Marginalization and Misrepresentation: Framing Disability in Nigeria

The literature on media and disability is limited in Africa. Textual analysis of coverage from around three decades ago of people with disability in two major Nigerian newspapers reveals that media frames often employ stereotypically offensive language emphasizing frailty, charity, disparity, and derogation. In this study, two major newspapers (stories on disability from three decades ago) with nationwide readership in Nigeria are analyzed, from northern and southern Nigeria, respectively. The Daily Trust is a privately owned newspaper located in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital city. It started publication as the Weekly Trust in March 1998 and incorporated the Daily Trust in January 2001, together with the Sunday Trust. The Daily Trust enjoys wide circulation among states in northern Nigeria (Abubakar, Portrayal of Jonathan’s Administration in Selected Nigerian National Newspapers (2012-2013). University of Lagos, 2014). The Nigerian Tribune is based in Ibadan, which is considered the political headquarters of the southwestern part of the country, the hub of media activities in Nigeria. By examining media portrayals of disability in Nigeria, this study identifies how the local media frame disability in a context in which it is widespread. Notably, people with disabilities can be described as one of the largest marginalized social groups in any society as they cut across gender, race, sexual orientation and cultural identities (United Nations Enable, n.d., “Factsheet on Persons,” para. 1). The objective of the study is to understand through textual analysis how people with disabilities are framed in the local media and to understand what differences in framing, if any, exist between the northern and southern regions of Nigeria. Findings further highlighted the linkage between news, culture, and power.