A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THE GUARDIAN, PUNCH AND VANGUARD NEWSPAPER REPORTAGE OF CRIME IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study examined the reportage of crime by the Guardian, Punch and Vanguard newspaper in Nigeria. The study focused on the frequency of crime reportage, prominence accorded to the reportage of crime incidents, news genre in which crime activities were presented and the dominant crime stories reported by these newspapers. Four research question guided the study. A content analysis research design was adopted in the study. The population for the study comprised of 279 newspapers. These include the Guardian, Punch and Vanguard newspapers published within the interval of October- December, 2023. The sample of the study was made up of 164 newspapers selected using the Taro’s Yamane formula. The instrument used for the study was coding sheet which contained data gathered by the researcher on the report of crime in the newspapers under study. The finding of the study showed that Punch newspaper reported more stories than the Guardian and Vanguard newspaper indicating a high level of print media coverage on crime stories in Nigeria. The study also showed that majority of crime reported were on the inside pages of these newspaper. The findings also showed that majority of crime reported from these newspapers were straight news stories indicating less reports on crime from opinion, feature stories, and editorial report in these newspapers. Finally, the dominant crime stories reported by these newspapers was armed robbery/kidnapping incidents. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that the press should draw more attention to thedangers of crime involvement by increasing the levelof their reports on the issue of crime in Nigeria as this will help in creatingmore awareness about crime relatedactivities and how they can be curbed in the country.