Newspaper Framing and Public Perception of Environmental Challenges in Southeast, Nigeria

Abstract

Extreme weather conditions have been the order of the day for several decades around the world, caused by manmade and natural factors. Mass media, especially newspapers, have been credited as being well placed to tackle societal problems like environmental challenges through the framing of the important issues for the general public. The present study examines newspaper framing and attitude to environmental challenges in Nigeria. The survey part of the study covered the five states in Southeast Nigeria, namely, Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo. Four national dailies (the Daily Sun, The Guardian, The Nation, and Vanguard) were content analysed for a period of two years (2020 and 2021). Results showed that the environmental challenges most reported by the Nigerian newspapers were climate change, and desertification. The frames used by the newspapers in reporting environmental challenges, in their order of magnitude are mitigation, government efforts, and public reaction. There is a strong relationship between attitude to environmental challenges and the framing used by the newspapers. There is a moderate but significant (p < 0.05) correlation between respondents’ knowledge level and newspaper framing of environmental challenges. The implications of the findings have been discussed in the study.