THE MONITORING REPORT OF MEDIA COVERAGE OF 2015 ELECTIONS FOR JANUARY, 2015

THE MONITORING REPORT OF MEDIA COVERAGE OF 2015 ELECTIONS FOR JANUARY, 2015

CONDUCTED BY:

INTERNATIONAL PRESS CENTRE                                NIGERIAN PRESS COUNCIL                               

  AND

WITH THE SUPPORT OF

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT (DGD) lll PROJECT

    

OVERVIEW OF OUTCOMES AND FINDINGS FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2015

1.0.           Introduction

The Nigerian public continues to look up to the media for credible information on the 2015 elections. It is not a misplaced expectation since the media is expected to disseminate truthful, factual and accurate information on the election process in line with its responsibility as the watch dog of the society. On this basis and armed with information from diverse sources especially the social media, the online media, the foreign media etc to which they now  have ready access, the public is daily subjecting the Nigerian media especially the conventional ones – newspapers, Radio and TV -  to scrutiny on the basis of its performance ahead the 2015 elections.

The truth is that the audiences that will now address are much more critical and they can easily read between the lines. A morning visit to the newspaper stands in any part of Nigeria will provide evidence of this fact. 

The electoral law, the code of ethics of Nigerian journalists and the Nigerian media code of election coverage also impose important social obligations on the media including the need to provide equitable access to parties and candidates, the need to project the voices of underrepresented groups including women, youths and persons living with disabilities, the need to shun hate and inciting speech, the need to reject offensive advertorials, the need to be professional and ethical at all times and the need to accord higher priority to the public interest as against narrow interests.

It is against this background that the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) and the International Press Centre (IPC) with the support of the United Nations Development Programme’s Democratic Governance for Development Project (UNDP-DGDIII) and its partners including the EU, the UK AID, the Canadian Department for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFTAD) and the UNDP, have been monitoring select national and regional newspapers, online media and social media platforms since November last year on the basis of the following topics:

·                   Sources – How credible and diverse are they?

·                   Conflict Sensitivity – what degree of early warning signals and are the reports capable of inflaming passion?

·                   Language – Are offensive words being used?

·                   Issues - What issues are being projected and how well?

·                   Electoral Management Body (EMB) – What is the public opinion and to what extent is the EMB being held accountable?

The full details of the monitoring report as it concerns the four categories of the media being monitored will soon be presented but the following constitutes the summary of our findings and observations for the month of January.

2.0.          SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS

2.1.           COVERAGE OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Findings:

Of the 15 political parties that the national newspapers reported in January, the two biggest ones held sway. Out of 1,226 stories using political parties as sources, the APC had the greatest slot, having been mentioned 580 times, representing 47.3%; PDP, was mentioned 464 times, or 37.8%. Others that got mentions include APGA,  47 times, representing 4%; LP, 46 times, or 3.7%; UPN, 29 times, or 2.3%; AP and PPA, 7 times, or 0.5%; ADC came up 4 times, representing 0.3%; AA, HDP and KOWA parties were each mentioned 2 times, representing 0.1%. PPN was mentioned once.

However at the level of regional newspapers, PDP sources were more. Out of the 806 mentions in the regional newspapers in January, 2015, PDP had the highest number with 408 mentions, representing 50.6% of the total number of political parties’ mentions. APC as a source came very close with 330 mentions, representing 41%; Labour party had 24 mentions, representing 3%; APGA got 17 mentions, or 2%; other political parties used as sources include SDP, 9 mentions, or 1.1%; ADC, 7 mentions, representing 0.9%; UPN, 4, or 0.5%; each of AD, AA, UPP, NDP, PPA, AC, and ACPN got 1 mention or 0.2%.

Observation & recommendations:

The coverage and reportage of the parties contesting elections are not as equitable as it should be. It is recommended that the newspapers should give greater reflection to the campaign issues of all the political parties irrespective of size and resources.

2.2.          GENDER CHARACTER OF COVERAGE

Findings:

The comparative analysis on the use of male and female politicians as sources in the month reveals that only 95 or 1.3% were female whereas their male counterparts came up as sources 2,460 times or 42.4% during the period in question in the national newspapers.

                                                                                                      

The comparative reportage of women politicians by the respective national papers are as follows:

- Daily Sun and The Guardian projected female politicians the most, each having used them as sources 17 times, representing 18% each; ThisDay projected them 10 times, representing 11%; The Nation, 9 times or 9%; Vanguard and Nigerian Tribune each with a frequency of 8 times, representing 8.3% each; Leadership, 7, or 7.4%; Daily Trust, 6, or 6.2%; National Mirror, 5 times, 5.3%;  Daily Independent and Daily Champion had 3 each or 3.2% and The Punch, 2 times, or 2.1%.

For the regional papers, out the 976 mentions of politicians, 930 were male politicians, representing 95%, while only 46 of were female politicians, representing 5%.

The comparative reportage of women politicians by the respective regional papers shows that Peoples Daily projected 20 female politicians’ voices, being the highest, Blue Print followed with 18; Nigerian Pilot, 4; Nigerian Chronicle, 2; each of Nigerian Observer and Desert Herald projected 1. Daily Star, Gleaner and Abuja Inquirer used no female politicians as sources.

The online media also projected male political voices over those of the females. Female politicians were used as sources only 2 times whereas Male politicians were 76 times.

Observation & recommendations:

Few of the monitored newspapers performed fairly well in projecting female political voices but the majority did not do enough for the female politicians during the period. It is recommended that the newspapers should grant more access to female candidates in particular and female politicians in general.

2.3.          REPORTAGE OF EARLY WARNING SIGNALS

           Findings:

129 reports that constituted Early Warning Signal of likely outbreak of crisis or violence were published during the month out of which Leadership led with the highest number of 73 reports. The Nation came next with 17 reports; Vanguard had 15 reports; Daily Independent, 6 reports; Daily Sun and National Mirror, 4 reports each; ThisDay and Daily Trust 3, The Guardian, 2 reports and Nigerian Tribune and Daily Champion, 1 report each.

Among the regional papers, 23 early warning signals (CSEW) stories ware published. People’s Daily published 8 reports or 35%; Blueprint published 6, representing 26%, followed by Nigerian Observer and Desert Herald  with 3 reports each, or 13%; Nigerian Pilot published 2 reports, or 8.6%; and The Abuja Inquirer published 1, representing 4.4%.

Observation & recommendations:

The newspapers were found to have shown commendable concern for the conduct of peaceful polls by giving adequate attention to early warning signals on possible outbreak of violence especially on conflict issues and in conflict-prone areas.

2.4.          USE OF SENSATIONAL HEADLINES

Findings:

The following headlines in the national newspapers were deemed sensational:

·                    Jonathan Represents Light and Buhari Represents Darkness.

(ThisDay, January 8, 2015; front page)

·                    2015 Presidential Elections. Ex-Militants Meet, threaten war

(Daily Trust, January 25, 2015; front page)

·                    Niger Delta Militants Threaten War If Jonathan Loses-Boyloaf, Militant Leader

  (The Punch, Jan. 25, 2015, Page 5)

·                    APC Presidential Candidate is a Fundamentalist- Clark

       (Thisday, Jan. 17^th, 2015, Page 15)

·                    …Tompolo insists Nigerian will break if Jonathan loses.

(The Nation, Jan. 30, 2015, front page)

The regional papers had the following:

·                    Fayose explodes: Presidential Contest is a do or die

(Desert Herald, Jan. 6-12, page 52)

There was no sensational headline in the monitored online media.

Observation & recommendations:

The regional newspapers used less sensational headlines when compared with the national ones. Although most of the sensational headlines were direct quotes from political actors the newspapers should have adequately weighed their possible effect and probably use alternative words. This way, they would have been conflict sensitive without compromising the duty to inform about those fanning the embers of war. 

2.5.          PUBLICATION OF POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS

Findings:

Some political adverts were found to have contained statements that essentially attacked personalities. Some of the monitored adverts contain phrase and words as follows:

1)                 “Do Not Allow This Dictator Take Us Back To The Era Of Doom And Brutality”- (Vanguard, Jan. 29, 2015, page A2; The Guardian, Jan. 30, 2015, page 64)

2)                Buhari “Loves” the Igbo but dislikes their hero (Punch, Jan. 17, 2015; The Guardian, Jan. 17, 2015, page 13)

3)                Rtd. Major General Buhari’s Promise To Turn Nigeria To Sharia Nation...Beware Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing (Saturday Sun, Jan. 27 and Jan. 31. 2015, pages 24 and 60)

4)                Who is allowing islamisation of Nigeria? Buhari OR Jonathan (Saturday Vanguard, page 31)

5)                Will you allow history to repeat history itself? Enough of state burials. (Daily Sun, Jan. 19, 2015, page 1)

6)               Buhari’s Promise To Turn Nigeria To Sharia Nation... Beware Of Sheep In Wolf’s Clothing. (Nigerian Nigerian Tribune, Jan. 26, 2015, page 52; The Punch, Jan. 27, 2015, page 54; The Guardian, Jan. 27, 2015, page 64)

7)                ...So, don’t vote for 72 years old Buhari, he will be sleeping o! Vote wisely. (Vanguard, Jan. 23, 2015, page 4; The Guardian, Jan. 23, page 24))

8)                Once a tyrant will always be a tyrant... ( Nigerian Tribune, Jan 30, 2015, page 23; The Punch, Jan. 30, 2015, page 23)

9)                Buhari- who ‘loves’ the Yoruba but dislikes their father...HE WILL NOT GET IT. (Nigerian Nigerian Tribune, Jan. 15, 2015, page 5; The Punch, Jan. 15, 2015, page 19))

10)            Nigerian Needs A True Nationalist To Pilot Its Affairs; Not An Ethnic Jinguist Or Disguised Religious Fanatic... (Nigerian Nigerian Tribune, Jan. 20, 2015, page 5)

11)              Don’t Vote Blood-letting... (The Punch, Jan. 22, 2015, page 49)

12)               ...Don’t fall for this deception or its agents of darkness... (Daily Sun, Jan. 24, 2015, page 57)

13)             No matter how many pretty robes you wear, once a tyrant, always a tyrant. (The Guardian, Jan. 23, 2015, page 32)

14)            This man shares the same vision with ‘Boko Haram’ (terrorists); Can we trust such a man to be president? (Vanguard, Jan. 18, 2015, page 4)

Observation & recommendations:

The newspapers should have exercised some discretion by not publishing adverts like these, more so as section 3.5 (1.1.2) of the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage states that: “A media organisation shall not publish or air political adverts, advertorials and sponsored political news that seek to create hatred or incite violence”. It is hereby recommended that media managers should revisit the provisions of the election code and strive to abide with them.

2.6.         HATE SPEECH

Findings:

The month of January witnessed the increased use of words; statements etc that border on hate speech as shown by the following:

…Buhari is a terminator of democracy- (ThisDay, Jan. 27, 2015, Page 17)

…To all GEJ fans, may God run your life the way GEJ has run this country. (Daily Sun, Jan. 21, 2015, Back page)

… Buhari is not the change we need. He is too mentally dense to lead a nation in the 21^st Century. (ThisDay, Jan. 2, 2015, page 12)

…APC on which platform General Buhari is contesting represents everything that is unholy and unwholesome in our society. (ThisDay, Jan. 8, 2015, page 1)

…  APC and the Culture of Violence… (Vanguard, Jan, 25, 2015, Page 34)

…Jonathan is a Failure, not my Generation- Fashola. (National Mirror, Jan. 14, 2015, Page 7)

-PDP National Sec., Prof. Wale Oladipupo refers to Buhari as semi-illiterate. (Vanguard, Jan. 4, 2015, Page 10)

…Jonathan handed Nigeria over to Boko Haram (Daily Independent, Jan. 21, 2015, Page 5)

… “Goodluck in Jonathan has become bad luck to Nigerians… Goodluck means bloodshed- Father Mbaka. (Vanguard, Jan. 7, 2015, Page 38)

…Buhari is senile; Nigeria can’t afford another Yar’Adua experience. (Nigerian Tribune, Jan. 18, 2015)

-Retired General Muhammadu Buhari is too old and sick to become President.(Daily Trust, January 21, 2015, page 7)

Observations and recommendations:

The newspapers fell to the trap of reporting hate speech by quoting directly from interviews, press statements and sometimes from alleged ‘online sources’ credited to aides of the presidential candidates of both the APC and the PDP against whom most of the hate speeches were targeted. The newspapers are again reminded that the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage rejects the use of hate speech. They should also note that members of the public are becoming wary of continued character assassination at the expense of dissemination of issues that help them make informed choices.

2.7.          REPORTAGE OF ELECTORAL MANAGEMENT BODY – INEC

Findings:

Most of the reports published on INEC were in the form of demands and complaints directed at the body and the responses from it.

The monitored national newspapers published 549 reports on issues surrounding the Electoral Management Body (EMB) 114 or 21% of which were Complaints; 95 or 17.1%, Commendation; 151 or 27.5, Demands and 189 or 34.4%, Response.

Vanguard published the highest number of 29 stories in the Complaints category. The Nation was next with16 reports followed by Daily Trust’s 13 reports. The Guardian published 11 reports; Daily Sun published 10; Daily Independent and The Punch published 9 reports each; each of National Mirror and Leadership published 6 reports; Nigerian Tribune published 5; Daily Champion had none. 

For Commendation, Daily Independent published the highest number of 75 reports. Nigerian Tribune published 4 reports; each of Vanguard, The Punch and The Guardian published 3 reports; Leadership and Daily Trust published 2 reports each; also, each of National Mirror, ThisDay and Daily Champion published 1 report.

The Nation was ahead with reports categorized as Demands. Of the 151, the newspaper published 37 followed by Vanguard with 27 reports. 14 reports were published by each of The Punch and Daily Sun; National Mirror published 13; The Guardian published 10 reports; ThisDay published 9; Daily Independent published 8; each of Daily Champion, Leadership and Daily Trust published 5 reports; and Nigerian Tribune, 4.

Of the 130 stories published by the regional newspapers on the Electoral Management Body – INEC, Demands were the highest with 59 or 45.3% followed by Complaints with 33 reports, or 25.4%, Response, 29 representing 22.3% and Commendation, 9 items or 7%.

Of the 59 stories on demands that the EMB should provide credible election and PVCs. Blueprint led with 23 reports, followed by Nigerian Pilot  with 15; Peoples Daily,11; Nigerian Observer published 6; each of Abuja Inquirer, Desert Herald and Gleaner published 1 report.        

Of the 29 stories published on the EMB’s response to the demands, Nigerian Observer published the highest with 15 reports; Nigerian Pilot published 4; Abuja Inquirer, 3; Blueprint,  2; Daily Star, 2; each of Desert Herald, Nigerian Chronicle and Gleaner published 1 report.

Observations and recommendations:

The national, regional and online media demonstrated commendable sensitivity to the public interest by giving prominence to the complaints and demand of the citizen and groups as directed at INEC. The dominant issues during the period were of course the right of all citizens to vote, the distribution of the PVCs, the shifting of the elections etc. At the same time, the newspapers exercised required oversight on the EMB by highlighting its responses to the complaints and demands while they also showed fairness to the body by not ignoring the few commendations it received. 

2.8.          GENRE OF REPORTING

Findings:

Of the total 6,140 relevant reports published by all national dailies 72.2%, or 4,438 reports were published as News reports. 8.3% or 514 were published as Photo News. 7%  or 410 reports were published as Opinions. 5.1% or 319 reports were Feature stories. Interviews also accounted for 5%, or 315 reports. 1% or 65 reports were published as Editorials. Cartoon accounted for 1.2%, or 79 reports.

In terms of ranking, The Nation led with 650 followed by Vanguard, 645. Daily Sun had 437; The Guardian, 413; National Mirror, 331; Leadership, 310; The Punch, 231; ThisDay,  268; Daily Independent, 257;  Nigerian Tribune, 224 and Daily Champion, 94.

A total of 1,961 reports were published by the regional newspapers in the form of news items, features, editorials, opinions, cartoons, interviews and pictures. Of these, news items were the highest with 1,540 reports, representing 78.5%, followed by Photo News with 157 reports; or 8%. Opinion articles came third with 125 or 6.2%; Feature stories accounted for 57 items, or 2.9%; Interview, 33, or 2%; Editorial, 32, or 1.6%; and Cartoon, 17, or 0.8%.

The analysis of the online media also showed that News format was dominant with 229 reports, 89.4%, followed by 18 (7%) opinion items. Editorials were published 7 times 2.6%; Interviews were published 2 times 1%. There were no Features, Photos News and Cartoons.

Observations and recommendations:

The publication of many news items, photos, opinions and features on the election process shows a commendable robust engagement by the monitored media. 

2.9.          REPORTING OF UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS

Findings:

The issues of the under-represented groups were generally poorly reported. In most instances, women, youths and persons living with disabilities were rarely used as sources.

Observations and recommendations:

The monitored media have not done enough to incorporate the issues of under-represented groups in election reports. This should not be the case even if considered from the perspective of their numerical strength. Youths constitute about 70% of the population, the women about half while PLWDs number up to 22 million. It is recommended that the media should endeavour to improve on their coverage as recommended by Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage.