National Newspapers' Framing of Nigeria's 2019 Presidential Election Campaigns: Perception and Voting Patterns by Tasued Community Members

The characteristic manner of news construction by political journalists, called framing, could result in certain direction of perception in the public and lead to voting actions. This study analysed pattern of framing of Nigeria’s 2019 Presidential election in five national newspapers, examined direction of perception of the framed issues, and determined the relationship between perception and voting pattern in Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ogun State, Nigeria. It adopted correlational descriptive research design which combined content analysis with survey; selected samples of 92 editions of The Guardian, The Punch, Vanguard, Nigerian Tribune and Daily Sun published between November 18, 2018 and February 21, 2019 for content analysis; and 541 respondents from TASUED community for questionnaire survey. Findings showed that the campaign stories, dominated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), were mostly reported using issue-specific frames and supportive of the party. Respondents perceived framing of the campaigns in the selected newspapers as personality-focused, dominated by the APC, projected name-calling and mudslinging among political actors, subjective and unhealthy for Nigeria’s growing democracy. Voting was motivated by media reportage and candidates’ personalities. The study found a significant relationship between the direction of perception of newspaper framing of the campaigns and voting pattern among members of TASUED community. Political party affiliation had significant moderating effect on the relationship between perception and voting pattern among respondents. The study recommended objective coverage and sensitive use of frames by political journalists, constructive campaign by political actors and better stakeholder engagement by the electoral umpire.