AUDIENCE ASSESSMENT OF THE COVERAGE OF BOKO HARAM ATTACKS BY CONVENTIONAL MEDIA AND ONLINE NEWS PLATFORMS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was aimed at ascertaining the assessment of the audience on how both the conventional media and online news media have so far covered the Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study while questionnaire served as data collection instrument. The residents of South-East Nigeria constituted the population of the study. Using the annual population growth rate of 3.2 percent, a projected population of 22,649,928 was used as the population of the study. A sample size of 384 was drawn from the population using the Wimmer and Dominick online sample size determination calculator. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed to administer the data collection instrument on the respondents. The collected data were collated, analysed using percentages and presented in tables. Findings revealed that the conventional media provide detailed accounts of the Boko Haram attacks more than the online news platforms; the conventional media use credible sources more than the online news platforms; online news platforms sensationalise reports more than the conventional media; and finally, the conventional media often adopt peace building approach more than the online news platforms. In line with the findings, it was recommended that online news media operators should improve on their coverage of the Boko Haram attacks by providing detailed accounts, using credible sources, avoiding sensationalism and adopting peace building technique in reporting the attacks; Journalists who report for online news platforms should go for training to improve their skills in conflicting reporting.