AN ANALYSIS OF GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER ON COVERAGE OF CRIME IN NIGERIA (JULY – DECEMBER, 2008)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Any publication containing current public News, editorial, feature article and advertising printed for sale and published periodically or daily is seen as a newspaper. It belongs to the first category of the media whose other categories was built on, it is like other media which primary function is to inform, educate, enlighten, entertain and surveillance. Despite this, it has a unique quality of remaining dominant over centuries. It is essential to point out that the birth and growth of Nigeria press is a historical process in which many individuals participated without foreseeing what the ultimate product of their labour to be. Print journalism started in Nigeria in 1846 with installation of a printing press at Calabar by the Presbyterian mission with sole aim of increasing the literary level among local people through the writing of short essay on various subject particularly religious matter. Despite the fact that the Calabar experiment fail, it set the ball rolling for Newspapers production in Nigeria. In 1854, a missionary turn-journalist Rev. Henry Townsend established his own printing press and inaugurated a printing school in the missionary compound in Abeokuta and by 1854 founded a newspaper called Iwe Iroyin. This was the first Newspaper which was for the reading pleasure of the Egba people. Before it folded in 1867, it’s circulation was about 3,000 per day.
The first Newspaper founded by a Nigerian was by ritoyi Agasa in Lagos in 1914 a pro-government paper which was hated by many and then in 1921, Hernest Ikoli established the Africa messenger which only lasted for five years. This research titled “An Analysis of Guardian Newspaper Coverage of Crime in Nigeria” will scrutinize reportage of the mentioned media and how the media act as the conscience of society it find itself in. Crime as a social phenomenon is fundamental aspect in all human life. Nigeria has thus been referred to as one of the most crime prone nation of the world because of her low social security level and social activities which are criminal in nature. Crime can be seen as an “Internal violation of the criminal law and committed without defense or excuse and penalty by state felony or misdemeanor through judicial proceeding” according to (Toppan 1974 page. 138). Toppan view crime from a Legal Perspective Societies defines crime as the branch of one or more rules of laws for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe punishment. Wikipedia/encyclopedia defined crime from the normative perspective which is a deviant behaviour that violates prevailing norms, cultural standard prescribing how human ought to behave normally. The approach views the complex realities surrounding the concept of crime and seek to understand how chaining social, political, psychological and economic condition may affect the current definition or meaning of crime when leads to legal, law enforcement or penal responses by the society or social institution.
Nigeria is obviously experiencing increase in crime rate. In a single edition of our daily Newspaper, television report or radio report many criminal activities are reported which is emanating from the urban. This is due to the emphasis which is placed on urbanization of modernization of cities, towns at the cost of the rural areas leading to rural-urban migration. This union result has lead to the increase of crime at both sides due to the over strengthening of infrastructure or under utilize infrastructure by the able youths. This in turn leads to economic depreciation, poverty, unemployment and increase of potentials for crime or crime itself. Nevertheless, Newspaper like other media is primarily a disseminator of information which could be in views formal, editorial, feature report e.t.c. This dissemination of information is about the activities of mankind either on his personal, social life, politics, economy, crime, sport or leisure for the purpose of informing, educating, entertain or enlightenment.
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