Reputation Management & Branding: With Nigerian Case Studies, by Jossy Nkwocha Lagos, Zoom Lens Publishers, 2016, 295 pages ISBN: 9789561059, 9789789561056

Child morbidity and mortality have continued to be a global health issue especially in Nigeria. Media coverage is vital in providing information on child health. This is more so because information provided through the media is of paramount importance to caregivers and to the public as it increases awareness about health practices which promote healthy living for these children. This study examines the coverage of child health issues in selected Nigeria newspapers. The major focus is on frequency, prominence, source and nature of news report on child health issues in selected Nigeria newspapers. The study is a content analysis of three purposively selected nationally circulated newspapers –The Guardian, Vanguard, and Daily Sun. The findings revealed that the selected newspapers did not give sufficient coverage to child health issues within the period of study. Findings also disclosed lack of prominence given to child health issues as most of the stories were placed in the inside pages of the sampled newspapers. Consequently, it was discovered from the study that other issues such as autism, congenital brain diseases, sickle cell, disabilities, cleft lip issues, cancer, kidney, liver diseases, child obesity and measles were most dominant issues published in newspapers. Also the result revealed that the selected newspapers relied more on events or occurrences on that took place within the country for news reports on child health issues. Since the media particularly newspapers are the key channels of information dissemination, they should give more prominence and employ in-depth analysis in covering issues on child health for better understanding of the issues at stake and not only through straight news.

Christian communication’s dominant theme of loss and restoration is often persuasion-dependent. This is fostered by the positive character and credibility of the speaker as perceived by the audience. It is in this light that this paper examined how a Christian communicator, generally called inspirational speaker, could attain an acceptable ethos while engaging his audience in spite of the fact that he entered the communication context with a “damaged” reputation. This paper studied the sermons of Dr. Samuel Pipim, an African-born former Christian clergy and inspirational speaker based in the United States of America, who had once experienced a moral fall. Framing theory provided the theoretical foundation to this paper. The first series of sermons delivered by Dr. Pipim after his moral fall experience were purposively selected and examined, using the rhetorical analysis method. It was found that metaphor, repetition, scesis onomaton, and hypophora were the rhetorical devices prominently used in the selected sermons. It was also discovered that Pipim relied on his personal experience of loss and restoration as the content of his sermons to frame a positive ethos in the minds of his audience. This paper, therefore, came to the conclusion that a Christian communicator mindful of his damaged reputation, can frame his message from a personal experience to attain an effective ethos that could elicit persuasion.

The Boko Haram insurgency has been reported variously by the media using diverse methods and means of communication including the use of pictures. This study examines the observance of journalism code of ethics in the use of pictures in reporting the Boko Haram insurgency by Daily Trust and Thisday newspapers for the period of one year (March 2015 to February 2016) to find out the frequency, prominence and tone of pictorial presentations as they conform to journalism ethical standards. The study uses social responsibility theory as its theoretical framework and content analysis as its research method with coding sheets as instruments for recording data in the selected newspapers. A sample size of 96 newspaper editions was selected for the study, using a composite week sampling technique. Findings revealed that pictures of Boko Haram on ‘projecting destruction of properties’ recorded the highest number of frequency in Daily Trust and Thisday newspapers with 34.2% compared to other categories like projecting death, projecting badly injured, projecting children and minors, projecting government intervention, projecting Boko Haram terrorists and projecting distressed people. The Study further found that prominence were given to pictures that depicted the Boko Haram’s destructive activities, which is a glorification of negativity that contravenes ethical provisions. Hence, this study concludes that there are a number of violations of journalism code of ethics (for example, pictorial presentation of children and minors as victims). The study recommends that the selected newspapers should employ ethical and appropriate means of using pictures in reporting Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.

Communication between elected officials and those that elected them is vital to healthy functioning of democracy. Political officeholders need to tell the citizenry what they have and intend to do for them to improve their socio-economic wellbeing. Given that such exchange may prove impossible without the agency of the media, thus, the use of media aides becomes expedient. This paper appraised how serving as the Presidential media adviser shifted the ideological positions of Dr. Reuben Abati with reference to the performance of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. The study drew on the theoretical insights of political economy and power distance theories to make sense of the changing perspectives towards Jonathan’s administration. Using rhetorical analysis, the research made visible Abati’s ideological positions through the arguments he makes. The study concluded that Abati operated within adversarial orientation while in the employ of The Guardian newspaper but became enormously loyal (operated as guard dog of the authorities) to the presidency once he was appointed as media aide.

Abstract This study analysed the coverage of the Supreme Court Proceedings on 2015 governorship election petitions by Nigerian newspapers. Three objectives which are: to find out the prominence, the space allotted and the frequency of coverage. The period of the coverage was from September 2015 to August 2016. A content analysis research method was adopted in this study. The population was 732 issues drawn from all newspaper issues published daily by select newspapers with 20 percent sample at 146 issues. Drawing from the Gate- keeping theory and the work of two coders, a comprehensive analysis was carried out to identify 74 items in six content categories. Findings showed that the Supreme Court proceedings were not given much prominence, adequate space and high frequency. The conclusion is that the two select newspapers in their social responsibility roles, failed in terms of giving adequate space to the coverage of items, but essentially adhered to basic rules of reporting legal institutions and strengthening support of the Gate-keeping theory in media institutions by publishing what seems fit to publish. The study recommends that newspapers should give emphasize on the promotion of the judiciary by placing judiciary stories on the front pages and ensure coverage of Supreme Court proceedings on election petitions with adequate depth of analysis to aid in interpretation of issues on justice and democracy.

This study examined the application of therapeutic or patient-provider communication in Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) Sagamu, Nigeria. The study sought to find out how health care providers have applied this form of communication to improve the well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS while they experience stigmas in their social relations. The study used the in-depth interview method with 10 people living with HIV/AIDS and five (5) health care providers as respondents. The study was anchored on interpersonal relations theory. Findings revealed that people living with HIV/AIDS actually experience stigmas in their social relations and this causes some psychological depression to them. The study further found that health care providers at OOUTH understand the concept and practice of therapeutic communication as they purposefully apply it in their health care services to improve the well-being of their patients. The people living with HIV/AIDS also confirm that the application of therapeutic communication by health care providers at OOUTH has been a source of hope, which has brought about an improvement to their health in the face of stigmas they experience in their social relations. While this study concludes that therapeutic communication is a modern health communication approach of improving the well-being of patients in general, it recommends that there is a need for more integration of therapeutic communication in order to make health care delivery more sophisticated and productive in Nigeria.

Photograph is an integral part of media reportage, especially for print and online media. This important place of photographs in the media brings to the fore the role of photojournalist in providing photographic coverage of news events, irrespective of the nature of the event. Photojournalist, whether affiliated with a media organization or operates as a freelancer are sometimes expected to provide coverage or reports on conflict situation. This paper examines the photojournalism perspective of conflict reporting. The paper has the following objectives: to identify effective and safe conflict reporting by photojournalists and how to get the right pictures in reporting violent conflict. The paper through reviewed works found that for effective and safe conflict reporting, photojournalists should, among other things get the necessary equipment and kits; get necessary training and retraining; get important situation report from other journalists in the field; weigh up the risk and decide if the story is worth it; If your telephoto can get the relevant pictures, there is no point going too close to a violent scene. To get the right pictures a photojournalist must look for memorable, unique/historic scenes and stay focused to capture emotion.

This study examined the influence of tobacco advertising on youths’ attitude to smoking in Oyo State. The objectives of the study are to identify the sources of awareness of the different brands cigarette advertisements in Oyo State and extent to which these advertisements influence youths’ attitude to cigarette smoking. The survey design was adopted for the study and data were gathered through the questionnaire. Three-hundred and eighty-four copies of the questionnaire were administered on 384 respondents who were selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. Samples were drawn from youths: smokers and non-cigarette smokers in Oyo State. The study found that cigarette advertisements induced positive attitude to cigarette smoking among youths in Oyo State. The study further found that young people are exposed to different brands of cigarette advertisements mostly through radio and movies. The study concludes cigarettes advertisement influence youths’ attitude to cigarettes smoking. The study recommends that warnings accompanying cigarette advertisements must be emphatic.