Coverage of the eight months strike of Academic Staff Union of Universities in Leadership and The Nation Newspapers

Abstract

This study investigates the media's role in covering the 2022 eight-month strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Nigeria, focusing on Leadership and Nation newspapers. Using a content analysis design, data collection involved a code sheet which analysed 276 stories. Of these, 53% were published by The Nation and 47% by Leadership. Results reveal a reliance on official sources for news, with minimal attention to non-official perspectives such as students and parents, thereby limiting the scope of coverage. Furthermore, most stories were medium in length, indicating a moderate volume of coverage that failed to treat the strike as an urgent issue. The study found a dominance of straight news reports, with fewer features and opinion pieces. This lack of in-depth analysis or diverse perspectives reduced the opportunity for the public to grasp the underlying complexities of the strike. Notably, both newspapers rarely proposed solutions to the crisis, reflecting a limited role in promoting dialogue or industrial harmony. By not setting a clear agenda for resolving the strike, the media missed an opportunity to fulfil their social responsibility to advocate for constructive outcomes. Grounded in agenda-setting and social responsibility theories, this study highlights the media's potential yet underutilised role in influencing public discourse and policymaking during crises. The findings extend prior studies on strike coverage by providing empirical evidence on the content, style, and scope of media reporting in Nigeria’s education sector. The study concludes that newspapers should expand their sources, allocate more space for diverse content types, and actively suggest solutions to such industrial disputes to contribute meaningfully to societal progress.