Reporting of aquaculture issues in Nigerian newspapers

Abstract

Newspapers, like other media types determine to a large extent the level of attention given to an issue by the government and the public due to the coverage of such issues. This study assessed the reportage of aquaculture issues in selected Nigerian newspapers with a view to ascertain its importance in the day-to-day lives of the reading public. Variables measured included types of story, sources, placement and space allotted to aquaculture related stories. Data were analysed using both descriptive (frequency, percentage) and inferential (Analysis of Variance) statistics at p<0.05. Results show that production was the most reported issues (38.9%) in area of the value chain, while the combination of production and marketing were the least reported (8.3%). Government officials (37.5%) provided most of the information disseminated by the media. The mean space allotted to
aquaculture issues was 240.9722cm2, while 51cm2 and 600cm2 were the minimum and maximum, respectively. Majority of the articles (90.3%) were placed on less important pages of the newspapers. The quantum of coverage of aquaculture issues by the media in Nigeria dailies was limited and prominence was low. Nigeria's press needs to do more in the coverage of aquaculture issues.