Assessment of Issues Related to Environmental Degradation in the Niger Delta Region by Selected Nigerian Newspapers
Abstract
This study focused on assessment of issues related to environmental degradation in the Niger Delta Region by selected Nigerian newspapers. The Region is faced with the problem of oil-related environmental degradation; the press is the watchdog of society which is supposed to draw the attention of all and sundry to environmental issues. In this vein, the study had a sample of 324 in a population of 2,193 issues of Nigerian newspapers. The research design used for this study was a content analysis of the coverage patterns of oil-related environmental degradation issues in the Niger Delta Region by Nigerian newspapers: The Guardian, Daily Sun and The Nation. The objective was to identify issues of oil-related environmental degradation reports in the newspapers across the years (2020-2021). The trends of their reports showed that oil- related environmental degradation stories were on the increase from 2020 to 2021.The study recommended that journalists and other media organizations should be trained and assigned special reporters to cover oil-related environmental degradation issues in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria.
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