| Abstract: |
This study investigated the nature of contents of newspaper coverage and reports of the 2018 gubernatorial elections in Ekiti State to unravel what transpired before, during and after the elections. The study was anchored on the gate-keeping and framing theories. As a quantitative research, this study adopted the content analysis research design. The population of the study comprised all editions of June through August of The Punch and The Guardian newspapers in 2018, which summed up to 184 editions. The study employed the census sampling technique and the instrument that was used to gather data was the code sheet. It was found that activities regarding the Ekiti 2018 gubernatorial elections were majorly reported in news format and that despite the 303 stories on the studied election published by both The Guardian and The Punch newspapers, only few illustrations (in form of pictures) were used to back up the stories. Findings further indicate that little prominence was given to the 2018 Ekiti gubernatorial elections by the newspapers. It concluded, based on the major findings, that the Ekiti 2018 gubernatorial elections were majorly reported in news format – implying that the election activities were only reported as they occurred with no in-depth analyses by both The Guardian and The Punch newspapers. Consequently, it recommended that electioneering activities should not only be reported in news formats but in other forms such as opinions, features, columns and editorials as this provide much knowledge to readers. |
