The media and health education: Did Nigerian media provide sufficient warning messages on coronavirus disease?

In this study, we recognized the role of time by taking into account how media report differs based on when a global outbreak is confirmed in a country and when it is not. We focused on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and examined six media —two TV stations, two newspapers and two radio stations. We content-analysed 537 stories and found that there were few stories about the virus before it was confirmed in Nigeria. But as soon as Nigeria recorded a confirmed case, the number of stories tripled. We also noticed that story format and recommendation on health behaviour were also closely linked to the COVID-19 status of Nigeria. However, we did not find an association between Nigeria’s COVID-19 status and policy recommendation among the media studied. Therefore, this study concludes that Nigerian media did not provide sufficient health warning messages on COVID-19 before its spread to the country.
Source: Health Education Research - Category: Research Source Type: research