The discursive construction of gay people in news reports of selected Nigerian newspapers

Abstract

Same-sex relationships have, over time, stirred serious debates worldwide. Studies on same-sex sexualities in the Nigerian context have focused on its representation in Nollywood movies and other arguments centred on ethics, culture and religion, with little attention paid to how queer people are framed by the Nigerian media. This study, therefore, explores agency and processes in the representation of gay people in news reports of selected Nigerian newspapers, in order to unearth how this social group is discursively constructed in the Nigerian context. Drawing on insights from Fairclough’s approach to critical discourse analysis and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics, this study considers three popular Nigerian newspapers (Vanguard, Nigerian Tribune and The Punch) within three years (2013–2015, being the period of intense debate on the legalisation of the anti-gay bill in Nigeria). Results reveal that gay people are negatively evaluated as actors of negative material processes such as ‘murder’ and other violent actions, and goals of the actions of ‘arrests’ and ‘remands’, ideologically portraying them as criminals and dangerous. The study provides insight into the biased posturing of the Nigerian media on important social/national issues such as same-sex relationships.