Media Coverage of Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria Using Guardian and Punch Newspapers (Published)
Health issues are germane to the survival of the human race. Issues relating to health are considered very important to all strata of persons in the society irrespective of their socio-economic and political status as well as their political affiliations. It is in view of this that countries of the world take health matters particularly those on epidemics seriously because if they are left unattended to they can result in great catastrophic. It is to avoid catastrophic that countries of the world go all length to nip such problems in the bud. Anchored on the Information, Social Responsibility and Agenda Setting Theories, this paper found out how much attention was paid by The Guardian and Punch Newspapers on the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) especially in helping to enlighten the public of the deadly nature of the virus and the generally acceptable best practices in dealing with the EVD. The paper ascertained the extent to which media coverage helped in not only creating awareness on the epidemic but also how much coverage is been giving to the spread of Ebola. Using the content analysis method, The Guardian and The Punch newspapers were critically analyzed along the lines of their news report; feature stories, articles, opinion, advertorials as well as editorial write up in order to ascertain how well media coverage helped in stemming the tide of Ebola. It was observed that both newspapers paid close attention on the Ebola Virus Disease.
Keywords: EVD, Health Reporting, Health promotion, Media