Press Coverage of Islamic Banking Controversy in Nigeria: A Job Not Well Done

Abstract

This study primarily set out to assess newspapers published in Nigeria from 1^st January to December 31^st, 2011 to determine their nature and pattern of coverage of the proposed introduction of Islamic Banking in Nigeria and the controversy it generated. The content analytical research method was adopted and code sheet was used to collect the needed data for the study. Although the population was all the newspapers published within the study period, three newspapers- New Nigerian, Vanguard, and The Guardian, were selected purposively. From these dailies, 108 editions were drawn as the sample size. The data were collected, presented, analyzed, among other things. The study revealed that the Nigerian print media paid scant attention to issues emanating from the introduction of Islamic banking. It is therefore recommended that more specialized tabloids in the area of business reporting should be encouraged, so that such issues as Islamic banking would be given priority attention.

Key words: Islamic banking, Press coverage, Controversy, Religion