Content Analysis of Hate Speech in the 2019 General Elections in Three Nigerian Newspapers

Abstract

All over the world, hate speech represents a form of threat to damage the lives of individuals and increase the sense of fear in entire communities. The recent trend in journalism malpractice in the country is the dissemination of hate speech and vulgar language. In this perspective, the study examined the manifestation of hate speech in the 2019 general elections in the Daily Trust, The Nation and The Guardian newspapers. The variables of frequency, location, direction as well as journalistic genre were used to examine the manifestation of hate speech in the 2019 general elections by the selected newspapers. Stratified random sampling by days of the week was used to select the editions in the three newspapers. Critical Race Theory and Critical Discourse Analysis were used as theoretical framework. Based on the findings, the study discovered that the manifestation of hate speech was more frequent on Daily Trust, follow by The Guardian in the 2019 general elections. The findings reveals that the manifestation of hate speech by the selected newspapers in 2019 general elections was significantly high in the inside pages than front and back pages. The paper also found that the manifestation of hate speech by the selected newspapers was in neutral direction in the 2019 general elections. The study concludes that hate speech is a globally-endorsed paradigm and the press, as an important institution in the democratic process plays a key role during elections. As the Fourth Estate of the Realm, the press provides the platform for narratives and discourses in the service of elections, political negotiations and other features of the contestations among politicians and other civil organizations involved in election administration. Keywords: Direction: Frequency: Hate Speech: Journalistic Genre: Prominence.

التوظیف السیاسی لخطاب الكراهیة فی تغطیة الریاضة: دراسة حالة لكأس العالم بقطر 2022

“…In recent years, research focused on hate speech types related to race, religion, and gender and hate speech detection. The appearance of hate speech in the news discourse of the 2019 general elections in Nigeria in the Daily Trust, The Nation, and The Guardian newspapers was investigated in the (Msughter, 2021) study. The selected newspapers were examined by finding the frequency, location, direction, and journalistic genre variables.…”

Mediatization of the Net and Internetization of the Print Media in Northern Nigeria

“…The use of new media technologies like the internet has created intense competition among media industries. The growing use of new media technologies increases competition and reinforces the threats that newspapers face (Bardoel & Deuze, 2001;Gilbert, 2005;Papathanassopoulos et al, 2013;Aondover, 2021).…”

“…In Northern Nigeria today, Kano State alone has over 73 percent of the adult population that frequently listen to BBC Hausa (Ahmad, 2005). In the context of ownership and control of the media, Oso (2013) rates the North as 1/10, in professionalism 2/10, for training and for management, it is rated 1/10 (Aondover, 2021). This has been a phenomenon that witnesses the emergence of new media posing challenges on old media.…”

“…Within this context, Aondover (2021) remarks that newspaper as a medium is capable of reaching a wide range of audience via a combination of technological mechanism, which facilitates easy production and distribution of million copies across the nation in this digital age. Aondover (2022) submits that the newspaper remains a very big platform whose ability was discovered after the First World War, particularly when broadcasting; radio and television sprung up and began to challenge the potentialities of the newspaper as a channel of information.…”

Newspaper Content Analysis of 2012-2015 Ombaste Ethnic Conflict in Nasarawa State: A Framing Theory Perspective

“…The role of the media during conflict cannot, therefore, be understated because the news it projects may either inflame or deflate passion toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict (MacBride, 1980). Since the media remains the primary source of information particularly during conflict, it is imperative to also understand how the news is built to shape new knowledge and extract audience reaction (Aondover, 2021).…”