Revisiting the New World Information and Communication Order dialectic using Nigerian newspapers directional focus as case study.

Abstract

Investigated is the directional focus of the major front page headlines and news focus of two of Nigeria’s daily newspapers (The Nation and The Punch) within the backdrop of the stillbirth NWICO contention between the West and the developing countries. Primary data for this study was raised via content analysis and discussed with the input of literature survey. The appositeness of content analysis as the deployed research method is ingrained in the fact that it can be used to quantitatively measure the manifest content of the media. Out of a plethora of national daily newspapers in the country, the purposive sampling technique was applied in choosing the two newspapers that were studied. Analyses and findings indicated that the perceived negative portrayal of the Third World by the Western Press is real with a caveat: the Third World’s media (in this instant case, the Nigerian press) is as culpable as its western counterpart on the alleged perception of negative portrayals. This is because about 84% of the fifty four editions of the newspapers whose major front page headlines/news focus (a critical element in the agenda setting function of the mass media) were content analyzed dwelt on negative directional focus.

Key words: Jackal syndrome/reporting, news value, directional focus, news focus, NWICO debate, good/bad news, gatekeeper.