3.7 Implementación
3.7.9 Contingencias
113 understood by paying attention to the typically dramatic nature of such occurrence which became a common experience of more radical groups like MASSOB and IPOB. These observations will be revisited in the CDA later.
114 Table 4.6 shows that overall, 18% of the reports were placed on the front page, 0.4% appeared on centre page, 0% was on the back page, 0.7% appeared on the editorial page, while 81%
appeared on other pages. The overwhelming dominance of other pages over front, centre, back and editorial pages is natural because they constitute most of the newspaper space, and so most reports find themselves there. However, for ethnic interest groups to get up to 18% front page placement is remarkable considering the number of subjects and issues competing for that single but most treasured page. A similar pattern occurs across the individual papers. For Daily Sun, 21.4% were on the front page, 0% on the centre page, 0% on the back page, 0.7% the editorial page and 77.9% on other pages. For The Nation, 24.8% were on the front page, 0% on the centre page, 0% on the back page, 0.7% on the editorial page and 74.5% on other pages. For Daily Trust, 8.6% were on the front page, 2.1% on the centre page, 0% on the back page, 0.7% the editorial page and 88.6% on other pages. For Vanguard, 14.3% were on the front page, 0% on the centre page, 0% on the back page, 0.5% on the editorial page and 85.2% on other pages. As stated earlier, the amount of front page placement is impressive considering the very many issues and subjects competing for that single page in every edition. The centre page almost did not get any material given that only Daily Trust publishes report in that page; others use that mostly for advertisements. Then, the back page, being mainly for opinion columns in the newspapers, had no reports placed on it. For the editorial page, its content is already fixed i.e. editorials, editorial cartoons and letters to the editor. In all, it could be stated that the pattern of placement, to whatever extent, suggests that newspapers placed some value on the activities and communications of the ethnic interest groups; they found them worthy of prominent placement.
115 Table 4.7
Page Rating (Excluding Features, Pictures and Editorials)
Newspapers Total
Daily Sun The Nation Daily Trust Vanguard
Page lead 50.5%
N = 106
21.6%
N = 25
11.6%
N = 32
60%
N = 96
40.1%
N = 240 Non page lead 49.5%
N = 104
78.4%
N = 91
88.4%
N = 99
40%
N = 64
59.9%
N = 358
Total 100%
N = 210
100%
N = 116
100%
N = 112
100%
N = 160
100%
N = 598
Table 4.7 shows that overall, 40.1% of the reports were published as page lead reports as against 59.9% that came as non-page lead reports. For Daily Sun, 50.5% came as page lead reports while 49.5% came as non-page lead reports. For The Nation, 21.6% came as page lead reports while 78.4% came as non-page lead reports. In Daily Trust, while 11.6% were page lead reports, 88.4% were not. For Vanguard, 60% came as page lead reports while 40% came as non-page lead reports. Overall, it could be said that ethnic interest groups got an impressive share of the page lead reports considering that many other subjects also compete for that status, and there can be only one lead report in each page.
116 Table 4.8.
Headline Size (Excluding Pictures, Editorials and Cartoons)
Newspapers Total
Daily Sun The Nation Daily Trust Vanguard
Large 60.5%
N = 133
43.5%
N = 54
23.5%
N = 28
66.1%
N = 109
51.6%
N = 324
Medium 8.6%
N = 19
8.9%
N = 11
0%
N = 0
22.4%
N = 19
7.8%
N = 49
Small 30.9%
N = 68
47.6%
N = 59
76.5%
N = 91
22.4%
N = 37
40.6%
N = 255
Total 100%
N = 220
100%
N = 124
100%
N = 119
100%
N = 165
100%
N = 628
Table 4.8 shows that overall, 51.6% of the reports came with large headlines, 7.8% came with medium headlines, while 40.6% came with small headlines. Almost a similar pattern is reflected in all but one of the individual newspapers. For Daily Sun, 60.5% had large headlines, 8.6% had medium headlines, while 30.9% came with small headlines. For The Nation, 43.5% of the headlines were large, 8.9% were medium, while 47.6% were small. Furthermore, 23.5% of the reports in Daily Trust came with large headlines, 0% came with medium headline, while 76.5%
of the headlines were small. Then in Vanguard, 66.1% of the reports had large headlines, 22.4%
had medium headlines, while 22.4% had small headlines. Looking at the data holistically, it could be stated that the newspapers gave large headlines to a good number of the reports which is a pointer to the extent of value attached to ethnic interest groups by the papers.
117 4.1.3. Perspective/Slant
Data were collected in regard to the slant, balance and tone of the reports on ethnic interest groups. These data are as presented in Tables 4.9 to 4.11 below.
Table 4.9 Slant
Newspaper Total
Daily Sun The Nation Daily Trust Vanguard Favourable to an
Hausa-Fulani interest group
7.1%
N = 20
3.4%
N = 5
45%
N = 63
2.2%
N = 4
12.3%
N = 92 Favourable to an Igbo
interest group
51.8%
N = 145
12.%
N = 18
15.6%
N = 22
45.1%
N = 82
35.6%
N = 267 Favourable to a
Yoruba interest group
17.9%
N = 50
30.9%
N = 46
10.7%
N = 15
3.8%
N = 7
15.7%
N = 118 Favourable to a minority
interest group
13.2%
N = 37
9.4%
N = 14
5.7%
N = 8
27.5%
N = 50
14.5%
N = 109
No Clear Slant 10%
N = 28
44.3%
N = 66
22.9%
N = 32
21.4%
N = 39
22%
N = 165
Total 100%
N = 280
100%
N = 149
100%
N = 140
100%
N = 182
100%
N = 751
Table 4.9 shows that on the whole (across the four newspapers), 12.3% of the reports were favourable to Hausa-Fulani ethnic interest groups, 35.6% to an Igbo interest group, 15.7%
favoured Yoruba groups, 14.5% favoured minority groups, while 22% came with no clear slant.
For the individual papers, 7.1% of the reports in Daily Sun were favourable to Hausa-Fulani interest groups, 51.8% were favourable to Igbo groups, 17.9% were favourable to Yoruba
118 groups, 13.2% were favourable to minority groups, while 10% had no clear slant. For The Nation, 3.4% were favourable to Hausa-Fulani interest groups, 12% were favourable to Igbo groups, 30.9% were favourable to Yoruba groups, 9.4% were favourable to minority groups, while 44.3% had no clear slant. In Daily Trust, 45% of the reports were slanted in favour of Hausa-Fulani groups, 15.6% in favour of Igbo groups, 10.7% in favour of Yoruba groups, 5.7%
in favour of minority groups, while 22.9% came with no clear slant. For Vanguard, 2.2% were slanted in favour of Hausa-Fulani groups, 45.1% in favour of Igbo groups, 3.8% in favour of Yoruba groups, 27.5% in favour of minority groups, while 21.4% came with no clear slant.
Interestingly, it can be observed that the news slants largely followed the ethnicity of the proprietors of the newspapers; each of the papers tended to give more positive slant to the ethnic group where the owner(s) come from. However, the exception was Vanguard which gave the most positive slants to Igbo interest groups while minority groups (where the proprietor belongs) came second. This same pattern was also seen of Vanguard in the amount of reports published of the ethnic interest groups (Table 4.2).
Table 4.10.
Balance (Excluding pictorials, cartoons and editorials)
Newspaper Total
Daily Sun The Nation Daily Trust Vanguard
Balance 4.1%
N = 9
19.2%
N = 24
18.7%
N = 23
23.8%
N = 40
15%
N = 96
Not Balanced 95.9%
N = 213
80.8%
N = 101
81.3%
N = 100
76.2%
N = 128
85%
N = 542
Total 100%
N = 222
100%
N = 125
100%
N = 123
100%
N = 168
100%
N = 638
119 Table 4.10 shows that 15% of the reports in the four newspapers (considered collectively) were balanced, while 85% were not. This pattern was replicated all through. In Daily Sun, 4.1% of the reports were balanced while 95.9% were not. In The Nation, 19.2% were balanced as against 80.8% that were not. For Daily Trust, while 18.7% were balanced, 81.3% were not. Lastly, in Vanguard, 23.8% were balanced whereas 85% were not. The implication of the foregoing is that the newspapers largely reported the activities and communications of these groups without balancing the claims or issues raised by such. What this means is that most of the reports on these interest groups allowed the reported group to make accusations, claims and attacks without the person, persons or institutions that may be adversely affected by such accusations, claims and attacks being given a voice in the reports to present their own account.
Table 4.11.
Tone
Newspaper Total
Daily Sun The Nation Daily Trust Vanguard
Sensational 11.4%
N = 32
10.1%
N = 15
12.1%
N = 17
30.2%
N = 55
15.8%
N = 119 Not Sensational 88.6%
N = 248
89.9%
N = 134
87.9%
N = 123
69.8%
N = 127
84.2%
N = 632
Total 100%
N = 280
100%
N = 149
100%
N = 140
100%
N = 182
100%
N = 751
Table 4.11 shows that on the whole, 15.8% of the reports in the four newspapers were sensational as against 84.2% that were not. A similar pattern ran through the individual newspapers. For Daily Sun, 11.4% were sensational while 88.6% were not. In The Nation, 10.1%
were sensational while 89.9% were not. For Daily Trust, 12.1% of the reports were sensational
120 as against 87.9% that were not. Lastly, while 30.2% of Vanguard’s reports came out sensational, 69.8% came out otherwise. The implication of the foregoing was that the newspapers reported most of the events without unnecessarily exaggerating or otherwise framing them in such a way as to create undue public excitement, alarm, anxiety and fear. The researcher observed that the few reports that came out sensational were those with conflict-related themes such as protests/violence and arrest/trial of members of ethnic interest groups. Such conflict-related developments often lure the media into sensationalism (Hieber, 1998; Akin, 2005).
121 Table 4.12.
Zero Order Correlation Matrix (Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1.Newspaper 1 -.064 -.025 -.235** -.257** .332** .144** .057 -.169** .176** -.123**
2. Genre 1 -.248** -.087* -.168** -.127** -.121** -.044 .048 -.036 -.200**
3.Placement 1 .259** .310** .072* .091* -.179** -.160** -.006 .204**
4. Page rating 1 .774** .066 .226** -.276** .042 -.016 .047
5. Headline Size 1 .025 .187** -.239** .063 -.041 .149**
6. Ethnic group