A CONTENT ANALYTICAL STUDY OF YOUTUBE AND FACEBOOK REPORTAGE OF DIPHTHERIA OUTBREAK IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the level of prominence, dominant direction and framing of the diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria on YouTube and Facebook. Content analysis was adopted as the study’s research method, while the framing theory provided the theoretical base for the study. Findings from this study revealed that YouTube was used to give high prominence to the coverage of diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria, while Facebook gave low prominence to the diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher discovered that majority of diphtheria related reports on the selected social media platforms leaned towards a neutral stance as they had no inclination towards the positive and negative directions. Findings further revealed that fear was the dominant frame used to report the diphtheria outbreak on YouTube and Facebook. Based on the findings, the study, among others, recommended that reports on the diphtheria outbreak in Nigeria should be framed in such a way that educates and empowers without inciting fear.