Global Media Bias and the Misrepresentation of African Nations: An Empirical Analysis of CNN’s Reportage of Nigeria

While African nations' struggle for independence from Western colonial masters may have ended, the continent is still grappling with the complex challenges of Western media news bias, distortion of media content and misrepresentation of images about African nations to the detriment of African development. This study presents an in-depth evaluation and analysis of audience perception of Cable News Network, CNN’s biased news reporting and distortion of information about African nations, focusing on Nigeria. This aimed to ascertain the extent of bias and news distortion about Nigeria and its impact on the country’s development using CNN as a study. The research applied a mixed-methods approach involving quantitative and qualitative techniques to elicit responses from media and communication professionals (local and foreign journalists, academics, researchers, diplomats and social media networks) using a single-country-discourse-analysis method limited to Nigeria between 2015 and 2019. They were complemented by a content analysis technique to analyse the content and audience perception of CNN’s news reportage of Nigeria. Data and other significant variables were analysed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), Likert Scale of Analysis (LSA), and other statistical techniques. Using a purposive sampling procedure and proportionate allocation technique, the study affirmed that CNN’s biased, distorted and unbalanced news reportage on issues concerning Nigeria is a disturbing reality. Research findings also showed that CNN has a high predisposition to news bias, media content distortion, misinformation, and misrepresentation about Nigeria, and these adversely impede the socioeconomic and cultural development of African nations, especially Nigeria. The study calls for a re-awakening among African leaders for the continent’s socioeconomic, political and technological rebirth and development through the integration of African traditional communication models with orthodox media systems to promote rural and national broadcasting within the context of the MASE Model as postulated by the researcher.

News, News Bias, News Distortion, Misrepresentation, and CNN

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