March, 2019)
Of the total of 17,485 reports, 14,007 reports (80.1%) were News; 966 reports (5.52%) as Features and 124 reports (0.7%) as Editorials.
(April-June, 2019)
Out of 4,126 total reports identified as relevant and monitored within the period, 3,506 reports were published as News (at 85%).
Another 180 reports were published as Features at (4.36%). There were 25 Editorials at (0.6%).
Raji Rasaq, head of media monitoring, IPC (rajirasaki2015@gmail.com)
