| Summary, etc |
This study examined the newspaper coverage of COVID-19 issues in Nigeria with attention to<br/>the frequency, story format, news prominence and also the sources of the news. Two newspapers<br/>were content analysed between February 2020 and January 2021. Focus was on The Punch and<br/>The Guardian newspaper. Results indicated that these newspapers performed well in terms of<br/>covering the virus outbreak, which in turn creates awareness. However, the coverage of these<br/>stories was not in-depth as most stories reported were short and mostly was straight news. It was<br/>also observed that the Newspapers cited Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),<br/>government officials and Health Practitioners. Also, in the study, it was discovered that most of<br/>the stories published were alarming and induced fear and panic in the audience. Most common<br/>stories were coverage of cases in Nigeria, death rates, recovery rate, isolation, and concern<br/>about Nigeria preparedness, the effect of the virus on educational sectors. The Nigeria<br/>newspaper house should refrain from over usage of alarming and panic tone in presenting the<br/>stories of COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, because the Virus on its own is already dreadful to<br/>the masses. |
