NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION OF PRESIDENT YAR’ADUA’S PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGNS

Abstract The issue of whether our opinions are formed in part, based on the information we get from the media is one that has been long debated. The issue has also remained controversial as different scholars maintain divergent views on the actual nature of media influence and effects. Following from this, the study which this paper presents, examines if newspapers pre-election coverage of candidate Yar’Adua, in any way, influenced people’s pre-election perception of him. The results of the content analysis show that President Yar’Adua was presented in mostly favourable light by the newspapers and this was picked up by the readers. This claim is supported by about 74.3% of the survey respondents who said they formed their pre-election opinions on Yar’Adua based on what was reported about him in the newspapers. The paper also noticed traces of bias coverage in favour of candidate Yar’Adua and recommends that the media take political reporting to the next level of responsible journalism.   Key Words: Media influence, President Musa Yar’Adua, Pre-election coverage,                       Political reporting, Responsible journalism   JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, April 2010, 79 – 92   About the authors *Nnamdi Tobechukwu Ekeanyanwu, Ph.D, is a lecturer and Ag. Head, Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria   **Olaniyan Oluwadoyinsola is of the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria.   Full Article Words: 6,926 Pages: 14 To access full article, click on download.   Article Citation Ekeanyanwu, N. T. & Oluwadoyinsola, O. (2010): Newspaper coverage of people’s perception of President Yar’adua’s pre-election campaigns. Journal of Communication and Media Research 2(1): 79 – 92.