Analysis of thematic contents of Nigeria’s print media: An assessment of selected national newspapers

Nigeria is a nation that has failed to utilize its great potentials even though the country is blessed with vast human and material resources. Nigeria is yet to find its footing more than 60 years after independence. Apart from the period of 30 - month civil war that raged between 1966 and 1970, the present period is perhaps the most challenging. This study examines the focus of the print media in line with agenda setting and gate keeping functions of the mass media in the face of all of the challenges facing the country. It is interesting to know the importance attached to issues/topics covered by newspapers in terms of frequency of coverage. Research method adopted for this study is content analysis. The study revealed that economy, politics, sport and international news are regarded most important with 26.5%, 23.6%, 7.4% and 5.9% coverage respectively. Share of materials on terrorism is 1.4% while corruption has a meagre 0.9% share. There is need for re-orientation of the press in the face of current challenges of Nigerian nationhood. The press needs to accord priority to issues that are considered to be of national importance. Traditional focus of Nigerian mass media needs to shift radically.