NEWS FRAMING OF COVID-19 VACCINES AND AUDIENCE RESPONSE TO VACCINE UPTAKES IN NIGERIA
Keywords:
News Framing, Covid-19 Vaccines, Response, NewspaperAbstract
This study analyzed news framing of Covid-19 vaccines and audience response to vaccine uptakes in Nigeria. The duration of the study was five months (March to August, 2021). This period encompasses critical stages of vaccine rollout and public discourse, offering a comprehensive view of how news framing influenced audience response. The study used Framing Theory. The research adopted content analysis and in-depth interview, while three widely read Nigerian newspapers; The Guardian, Daily Trust and The Nation were content analyzed. A total of 102 stories were coded from the three newspapers under review, while each newspaper had 34 stories. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyze the data. Also, interview was presented using thematic analysis. The study found that the vaccine stories were not given enough prominence they deserved. It was also found that framing of Covid-19 vaccines had negative impact on the audience. This was evident as conflict frame was emphasized among the frames through which information on Covid-19 vaccines were disseminated. The study concluded that the negative attitude news media portrayed towards the safety concerns were most of the reasons for Covid-19 vaccines low uptake in Nigeria. The study, recommended,
among others, that the newspapers should present Covid-19 vaccines information on the front pages of newspapers to attract audience attention and the stories should be presented in fair and objective manners to address the negative impact of frames
on audience response.
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