NEWSPAPER FRAMING OF THE APC CHANGE CAMPAIGNS IN THE 2015 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: A STUDY OF THE PUNCH AND THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPERS
ABSTRACT
This study examined the framing of the APC Change campaign in two Nigerian newspapers (The Punch and The Guardian). The study was anchored on Framing theory and Agenda-Setting theory. The study adopted the methodological underpinnings of quantitative research and used content analysis and survey (personal interview) to generate primary data. The Punch and The Guardian newspapers were purposively selected because of their independent ownership structures, perceived neutrality and impartiality, geographical locations, and readership levels. Ninety (90) editions of the newspapers were selected, within a study period of five (5) months, through the purposive non-probabilistic sampling technique while three journalists and two social critics, making a total of five interviewees, were also selected for the personal interview. A fifteen-item coding sheet and a four-item interview guide were the instruments of data collection. Quantitative data from research questions were analysed using descriptive statistics while data for hypotheses were analysed using chi-square at P=0.05 level of significance. The study found, among other things, that The Punch and The Guardian newspapers adopted the positive, negative, and neutral frames in reporting the APC Change Campaigns. The Punch framed a total of 71 reports; out of which 63% were positive, 3% negative, and 34% neutral. On the other hand, The Guardian framed a total of 58 reports; out of which 53% were positive, 28% neutral, and 19% negative. Also, the study discovered that the most dominant frame used by the selected newspapers was the positive frame (58.9%); followed by neutral frame (31.0%) and negative frame (10.0%) which implied that the selected newspapers framed the APC Change Campaigns more positively to their readers. There was a significant difference between the positive and negative frames with a calculated value of 9.193001 and table value of 5.991. Similarly, there was a significant difference between the amount of news stories and other contents with a calculated value of 11.59008 and the table value of 11.07. However, the journalists and social critics interviewed categorised factors influencing framing of the APC Change Campaigns into two categories. The first category included factors such as proximity, timeliness, prominence, and oddity, while the second category included factors such as APC opposition status, individual interest, profit making interest, political affiliation and APC watchdog role. The study recommended among other things that media practitioners should ensure they uphold the core journalistic principles of objectivity and fairness in reporting news events, media regulators should endeavour to ensure that media organisations do not violate media policies and regulations during the course of media reportage especially during election campaign.
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CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction
The concept of political campaign is one that cannot be totally separated from any electoral process. As long as elections involve humans, there will definitely be a form of political campaign of influencing electorate‟s voting decisions before and even at times after the whole electoral process. Without communication at various levels, political campaign may never be realistic. Campaign as a process involves communication at any level whether interpersonal, organizational, group, and international. Aduradola and Ojukwu (2003) attest to this fact by saying that;
Communication as a complex phenomenon remains vital to a sustenance of relationships and human existence. It is in fact, the oil that lubricates human interactions. Despite this significance, communication is a double-edged sword which can be used either positively or negatively. (p. 104)
Communication remains the vehicle for any form of political campaign which any political party may want to carry out. Without effective use of language and appropriate channel of communication in passing across a political party‟s agenda to the electorate, the whole aim of influencing voters may be defeated.
Communication is from a Latin word- “communis”, which means “common or shared understanding.” Communication therefore is a purposeful effort to establish commonness between a source and receiver (Schramn, 1965 cited in Folarin, 1998). Hence, communication is aimed at creating an agreement or same level of understanding between the parties involved. Daramola (2012, p. 4) explains communication from a different perspective by using communication as a yardstick for differentiating between humans, animals and trees. Daramola (2012, p.4) further notes that;
Animals and trees communicate, but it is man‟s ability to create symbols, ascribe meanings and interpret messages that elevates him above the status of the lower animals and gives form and characters to his existence. (p.4)
In addition, communication is seen as a basic instrument of social interaction which helps humans in keeping relationships and interactions. Communication in this regard helps to establish, extend, and even maintain interactions among humans (Daramola, 2012). However, it should be noted that the underlining factor of communication is sharing commonness among humans.
Atolagbe (2004) explains further by defining communication as:
A two way process, involving an encoder (i.e. a speaker/source) and a decoder (i.e. a listener/receiver) through whom language is used to pass across some message (e.g. information, idea, expression of a need etc.) and some response elicited, whether positive or negative, such that roles are exchanged between communicants along the line, and interaction takes place.(p.18)
The definition above exposes that communication involves a two-way approach, which can also be described as transactional approach. In a nutshell, communication involves interaction between the sender and receiver. After the sender (or encoder) sends the message, there is a need for the receiver (or decoder) to reply in form of feedback to affirm the effectiveness of the communication transaction. In relation to political campaign, there is a need for the political candidate to seek the reply or feedback of the electorates towards his or her political messages to ensure quality communication transaction between them.
In this light, Gingsberg (2009) cited in Olujide, Adeyemi and Gbadeyan (2011, p.180) defines political campaign as “organized efforts by a political party or candidate for public office to attract the support of voters in an election.” He further says that political campaign includes five basic elements: professional public relations, polling, broadcast media, direct mail and the internet. Hence, it can be deduced from Gingsberg‟s definition that campaign is organized in nature- not haphazardly carried out-, and involves the broadcast media, but political campaign is not limited to only the broadcast media, even the print media as argued by media research scholars have been very crucial in projecting, framing, and portraying political campaign messages. The print media have huge power in setting agenda for the general populace owing to its ability to frame and analyse topical issues in the society.
Similarly, it can be therefore said that political campaign is aimed at creating a common understanding between the political candidate and the electorate(s) through the effective use of communication. Political campaign can become ineffective without proper communication between the parties involved. In political campaign, the candidate seeks to create a common ground thereby influencing the electorate to ultimately vote for him or her.
Lasswell (1960) in Anifowose (2005, p.1) defines politics as “Who gets what? When? and How?” He further says politics “determines the process through which power and influence are used in the promotion of certain values and interests.” Similarly, Anifowose (2005, p. 4) defines politics as “a struggle among actors pursuing conflicting desires on public issues.” By implication, politics involves the struggle for and scramble for power which is most often political power. In the struggle for power by politicians, the mass media, which disseminate or communicate information to a large population, play a key role in propagating the campaign messages of various politicians.
The mass media, in this regard, include electronic media (radio, television and internet) and print media (newspapers, magazines, books, leaflets, and wall posters). In the course of publishing issues relating to political process, the mass media in a way are able to shape perceptions of such issues through the act of „Framing‟. Hence, these frames employed by the mass media are “journalistic tools through which journalists recount a story in a limited amount of space and place an event within its broader context” (Hallahan 1999, p.207).
Towards this end, this study looks at how Nigerian newspapers (The Punch and The Guardian) were able to frame the political campaign of change by the All Progressive Congress in the 2015 presidential election.
1.2 Background to the Study
After a series of military regimes in Nigeria, the country returned to democratic rule in 1999, after a presidential election in which Olusegun Obasanjo emerged as the president of Nigeria under the political platform of the People‟s Democratic Party (PDP). From 1999 until 2015, the People‟s Democratic Party (PDP) occupied the presidential seat of Nigeria. In 1999, former president Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP won Chief Olu Falae of Alliance for Democracy (AD)/ All People‟s Party (APP) by 62 per cent of votes cast across the nati1`on. Four years later, former president Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP defeated Mahammadu Buhari of All Nigeria People‟s Party (ANPP) by 61 per cent of votes cast in the 2003 presidential election (Thurston, 2015).
Similarly, Umaru Yar‟Adua of the PDP defeated Mahammadu Buhari of the ANPP by 69 per cent of votes cast in the 2007 presidential election. In addition, Goodluck Jonathan of PDP won same Muhammadu Buhari, but this time under the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) by 58 per cent of votes in the 2011 presidential election (Thurston, 2015).
The diagram below as presented by Africa In-depth Report simplifies the presidential election results from 1999-2011:
Figure 1.1: Presidential Election Results 1999-2011
Source: Africa In depth Report
At various times the more popular opposition parties – the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – have won gubernatorial elections or secured legislative seats at state and federal levels but these wins have come only in regions where these parties are traditionally strong: the South East for APGA; the North for the CPC; the South West for the ACN. Nationally they have been no match for the PDP which has swept all three general elections since 1999 (Africa In-depth, 2015).
For the 2015 Presidential election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at first announced that the Presidential and National Assembly elections would be conducted on February 14th, 2015 while the governorship as well as the State House of Assembly elections would be held on February 28th, 2015. The situation of things took another twist when INEC former chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, announced on February 7, 2015 that the elections had been postponed by six weeks. Hence, new dates for the elections became March 28th and April 11th respectively. Prof Jega cited security reasons as the main cause of the postponement of the elections.
The presidential election was held as stipulated on March 28th, but the history of Nigeria was rewritten as the dominance of the PDP of the Aso Rock (the president‟s official residence) was brought to an end as the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, won the election by 2.57 million votes. Vanguard (2015) reports that Buhari polled a total of 15, 424,921 votes (approximately 53.95 %) while his closest rival Goodluck Jonathan of PDP polled 12,853,162 votes (44.96%) (The Vanguard, 2015). The diagram below represents the 2015 presidential results, noting the results obtained from the various states within the country.
Figure 1.2: 2015 Presidential election results
Source: Independent National Electoral Commission
However, during the former president Goodluck Jonathan‟s administration, the APC accused the administration several times of maladministration, corruption, insecurity and so on. Hence, the APC in its campaigns professed the main message of “Change” in the Nigerian social system which encompassed change in the political structure, social structure, economic structure and security structure. In its roadmap to effecting these changes, the party called for a New Nigeria which would provide job opportunities, quality education, effective agricultural system, proper house planning, healthcare plan, peace and security amongst others.
In this light, one way in which mass media shape perceptions or views of prominent issues is through „Framing‟. Auerbach and Bloch-Elkon (2005, p.13) note that the public‟s lack of awareness and reliance on media for information and decision making are major reasons for how framing affects public opinion and decision making. They further note that:
When the media place stories in specific frames, they lend a different meaning to the news. The media increase or decrease the salience of issues, which allows the public to remember and make judgments on such issues. Framing assumes that subtle changes in the wording of the description of a situation might affect how audience members think about the situation. (p.13)
One manner in which news media shape perceptions of key events is through the act of „Framing‟. In news media, news frame serves as a journalistic tool through which journalists recount a story in a limited amount of space and place an event within its broader context. News frame, which serves as a main component in studying news selection and interpretation, affects the pattern of news stories and shapes public perception.
1.2.1 An Overview of The Punch Newspaper
According to the Wikipedia (2015), The Punch newspaper was founded in 1973 by two friends, James Aboderin, an accountant and Sam Amuka, a columnist and editor at the Daily Times. The newspaper currently has a daily circulation of a minimum of 80,000 copies a day and is renowned for the largest circulation in Nigeria. The newspaper started as a Sunday publication on 17th March, 1973 but later evolved to be a daily publication from November 1st, 1976 as a result of the success of the Sunday edition.
In 1984, (when) Chief Olu Aboderin died, his senior brother, Chief Moyosore Aboderin took over the company. He added Evening Punch which came out on January 1, 1986 and Labour Punch on 24th March, 1986. The latter covers trade and employment, workers, and labour stores. When Chief Moyosore died, the management was handed over to Chief Ogunsola. Many of the news additions are no more but the Daily Punch, the Sunday Punch and the Weekend Punch are still in circulation.
The foremost Sunday Punch newspaper was rather sensational in its manner of reporting of news stories and features. However, Wikipedia (2015) posits that the two founders of the newspaper later parted ways basically owing to “political conflicts.”
Wikipedia (2015) explains thus:
Both editions (Sunday Punch and Daily Punch) were designed to favour a friendlier apolitical approach to news reporting, combining footages of social events with everyday political news. The paper (The Punch) sustains itself by delving into broad issues that interest myriad people. However, during the twilight of the Second Republic, political exigencies had introduced conflicts to its original intentions, Aboderin and Amuka parted ways due partly to political conflicts. Aboderin later secured the support of his former foe, MKO Abiola, after the latter left the NPN (National Party of Nigeria). The paper began to take on a political stance, mostly against the Shagari regime. Supposedly, days before the end of the administration of Shagari, a few Punch editors were aware of a coup approaching and injected strong anti-government tones in their reporting
(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Punch)
The Punch newspaper has always been noted for its neutrality and credibility in news coverage and reporting as the newspaper‟s mission statement professes “to promote and defend the values of democracy and free enterprise and to foster the principle of equal opportunities for all.” (Enoanietie, 2015)
The newspaper, which is published by Punch Nigeria Limited, currently has several sister publications attached to its chain of businesses which include, Sunday Punch, Saturday Punch. Today, the Punch newspaper has up to 26,000 media outlets in 212 countries with worldwide media guide of 27,670 media outlets. It covers national news, business news, general entertainment, sports, science, health, politics, fashion, celebrations, amongst others while its language of presentation is basically English. Punch newspaper has branches at Lagos, Aba, Abeokuta, Abuja, Ado Ekiti, Akure, Asaba, Benin, Calabar, Enugu, Ibadan, Ilorin, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Oshogbo, Ondo and Mina (Enoanietie, 2015).
1.2.2 An Overview of The Guardian Newspaper
According to the Wikipedia (2015), The Guardian newspaper was established in 1983 by Alex Ibru, an entrepreneur, and Stanley Macebuh, a top journalist with the Daily Times newspapers. The newspaper is an independent daily newspaper published in Lagos, Nigeria by Guardian Newspapers Limited. It started as a weekly publication which was published on Sunday on February 22nd, 1983 and commenced daily publication after five months on July 4th, 1983.
Since the commencement of its daily publication, the newspaper has grown to become a foremost leading newspaper which provides neutral reports of events within and outside Nigeria. The newspaper, with a slogan, “conscience, nurtured by truth”, is noted for introducing highquality journalism to Nigeria with thoughtful editorial content (Wikipedia, 2015). The Guardian newspaper, which major language of publication is English, is regarded as the major competitor to The Punch newspaper.
Wikipedia (2015) states thus:
The Guardian is owned by a member of an ethnic minority and has a national outlook in terms of reach and content. It claims to be independent of any ethnic group, religious community, political party or other interest group. However, it has been accused of hate- mongering against the Igbo people. The Guardian is the main competitor to The Punch for advertising, although not for circulation. Unlike The Punch, it focuses on business content rather than on what the editor of The Punch refers to as “appeal to the working classes”. The Guardian is read by the most educated section of the elite, while The Punch can be understood by anyone with basic literacy. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian)
Some of the journalists of the Guardian newspaper have suffered some forms of prosecutions for reports they published especially during Nigeria‟s military era. For example, during the General Muhammadu Buhari administration, two of the Guardian reporters, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor, were both sent to jail in 1984 under Decree No. 4 of 1984 which restricted journalistic freedom in the country.
1.2.3 Overview of The All Progressive Congress (APC)
The emergence of the APC came as a result of a coalition or merger of four political parties: the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria People‟s Party (ANPP), and part of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). The resolution was signed by Tom Ikimi of the ACN; Senator Annie Oskonkwo of APGA; Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau of ANPP; and Garbi Sadi of CPC.
APC (2015) asserts thus about the party:
The party received approval from the nation‟s electoral umpire Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on July 31, 2013 to become a political party and subsequently withdrew the operating licences of the three previous and merging parties (the ACN, CPC, and ANPP). In March 2013, it was reported that two other associations- African Progressive Congress and All Patriotic Citizens- also applied for INEC registration, adopting APC as an acronym as well, reportedly a development interpreted to be a move to thwart the successful coalition of the opposition party ahead of the 2015 general elections (APC, 2015).
The APC which formed a formidable opposition to the People‟s Democratic Party in the 2015 general elections describes itself as a leftist, progressive party whose motto and electoral campaign message is centred around “Change.” The emergence of the APC caused a huge fear u7to the PDP considering the massive defection of major stalwarts from PDP to APC. At first, the PDP was cut unawares in November 2013 when five governors defected from the PDP to the APC. The governors include Abdulfatah Ahmed (kwara State), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto State), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa State). This defection raised much dust in the political clime as PDP was left to start devising techniques to be employed in competing with their new, formidable candidate. The party, APC, grew stronger and more popular as more PDP members decamped to the APC. Barely a month after the defection of five governors from the PDP, This Day newspaper reported in December the defection of 37 members of the House of Representatives from the PDP to the APC.
The APC‟s official mascot which it uses in representing the party is a broom. The broom is used to symbolize how the APC will sweep away every form of vices in the society. Its flag is made up of four primary colours which are; Green, Blue, Red and White. Economically, the party is considered as a “centre-left political party that favours controlled market or regulated market economic policies and a strong and active role for government regulation (Wikipedia, 2015).” This implies that the party is such that professes government regulation of the economy in which anti-class system is upheld in the society. The party believes in the political philosophy of former governor of the old Western Regional government, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, which encourages free education to the populace right from elementary school.
According to Wikipedia (2015),
A substantial number of its political leaders are followers of or politicians who subscribe to the social democratic political philosophy of Obafemi Awolowo and the socialist and anti-class views of Aminu Kano. Moreover, the majority of the APC’s base of political support is in southwestern Nigeria and the Northern Nigeria, which are dominated by the country’s largest ethnic groups, the Yoruba and the Hausa-Fulani, respectively.
(Wikipedia, 2015
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Progressives_Congress)
1.3 Statement of the Problem
Globally, the media has assumed and reinforced its significant role as a legitimate reflection of public interest and opinion. Since Edmund Burke‟s famous remarks made in the House of Common in England in 1774 in recognition of the significant contributions the press made, the place and position of the media in society and governance structure of state continues to be recognized and consolidated as the “Fourth Estate of the Realm”, “The Watchdog” and so on (Baldwin 2008 cited in Lamidi, 2015).
Although there seems to exist a substantial body of research and information analysing media coverage of political campaigns in Nigeria, available literature shows that the frames employed by the media are lacking. Also lacking is information on the prevalent and dominant frames as used by the media and effects of these frames on the electorate. A scan of empirical studies on media reportage of political campaign during election in Nigerian newspapers revealed that the categories constantly examined were: prominence, frequency, direction, depth of coverage with limited necessary attention to frames applied by the media in reporting these issues which will provide in-depth interpretation and understanding of these issues.
The results from most of these studies continue to underscore the proposition that the media has power to draw public attention to particular issues and decide what the public thinks about the issue. For example, Zillman et. al. (2004, p.1) cited in Okolo and Odoemelan (2013) believe that media frames give meaning to events and issues and that, when used appropriately, they instigate readers‟ attention and interest. By giving emphasis to certain aspects and downplaying others, they can capture and retain the readers‟ attention to the news (Okolo and Odoemelan, 2013).
In view of the foregoing, this brings us to the imperatives of media power to positively or negatively or neutrally frame issues to members of the public. In light of this, the problems of the study consist in questions such as; what are patterns of frames used by the selected newspapers in framing the APC Change campaign? What are the factors that influenced the framing of the APC Change campaign by the selected newspapers?
1.4 Research Questions
This study seeks to provide answers to the following research questions:
- What were the patterns of frames used by The Punch and The Guardian newspapers in reporting the APC Change Campaigns?
- What was the dominant frame used in the coverage of APC Change Campaigns by The Punch and The Guardian newspapers?
- What are factors that influenced the framing of the APC Change Campaigns by The Punch and The Guardian newspapers?
1.4.1 Hypotheses
In addition to the research questions highlighted above, this research tests the following hypothesis:
Ho1 There is no significant difference between positive and negative slants concerning APC Change campaigns as published in The Punch and The Guardian newspapers.
H02 There is no significant difference between the amount of news stories and other contents concerning the APC Change campaigns in The Punch and The Guardian newspapers.
1.5 Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study include;
- To ascertain the patterns of news frames employed by The Punch and The Guardian newspapers in reporting the APC Change Campaigns.
- To determine the dominant frames employed by the selected newspapers in reporting the APC Change Campaigns?
- To determine the factors that influenced the framing of the APC Change Campaigns by The Punch and The Guardian newspapers?
- To find out whether there is difference between positive and negative slants concerning APC Change Campaigns as published in The Punch and The Guardian
- To determine whether there is significant difference between the amount of news stories and other contents concerning the APC Change Campaigns in The Punch and The Guardian
1.6 Significance of the Study
The findings of this research are of importance to media researchers, media studies students, media consultants, government administrators at various levels, political science researchers, political parties, and non-governmental bodies in having an in-depth understanding of media framing of issues and factors that judge journalists‟ framing of public issues. The findings of the study could help relevant academics and researchers in providing professional advice in areas that have to do with media framing.
Theoretically, this study is considered to be of relevance not to only the field of media studies or mass communication, but also political science, public administration, and to some extent development communication studies. Therefore, the study is described as an inter-disciplinary study because it expands the knowledge of the paradigm of the roles of the media in Nigeria‟s political discourse, the role of political parties in the social system, and how political parties campaign contribute to creating a social change.
Owing the newness of the political party APC and its campaign method, hence, this study would serve as a framework for subsequent studies that will be carried out in this area. The study delves into a grey area in which related studies appear to be very few and even unavailable.
1.7 Scope of Study
The scope of this study comprises two selected Nigerian newspapers (The Punch and The Guardian newspapers) as well as journalists and social critics within Nigeria. The editions of the selected newspapers were from November 1st, 2014 to March 31st, 2015 (5 months) with each newspaper providing 151 editions each, thereby providing a sum of 302 editions. These newspapers, The Punch and The Guardian, were selected based on their ownership structures, perceived neutrality and impartiality, geographical locations, and readership levels.
1.8 Limitation of Study
In every research work, there is bound to be problem(s) in one way or the other.
One of the limitations of this study was difficulty in booking interview appointments with journalists and social critics that were interviewed for the study. Most of them complained of busy schedule.
There were difficulties in getting relevant materials for the research work because many research works in the area newspaper campaign of political parties‟ activities. The researcher could not get enough materials that would have helped in carrying out the research work.
1.9 Definition of Terms
In most fields of study in social science, concepts and terminologies take different meanings which may be applicable to different context. In view of the foregoing, this study adopts the following operational definitions for the various terms briefly discussed below:
APC: The acronym, APC stands for All Progressive Congress- a political party in Nigeria. Formed on February 6th, 2013, the political party was approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on July 31st, 2013, leading to the withdrawal of the licenses of the political parties that merged to form APC. This political party, which started as an opposition party, was created as a result of merger of three biggest opposition parties- the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
Campaign: This refers to organised efforts aimed at influencing the electoral decisions of electorates. In this sense, campaign is limited to only electoral and related activities; it involves campaign message, campaign advertising, media campaign process, campaign message, amongst others.
Change Campaigns: These cover the totality of the APC campaign message which seeks to create a new Nigeria. In its roadmap to effecting these changes, the party calls for a new Nigeria which will provide job opportunities, quality education, effective Agricultural system, proper house planning, healthcare plan, peace and security amongst others.
Press: Generally, the term press is used to refer to any form of printed media which includes books, newspapers, magazines, brochures and so on. However, for the sake of this study, the term “press” is used to refer to mainly newspapers that are published in Nigeria.
NEWSPAPER FRAMING OF THE APC CHANGE CAMPAIGNS IN THE 2015 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: A STUDY OF THE PUNCH AND THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPERS
