MEDIA FRAMING OF TRUMP’S THREATENED MILITARY ACTION IN NIGERIA: AN EMPIRICAL CONTENT ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL NEWS COVERAGE

Abstract

This study examines the news stories and themes used to describe the military actions of the United States in Nigeria between late 2025 and early 2026. The research looks at how news groups talked about the Country of Particular Concern label and the reported airstrikes in Sokoto State. The study uses Framing Theory as its main academic guide to understand how the media builds a specific version of a crisis. By using a mixed methods approach, the researchers analysed 150 news articles from United States media, global agencies, and Nigerian newspapers.

The findings show that United States conservative news outlets mostly used a religious frame. This frame suggested the violence was a religious war, which helped create a reason for military action. In contrast, Nigerian news outlets focused on the safety and power of the government. However, local news groups often lacked their own reporters and used stories from foreign news agencies instead. This dependency is called borrowing lenses. The study also identifies that news stories about state leniency toward insurgents acted as a reason for outside intervention. While the research suggests a link between media stories and policy, it concludes that these frames primarily provided the public justification for the intervention. The study suggests that African media should build better independent tools to report on local security.