Monitoring of Print & Online Newspapers’ Reporting of the 2019 Electoral Process

Monitoring Report of Print and Online Newspapers' Reporting of 2019 Elections

The September – December 2018 Score Card  

(Being an analysis of trends in the reporting of the 2019 electoral process by 12 print/online newspapers for September, October, November and December 2018)

This report represents the outcome of the monitoring of 12 print and online newspapers conducted in the months of September, October, November and December 2018, being the second quarter of the exercise, which commenced in June, 2018. The first quarter report covering the months of June, July and August, 2018 had already been released. 

The newspapers whose content were monitored include: The Punch, The Guardian, Daily Sun, Vanguard, ThisDay, Nigerian Tribune, The Nation, Leadership, Daily Trust and Blue Print (monitored online). Others are The Cable and Premium Times (published online only).  

 This report highlights the findings from the analysis of trends in the reportage of the 2019 electoral process by the newspapers listed above. The monitoring exercise was undertaken as part of a media content monitoring activity under component 4b: Support to the media of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) Project being implemented by the International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria. 

The purpose is to provide evidence-backed information on the pattern of media coverage and the performance of the media in the reportage of the on-going electoral processes and the 2019 elections. The report therefore highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the monitored relevant items especially in relation to the degree of professionalism, inclusivity and conflict sensitivity

The outcome of this report, which also entails the documentation of the campaign promises of the presidential candidates will, like the previous quarter, be used as tools of engagement with journalists, media managers and media gate keepers at a quarterly media round table scheduled for Tuesday February 12, 2019.

In the context of the outcomes of the monitoring, it was observed that:

·         The media outlets during the period did not give equitable coverage to the parties and aspirants/candidates. Two political parties, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got much of the coverage while 89 others were not well focused upon. Findings show that the combined coverage that APC and PDP get is 85% while the rest shared 25%. While it could be argued that this possibly reflects the strength of the two political parties, efforts should have been made to cover and report the other political parties.

·         The monitored media outlets did not during the period give fair and equitable coverage to disadvantaged groups. Women, youths and persons living with disabilities were poorly focused upon.

                  Findings show that men dominated the media space with 1,417 mentions, representing (50.61%). Women on the other hand got 102 mentions (at 3.54%); Youths got109 mentions (at 3.7%) while PLWDs got 33 mentions at 1.14%. It therefore means that some of the women, youths and people living with disabilities especially those standing as aspirants and candidates might not have been given opportunity of getting their issues across to the public.

                    While the monitored media outlets were conflict sensitive in their language use and generally  avoided reports or headlines that could be interpreted as hate speech. 

                             However, Some of the monitored media outlets did not show enough sensitivity to gender in the way and manner of reporting female aspirants/candidates.

FINDINGS

The findings for the period under review were derived from a total of 16,282 reports that were found relevant to the media content monitoring exercise in the 12 newspapers. 

Of these, Vanguard published the highest number of relevant reports with 1,961 (at 21%), followed by The Nation which published 1,752 relevant reports (at 10.76%). Daily Sun published 1,751 relevant reports (10.8%); Leadership published 1,697 reports (10.42%) and Nigerian Tribune published 1,688 (10.37%) while Daily Trust published 1,430 (8.8%).

Others are: The Punch, which published 1,286 reports (7.9%); The Guardian, 1,207 relevant reports (7.41%); ThisDay published 1,197 reports (7.4%).

Premium Times published 934 relevant reports (5.74%); Blueprint published 697 relevant reports (5%), while The Cable published 682 (4.2%).

Publications	Total Items	%
Blueprint	697	4.3%
Daily Sun	1,751	10.8%
Daily Trust	1,430	8.8%
Leadership	1,697	10.42%
Nigerian Tribune	1,688	10.37%
Premium Times	934	5.74%
The Cable	682	4.2%
The Guardian	1,207	7.41%
The Nation	1,752	10.76%
The Punch	1,286	7.9%
ThisDay	1,197	7.4%
Vanguard	1,961	12%
Total	16,282	100%

METHODOLOGY
 

The methodology used in extracting the required information and indices for analysis entailed a number of structured techniques by six media monitors who were tasked with specific responsibilities and working under the guidance of the head monitor and the monitoring analyst.

In doing this, Quantitative and Qualitative approaches were adopted in identifying, extracting and analysing the reports, which was then imputed as data into a specially designed Data Processing (DP) computer programme. The DP categorised the outcomes into different spread sheets from which a summation is derived per thematic issue for further analysis into facts and narrative interpretation.

The quantitative approach

The quantitative approach entailed the collection and coding of data, the use of a specifically designed media monitoring template and the making of entry into a specially designed data base programme. The coding allows for the capturing of the frequency at which the media reports of each of the given indices in this exercise occurred. The data, within the context of the different indices were then processed and analysed to arrive at specific results which are also depicted in graphs, charts and tables in the body of this report.

The qualitative approach

The qualitative approach entailed content analysis of the individual newspaper reports, photographs, letters, and interviews published within the period under review.  The use of the qualitative approach was to engender open debate and discussions with stakeholders on the thematic focus of the democratic and electoral issues published by the selected media.     

Excerpts of Campaign Promises of Presidential Candidates

1. Vanguard (30^th November, 2018, PG34) Obiageli Ezekwesili, ACPN. “We will focus on improving the health sector”
2. The Punch (November 30^th 2018 Pg. 10) People’s Trust Gbenga Hashim APC, PDP playing politics with national security….”Our party would work to build a $4tn economy”
3. Vanguard (26^th November 2018, Pg. 8) People’s Trust Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, “promises 4 million jobs”.
4. Leadership (5^th November 2018, Pg.2) PT Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, unveils blueprint, scores APC low on economy “…He vowed to cut down acute poverty by half in the country within 5 years…we will promote an innovative economy by protecting proprietary right of innovators
5. Daily Trust (November 20^th 2018, Pg.5) Atiku launches campaign document… “I will be proactive in attracting investment…”
6. Daily Trust (November 23^rd 2018 Pg. 43) Campaign promises and 2019 election….Atiku of PDP said: “I will be proactive in attracting investment and supporting the $50 million small and medium scale enterprise across Nigeria.
7. Kingsley Moghalu Presidential candidate of YPP; pledges to set up a one trillion naira venture capital fund.
8. Obiageli Ezekwesili Presidential candidate of ACPN, who in her twitter handle recently said “our government will reduce the number of out-of-school children”.
9. The Punch (November 28^th 2018, Pg. 12) Obi Ezekwesili of ACPN, I’m ready to fight poverty”
10. The Punch (November 29^th 2018, Pg. 10) Isaac Ositelu of Accord Party, Declare state of emergency in security, presidential candidate tells FG: “welfare of the rank and file of the military would be top notch for our administration”
11. Vanguard (25^th of November 2018, Pg. 10) Engineer Abagi Yusuf Sani of ADP’s offering in Nigerian’s 2019 presidential race.  “promises to improve on the power sector “
12. Leadership (7^th of November 2018, Pg.6) Abdulkadir Abdulsalam of Labour party, Only Labour party can lift Nigerians out poverty ”said it is the only party that has the program and ideology  to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians”
13. Leadership (November 7^th 2018 Pg.13) Davidson Isibor of the GDPN “promises to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians”
14. Vanguard  (November 23^rd 2018, Pg20) Oby Ezekwesili of ACPN promises “lifting 80 million Nigerians out of abject poverty and undoing the economic downturn imposed on the nation”
15. The Punch (November 24^th 2018. Pg 13) PMB: 2019 CAMPAIGN: BETWEEN BEAUTIFUL MANIFESTOES AND NIGERIA’S LONG JOURNEY TO GREATNESS “amongst other things to sustain the anti-corruption war, provide more infrastructure and rebuild the economy”
16. Nigerian Tribune November 26^th 2018 Pg8) South-West women declare support for Olawepo-Hashim “I will create four million jobs every year.
17. Leadership of (November 18^th 2018, Pg6) Prof. Yusufu Ameh Obaje of Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party (ANDP) promises to “deliver the youth from unemployment”
18. Nigerian Tribune (November 19^th 2018, Pg2.) PMB of APC 2019: our choice will shape Nigeria’s future “we will remodel 10,000 schools every year”.
19. The Punch (November 22^nd 2018, pg. 3) Accord Party presidential candidate promises to focus on infrastructure. Isaac Babatunde Ositelu says we’ll “build infrastructure, unite Nigeria and restore Nigeria on the path of prosperity ”
20. Leadership (November 20th 2018 Pg. 14) Fela Durotoye, ANN presidential candidate promises to “make social impact in the lives of both young and old Nigerians”.
21. Nigerian Tribune (November 20^th, 2018. Pg. 3) Atiku of PDP in “How we will get Nigeria working again” promises to “give Nigerians a working and living wage, empower Nigerian women, reduce maternal mortality”.
22. Nigerian Tribune (November 20^th, 2018. Pg.4) ADC Obadiah Mailafia, I will restore economic plan if elected president “I will bring back culture of economic development … I am going to pursue infrastructure development…”
23. Leadership (21^st November 2018, Pg. 40). Olawepo –Hashim of PT in a story: I’ve mobilized the grassroots to defeat Buhari, Atiku, promises to “Pay 50,000 minimum wage, create 4 million jobs”.
24. Vanguard (14^th November 2018, pg 43). How I will take 80 million Nigerians out of poverty-Ezekwesili of ANCP
25. Vanguard (November 14^th 2018, Pg43) Dr. Kriz David of Liberation Movement promises to “operate a smart government”.
26. Leadership (November 23^rd, 2018. Pg. 45) in Campaign promises: our politicians have come again”, Atiku promises “20,000 megawatt of electricity in seven years”.  
27. In the Nigerian Tribune (November 22^nd 2018 Pg. 2), Atiku of PDP promises “40% of appointment would go to youth while 30%would go to women”.
28. In Vanguard (November 1^st Pg. 16) Ezekwesili of the ACPN promises “8 million jobs”.
29. In ThisDay (November 2^nd 2018 Pg. 10) Atiku promises to “crash petrol price”.
30. In Leadership (November 28, 2018 Pg. 28), titled: The presidential candidates and their manifestoes, Kola Fasua of ANRP promises “Re-energizing the educational sector”.
31. Donald Duke of SDP promises “…I support the call for restructuring”.

32.         Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu of Youth Progressive Party (YPP): promises “…appointments would be done within 48 hours in office, 50/50 on gender parity policy in all political appointment”.

33.         In The Guardian (November 25^, 2018 Pg. 39), Fela Durotoye says “Restructuring Nigeria will transform local communities into industrial Hubs”.

34.         In This day (November 6^th, 2018 Pg.19) Ekwesili of ACPN promises “commitment to poverty alleviation

35.         In The Nation (November 5^th 2018, Pg41), Olawepo-Hashim of the People’s Trust promises “to do better with the national economy”.

36.         Thisday (November 13^th, 2018 Pg.19), Prof. Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies of MAJA promises “to create massive jobs…to form unity govt”.

37.         In The Nation (November 26^th 2018, Pg.10), Olawepo-Hashim promises “to tackle cancer headlong”.

38.          In The Nation (December 19^th, 2018 Pg.6), PMB of APC plans “to extend the school feeding program, complete the Ibadan/Kano phase of the Lagos/Kano rail link, the Port Harcourt/Maiduguri line, the Itakpa/Warri link to Abuja, through Lokoja”.

39.         The Nation (November 20^th 2018 Pg.1), Atiku of PDP promises “to back 50m SMEs”.

40.         In This day (November 22^nd 2018 Pg. 32), Olawepo-Hashim says “I will end crony capitalism in Nigeria”.

41.         In Daily Sun (November 12^th, 2019 Pg.31) titled: “2019: NCP alternative that’ll work for Nigerians, Tanko Yunusa, a presidential candidate promises “to restructure the country, true federalism among other issue”.

42.         In The Punch (December 28^th 2018 Pg. 10), titled: Ezekwesili takes campaign to Anambra street, promises to “lift 80 million Nigerians out of poverty…”

43.          Daily Sun (November 13^th, 2018 Pg. 3) 2019:Oby Ezekwesili unveils roadmaps, pledges to scrap fuel subsidy  “pledges to implement oil reform, 12 cities project to bring 12 Nigerian city to global standard”

44.         In ThisDay (November 23^rd, 2018 Pg.28), titled: watching failure of recycled politician pushed me to run for president, Olawepo-Hashim of People’s Trust promises “fight effective war against poverty”.

45.         In The Guardian (December 30^th 2018 Pg. 6), Joel Gbenga Olawepo Hashim promises “to create four million jobs.

46.         The Punch (December 11^th 2018 Pg. 10). Presidential candidate, Isaac Ositelu of Action Party promises “self-sufficient in food production”.

47.         In The Guardian (December 18^th 2018 Pg. 8), titled: Atiku PDP visits Lagos, assures of robust youth participating if elected…says “we will provide employment and fulfil our promises”.

48.         The Nation (December 30^th 2018 Pg.6) 2019: Olawepo-Hashim of PT promises “to heal wounds of Biafra…to create a legislative framework within six months for creation for one state in the South-east”.

49.         Daily Sun (November 18^th Pg. 12) titled: It’s total war for PDP, APC, others, NCP Tanko Yinusa pledges “to address the plight of Nigerian”.

50.         In The Nation (December 29^th, 2018 Pg 41) 2019 Olawepo-Hashim vows “to heal Biafra wounds “promised to create additional state in Southeast”.

51.         In The Guardian (December 21^st 2018 Pg. 8) titled: How I will end unemployment if elected, Ezekwesili of the ACPN promises to “create 80 million jobs”.

52.         In The Punch (December 14^th 2018 Pg. 10), Ezekwesili of ACPN promises “to reduce poverty…”

53.         In The Nation (December 18^th 2018 Pg. 42) Atiku of PDP promises “youth 40% appointments”.

54.         The Nation (December 19^th 2018 Pg.9), Olawepo-Hashim promises: “I‘ll resist attempt to turn Nigeria into two-party state”.

55.         Nigerian Tribune (December 9^th 2018 Pg. 22) titled: Issue, as presidential campaign begins, Kingsley Moghalu of YPP promises “the government of PT will ensure a minimum wage of N50,000:00”

56.          In Nigerian Tribune (December 7^th 2018 Pg. 4), Atiku of PDP promises “I’ll initiate Nigeria’s restructuring six months into office”.

57.         In The Nation (December 8^th 2018 Pg.4), Atiku of PDP promises “an inclusive govt.”

58.         Daily Sun (December 31^st 2018, Pg. 9) titled: 2019: Ezekwesili pledges 50% appointment for women, youths

59.         In Nigerian Tribune (December 31^st 2018 Pg.31) Ezekwesili of ACPN pledges “50% appointment for women, youth”.

60.         In Daily Trust (December 30^th 2018 Pg. 38), YPP presidential running mate, Umama Gesto promises “we intend to touch the lives women from rural area down to the urban centre and even include youth and provide an avenue that will empower them in their lives”

61.         In Vanguard (December 18^th 2018 Pg.8) 2019: Atiku pledges 40% affirmative action for youth

62.         Daily Trust (December 28^th 2018 Pg.15) Ezekwesili promises to correct nation’s political anomaly …

63.         In Daily Trust (December 14^th 2018 Pg. 14) Ezekwesili promises “I’ll tackle poverty headlong”.

• Personality Rather than Electoral Value
•   (A case of how Bianca Ojukwu was reported)

• Personalities rather than electoral value were the focus of some of the reports. Women contestants were labeled: ‘wife’, and ‘widow’ and were reported as if their political successes were dependent on their living or late husbands. A case in point was how media reported Bianca Ojukwu in the build up to APGA’s Senatorial primary election in Anambra State.

• The Nation on September 29, 2018 reported Bianca in the same manner in a piece titled: APGA South senatorial ticket: Many rivers to cross for Bianca Ojukwu. The newspaper wrote:

• Vanguard’s report of September 5, 2018 was one-sided in relation to Bianca’s political aspiration. The report, titled:

• In this report, all the three sources quoted spoke from negative perspectives. Again, the story was not developed further to accommodate a different perspective.

• In The Punch (October 8, 2018), Bianca was also referred to as a ‘widow’ in a report titled: APGA organised senatorial primary just to disqualify Bianca, Uwazuruike claims.

• The newspaper said: “Bianca, widow of the late Biafran leader…had signified her interest to represent Anambra South at the Senate in the 2019 elections. However, her aspiration has not gone down with some people…

Political Conflict
 Election Disputes
Women Voices Missing in Vox Pops
How INEC was reported
Placement of Reports
 Reports’ genre  
Adverts Published as News: A Case of Buhari's NextLevel Campaign Advert
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

There were 494 reports on political conflicts accounting for 4% of the identified relevant reports. Most of these were fallout of maters arising over the gubernatorial election in Osun State in September, 2018, particularly during the re-run elections in three local governments.

There were 687 reports (at 5.52%) published on Electoral Disputes. These were fallouts of issues arising from litigations at the election petition tribunals in Osun State after the gubernatorial election in September 2018.

In a Vox Pop published in Daily Sun (November 22, 2018) titled: Direct or indirect primaries, which is more democratic? The newspaper quoted eight men from different walks of life, no woman was included.

The same was the case in another Vox Pop published by Daily Trust (November 3, 2018) titled: What do Nigerians think about INEC conducting the 2019 elections? Here, there was no woman among the respondents as the six people interviewed were men.

In Vanguard, (December 20, 2018), there is gender imbalance in a vox pop, titled: Should INEC conduct elections in IDPs Camps? Here, five men were interviewed, while only one woman was interviewed.

In The Punch, (December 28, 2018), in a Vox Pop titled: Should the National ID card be used for elections, no woman was interviewed.

A total of 904 reports were published on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria’s elections ombudsman, representing 7.27%.

ii.  Use as source

INEC officials were sources in 397 reports (at 2.64%) of all the stakeholders who the media cited as source of information.

Other findings around INEC

Continuous Voters’ Registration:

There were 3 reports on Continuous Voters’ Registration at 0.03%.

Civic and Voter Education:

There were 26 reports on Civic and Voter Education (representing 0.21%).

Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) had 84 reports (at 0.68%).

Campaign Finance:

There were 78 reports that focused on Campaign Finance (at 0.63%).

Voting:

A total of 154 reports (at 1.24%) focused on voting during the gubernatorial or governorship election that took place in Osun State in September, 2018 as well as some bye elections in Katsina, Bauchi and Kwara States. 

Of the 16,282 relevant reports identified and analysed, a total of 12,148 reports (74.61%) were published on the Inside Pages. Another 1,581 reports, (9.71%) were published on the Front Pages while 115 reports were published on the Back Pages (accounting for 0.71%) and  137 reports (0.84%), were published as Editorials.

·         Placement in Online newspapers

Placement in Online newspapers was established from whether the reports were published as ‘Top Story or Inside Story”. While 1,013 reports were published as Top Stories (at 6.22%), 1,288 reports were published as Inside Stories, representing 7.91%.

Out of 16,242 total reports identified as relevant and monitored, 13,077 reports were published as News (at 80.32%). Another 923 reports were published as Features at (5.67%). There were 77 Editorials at (0.46%); while 821 reports were Opinion articles at (5.04%). Another 106 reports were Letters to the Editor (0.65%); and 261 were photographs (1.6%).

Others include 150 reports published as Cartoons (0.92%); 32 as Vox Pops (0.2%) while 821 Interviews were published at (5.04%).

For the online medium, video was used to complement their reports.  14 Videos at (0.08%) were found relevant and monitored within the period.    

OBSERVATIONS

The Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage and some other relevant frameworks including the Electoral Act obligate the media to give equitable coverage and access to all political parties and under-represented groups such as youths, women and peoples living with disability. The frameworks also obligate the media to be socially responsible, ethical, avoid hate speech and be conflict sensitive.

In the context of the above, it was observed that:

·         The media outlets during the period did not give equitable coverage to the parties and aspirants/candidates. Two political parties, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got much of the coverage while 89 others were not well focused upon. Findings show that the combined coverage that APC and PDP get is 85% while the rest shared 25%. While it could be argued that this possibly reflects the strength of the two political parties, efforts should have been made to cover and report the other political parties.

·         The monitored media outlets did not during the period give fair and equitable coverage to disadvantaged groups. Women, youths and persons living with disabilities were poorly focused upon.

·         Some of the monitored media outlets used as advert as news without clearly indicating that they were sponsored adverts. For example in November 2018, eight of the newspapers, except The Guardian and the online only ones, published advertorial on the incumbent President and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on their front pages.

             The advert, headlined NEXT LEVEL 2019: Buhari/Osinbajo. WORKING FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER, promoting President Buhari’s flag-off of the 2019 re-election campaigns, occupied more than half of the Front pages of the newspapers.               

F             For instance, ThisDay, Daily Sun, The Punch, The Nation, Leadership, Vanguard, published the advert on November 19, 2018 while, Daily Trust and Nigerian Tribune published the advert on the 20th and 21st of November, 2018 respectively.

          The advert carried the logo of the All Progressives Party (APC). In The Nation and Vanguard newspapers, there were no clear demarcations between the advert and the major headlines on their Front page such that it could be confused as the papers’ main headline news for the day. 

           The Nation published directly above the advert a major headline titled: Buhari: My second term plan. In Vanguard, it was directly under a caption: 2019: I’m taking Nigeria to next level—In Daily Sun, it was placed under a headline: Don’t set Nigeria ablaze, Buhari urges politicians.

The monitored media outlets and others not covered by this exercise, should continue to strive to abide with the provisions of  the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage and some other relevant frameworks including the Electoral Act obligating them to:

·         Give equitable access to parties and candidates

·         Give equitable access to underrepresented group

·         Be socially responsible

·         Be ethical

·         Avoid hate speech; and

·         Be Conflict sensitive

The monitored media outlets and others should be more gender sensitive in the choice of language when reporting women candidates or their issues

         With the elections drawing near, it is expected that the media and INEC will step up enlightenment around voting so that no one is disenfranchised and no one commits any offence out of ignorance. This is the period the electorates need to be well informed about their duties and responsibilities during the elections.

Raji Rasaq, head of media monitoring, IPC (rajirasaki2015@gmail.com)