Media Framing of Boko Haram Abductions in Nigeria

Nnabundo NWABUZOR

ABSTRACT

  This study examined media framing of Boko Haram abductions in Nigeria.  Two national newspapers- the Vanguard and the Punch and two TV stations- NTA and Channels were sampled for the study. A total of o351 stories on Boko Haram abduction from four media outfits were content analysed. Two broad frames-the aftermath, made up of human interest, conflict, responsibility, morality and economic and context, made up of episodic and thematic- were used for the study. This study found that most of the stories on Boko Haram abductions cited official sources. It was also found that a significant correlation exists between story sources and frames used. The result also revealed that among the aftermath frames, the responsibility and human interest frames were most dominant while of the two context frames, the episodic frame was mostly used among the media studied. Significant correlation also exists among the frames used.  Implications of these result have also been explored.

KEYWORDS: Boko Haram; Adduction; Framing; Media

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