MEDIA COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19 PANDEMIC) IN NIGERIA: AN ASSESSMENT OF ONLINE EDITIONS OF VANGUARD, DAILY TRUST AND THE SUN NEWSPAPERS.

Abstract

The mass media, which is the watchdog of society, plays significant roles in addressing critical societal issues and improving the people's general well-being. In recent times, promoting public health and preventing the spread of dangerous diseases has become an integral part of the mass media. This paper carried out an overview of how online newspapers in Nigerian played a significant role in enlightening the public about the Coronavirus (COVID19 pandemic). The content analysis research method was used for four months, from 28th February 2020 (a day after the pandemic's first case was recorded in Nigeria) to 29th June 2020. The online editions of Vanguard, Daily Trust, and The Sun newspapers were analyzed, taking into cognizant the Covid-19 news stories, opinion, and editorials in order to find out the extent to which online newspapers in Nigeria paid more attention to the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in the area of educating and enlightening the community about the fatal nature of the disease and how to live with it. The result shows that all the three newspapers analyzed gave special consideration to the Covid-19 pandemic in their daily reporting. The paper recommends that public health issues and the outbreak of a deadly disease should be given more attention. The journalists covering such issues should be well equipped and research-oriented in their news
gathering and reporting.