This article interrogates the effectiveness of the safety measures available for journalists in the challenging operational environment. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 16 journalists representing different organisations from the conflict-prone areas in northeast Nigeria. Findings reveal that journalists operate at high risks due to the absence of protective mechanisms, rendering them highly vulnerable in threats situations. Also, journalists go through physical and psychological attacks from insurgents, the military, and the communities. Recommendations are offered to provide safety mechanisms to reduce journalists’ psychological trauma and physical stress, increase their feelings of safety, and improve the quality of their inputs.
In this study, attempt was made to determine the framing of Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign by Nigerian online newspapers. Seventy-one editions of Daily Trust, the Punch, Sahara Reporters and Vanguard newspapers from April 2014-October 2014 were content analysed. The study examined how much coverage BBOG campaigns received in the sampled online newspapers, the nature of reporting BBOG campaigns and the dominant sources of stories and themes in the framing of stories on the campaign in the newspapers studied. The study employed qualitative and quantitative content analysis and found that the newspapers provided mostly favourable coverage of the campaign with a total of 59 (83.1%) out of 71 total stories. The study also found that the campaigners and their sympathisers were the dominant sources of stories during the study period. The study concluded that the newspapers made concerted efforts to cover the campaign positively, unlike what usually obtains in Western media framing of social movements where status quo biases are often maintained. The study also found that the newspapers focused more on straight news than other story types in reporting the campaigns. Keywords: Bring Back Our Girls, Social movement, Online newspaper, Framing
This study appraises the mainstreaming and teaching of safety in journalism training institutions in Nigeria and interrogates the effectiveness of the safety measures available to safeguard the lives of journalists reporting from conflict areas in the North East geopolitical zone. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 journalists representing a range of media organisations who had been reporting from the areas with the most volatile and prolonged conflicts. Mass communication curricula in universities and polytechnics across the region were also reviewed. The findings revealed that journalists in North East Nigeria are at high risk due to the absence of protective mechanisms and professional skills relating to safety. Journalists rely on their instincts and experience to manage risk, rendering them highly vulnerable in dangerous situations. These journalists endure multiple physical and psychological attacks from the security forces, insurgents and even community members that they cover. Recommendations reflective of best practice are offered regarding the mainstreaming of safety education in journalism training and the provision of safety mechanisms in order to reduce journalists' physical harm and psychological trauma, increase their actual and perceived safety and security, boost their morale and improve the quality of their reporting.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019, substantial attention has been devoted to combating the infodemic that has come to characterize it with the potential to prevent its effective containment. This is undoubtedly a very difficult task, especially in Nigerian rural communities that are characterized by severe lack of the requisite facilities to access information on modern media platforms, compounded by high illiteracy and poverty rates. This study presents a case for the utilization of people-oriented, traditional communication systems in combatting the infodemic at the grassroots level. It contends that, given the peculiarities of the country's rural settlements, traditional communication systems present suitable alternatives that could be harnessed and leveraged upon to carry everyone along in the fight against the pandemic. Using data from secondary sources, the study argues that the fight against COVID-19 infodemic can be more effective if stakeholders recognize and optimize the opportunities offered by traditional communication systems and channel them towards mobilizing and sensitizing rural dwellers to disregard the myriad conspiracy theories and myths about the pandemic, and instead adopt positive behaviors that would help to curtail its spread. This will go a long way in filling the information gap that exists at the grassroots and more effectively help contain the pandemic. To achieve this, the study recommends the need for a robust health intelligentsia to be trained and equipped with skills and competencies in using these communication channels for effective mobilization and sensitization of the people at the grassroots.
Natural coagulants are now proving to be good substitutes for chemical coagulants due to their availability, cost effectiveness, nontoxic and biodegradable natures. In this research work,the treatment of highly turbid surface water by coagulation method with sesame seed as a coagulant has been investigated. In order to carry out the investigation, two sets of experiments were carried out according to conventional (jartest) and statistical methods. In the latter approach, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to design a set of 20 experimental runs and optimize the response (final turbidity)with the aid of Design Expert 7.0.0. Prior to RSM optimization, the experimental results were analyzed using a full quadratic model.
The results obtained from the jar test showed that the optimum coagulant dose was 12 g/L at the pH of 6.8 and coagulation time of 10 minutes. Under these conditions, the optimum final turbidity given by the jar test was found to be 17 NTU, which was equivalent to 97.6% turbidity removal. Also, the model developed through the RSMwas discovered to correlate well with the experimental results, as indicated by its R-squared value of 0.9789 and significance with p-value of less than 0.0001.
According to the numerical optimization results obtained from the RSM, the optimum conditions to reduce the turbidity of the surface water to the obtained minimum value
of 12.42 NTU (98.2%) were found to be pH, coagulation time, and coagulant dose of 7.79, 9.25 min and 12.03 g/L, respectively. Thus, both jar test and RSM based coagulation methods were found to give an optimum coagulant dose of approximately 12 g/L.Even though the final turbidity of 12 NTUobtained from the water treatment using sesame seed coagulant was higher than the value (5 NTU) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), it has been demonstrated, in this work, that sesame seed is one of the promising natural coagulants for water treatment.
The internet has liberalized political discussion in Nigeria, and enhanced public debates on trending social, economic, religious, and political issues on the various platforms it harbours, such as the social media, online news sites and blogs among others. Online comments sections of news sites enable readers for instance, to discuss issues raised in the news from their individual points of view. This development facilitates interaction among news producers and consumers, and serves as effective feedback mechanism. However, previous researches have established disturbing trends on the platforms, bordering on a seaming inclination of discourse to ethnic, religious and regional schmaltziness. This portends damning implications on the age-long unity in diversity question in Nigeria. This study, therefore, undertakes a qualitative discourse analysis of comments on the various online news platforms vis-à-vis this ‘all important’ unity in diversity question. Specific attention was paid to the ideological leanings of the comments in terms of regional, ethnic and religious affiliations of commentators, with the aim to interrogate how these divides are forced into discourse on the platforms, and the implications on the unity and continuous corporate existence of the multicultural Nigeria.
