Journalism in crisis: Assessing people-centric and elite-centric media coverage of Nigeria’s #EndBadGovernance protests

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed significant political protests across modern democracies. Current research emphasizes that political elites often seek to undermine the right of citizens to protest. Media coverage also plays an important role in either legitimizing or delegitimizing the reasons behind these protests. Yet, there has been limited focus on this issue specifically from an African perspective. This study bridges this gap by conceiving peace journalism as an alternative framework for analyzing media coverage of protests and political responses. To understand how media coverage can promote nonviolent responses to political conflicts or otherwise, the study adapts the indicators for people-centric versus elite-centric coverage to analyze journalistic content (n = 65) from 13 diverse news outlets in the one month surrounding Nigeria’s 2024 protests against economic hardship. Findings indicate news outlets produce an eclectic mix of protest coverage, reflecting both citizens’ aspirations and the political elites’ self-legitimizing narratives, while potentially leading the way to ensure democratic accountability despite state repression. © 2025 National Communication Association.