The Coverage of Environmental Degradation in the Niger Delta By Nigerian Newspapers

Abstract

The Niger Delta with all its economic importance faces constant environmental
degradation. A cursory observation suggests that adequate attention has not been paid to the region's environment, in terms of improving it. This lack of attention could be attributable to lack of awareness of the environmental degradation in the region among Nigerians. As one of the media of mass communication in the country, newspapers have the ability of informing the general public of the devastating environmental situation in the region. As a result, the main objective of the study was to find out the extent to which newspapers in the country have contributed to public awareness of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta. Five newspapers were studied, three of which were privately-owned dailies while the others were dailies owned by the Niger Delta States. The research techniques used in the study were content analysis and survey. Simple percentages were used. The study revealed that the five newspapers collectively published 0.56 item on environmental degradation in the Niger Delta, representing one such item in two days. This is incapable of creating awareness on environmental degradation in the
region among Nigerians. It also revealed that newspapers in the country lack the
ability of investigating on their own, cases of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta. Among others, the study recommended that journalists working with newspapers in the country should be given special training in Environmental Science while reporters should embark on investigating environmental situation in the region.

LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 5 2008: pp. 457-472