Abstract

The study investigates Content Analysis of Reportage of HIV/AIDS Scourge by The Nigerian Observer and The Guardian Newspapers (2012 - 2014). Families, communities, states and

nations have been deprived of men and women who would have contributed meaningfully to

Comment [LU1]: Put on a separate page pls

development as a result of HIV/AIDS disease. The study revealed reportage of HIV/AIDS scourge by The Nigerian Observer and The Guardian newspapers, with a view to knowing if the newspapers have provided enough information to the Nigerian public on the severity of the HIV/AIDS scourge. The study objectives is to content analyze the reportage of HIV/AIDS scourge by The Nigerian Observer and The Guardian Newspapers. The study is anchored on the theses of the Agenda Setting Theory. It is a theory that states that issues presented by the media leads the public to perceive the issue as more important than other issues that are silent; it shows efforts of the newspapers in supplying information on HIV/AIDS to the public in the period under review. The study which is a census adopted content analysis method. It helped measured the volume, prominence and direction of reportage of HIV/AIDS. 1,562 editions of the two newspapers were analyzed. The findings revealed that in year 2012, The Nigerian Observer published 24 stories while The Guardian published 36 stories; in year 2013 The Nigerian Observer published 17 stories and The Guardian 41 stories, it was also revealed that in 2014 The Nigerian Observer published 15 stories, The Guardian published 30 stories. The conclusion drawn from the findings is that the two newspapers content analyzed reported the issue in the three years of analysis, but failed to give it prominence. The main recommendation is that, space be allotted to HIV/AIDS scourge stories on the newspapers health page which is usually published weekly.