International Journal of Life Science and Agriculture Research

This study was carried out to analyse the agricultural content of some selected newspapers in Nigeria between 2022 and 2023. The selected newspapers were the Punch, Vanguard, Observer, and Hope. Specifically, it ascertained the tonality of agricultural information published by the selected newspapers, and described the space allotted to agricultural news in the selected Nigerian newspapers. Using content analysis design and a multi-stage sampling technique, 384 newspapers editions were selected and coded using a validated code sheet with an inter-coder reliability coefficient exceeding 0.80 (Holistic formula). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the differences in the tonality and space allocation across the newspapers. Findings showed that tonality analysis demonstrated significant variation among newspapers with Punch (M=2.42) and Vanguard (M=2.42) presenting more neutral to positive tones, whereas observer (M=1.75) and Hope (M= 1.42) exhibiting more negative farming. Agricultural news was predominantly brief or moderately sized (1-10 inches) across the selected newspapers. The study concludes that all four newspapers devoted roughly comparable space to agricultural issues during the study period. However, tonality of coverage differed substantially between national and local based newspapers. It recommended that print media should adopt more comprehensive, balanced, and development focused approaches to reporting on agriculture in order to efficiently drive agricultural transformation and rural development in Nigeria.

Agricultural information, reportage, Nigerian newspapers, farmers, tonality.

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