Assessment of Nigerian journalists’ preparedness for reporting election results and disputes

Abstract

Electoral process in Africa especially in Nigeria is a long route which often times leads to results being disputed in the courts and sometimes end in crisis. The media play a significant role in this process given their enormous influence on the public. This study examined Nigerian journalists’ preparedness for covering election results and disputes with a focus on the 2023 general elections. Anchored on symbolic interactionism theory, the study adopted survey to gauge the opinions of journalists from the six states of southwest Nigeria which form study population. A structured questionnaire was administered on 300 respondents of 50 per state selected through non-proportional quota sampling. Findings revealed that majority of the journalists are well conscious of their role in reporting election results and disputes and that their respective media organisations prepare them for such duties through training and supply of tools with less provision of funds to facilitate their task on the field. Most of the respondents also agreed that other bodies like the Nigerian Press Council, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Civil societies and international organisations, prepare them better for election coverage than their media organisations through training, funding, and tools. The study concludes that Nigerian journalists, being aware of their role in reporting elections, are more prepared for the task by external bodies other than employers and recommends that media organisations should deploy more resources to preparing their reporters for the job.   Keywords: Agenda-setting, Election Results, Election Disputes, Nigerian Journalists, Symbolic interactionism