Television Webcast Framing of Banditry in Nigeria

Abstract

How mass media discuss contemporary issues of insecurity issues has been of concern in media studies. Consequently, this study analysed the television webcast framing of banditry in Nigeria over four years (2019-2022) from the YouTube webcast channels of Channels Television, Television Continental, and Arise News. This study was anchored on agenda-setting and framing theories. The study used a content analysis research method, 200 banditry-related videos were systematically sampled and analysed using a validated coding sheet. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that the presentation of banditry issues on Channels and TVC was brief compared to Arise News. It also revealed that bandit attacks and Government security agencies' efforts were the dominant issues, and conflict and human-interest frames were the prominent news frames used to present banditry issues across the three selected stations. Consequently, findings support tenets of agenda-setting and framing theories. It is recommended that television stations increase the patterns and depth of their coverage, as well as the news frames used to present banditry issues. Keywords: Television webcasting, framing, and banditry