PRESS COVERAGE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT NEWS: A STUDY OF NIGERIAN COMPASS AND THE HOPE NEWSPAPERS

Abstract

This study investigated the extent and nature of press coverage of rural development news in Nigeria, using Nigerian Compass and The Hope newspapers as case studies. It was anchored on the Development Media Theory, Social Responsibility Theory and the framework of Development Journalism. A total of 48 editions—24 from each newspaper—were sampled using a simple random sampling technique. Two editions per month over a one-year period from May 2011 to April 2012 were selected. Data were presented using tables to highlight frequencies and trends in coverage. Out of the 730 editions published during the period under review, the selected sample provided insight into the consistency, prominence, and thematic focus of rural development news. Findings indicated that the two selected newspapers did not give much prominence to the coverage of rural development news; rather, they preferred world and city news. Again, The Hope newspaper reported and published more stories on rural communities than the Nigerian Compass during the period under review. It was also revealed that news on rural development was mostly reported in straight news format, as commonly practiced by the Nigerian Compass, while fewer reports were published as features, opinion/comment, letters-to-the-editor, photographs, and cartoons. There was no report in the editorial format. This was due to the fact that the Nigerian Compass wrote editorials on national issues and foreign matters, rather than on rural and community issues. It was recommended that the imbalance in the flow of communication between rural communities and urban areas could be bridged if the government, donor agencies, and development organizations decentralized the practice of journalism by establishing rural/community newspapers.