Exploring the agenda-setting potential of homeland online newspapers on perceptions of elections issues among diasporic Nigerians in Malaysia
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Date
2015-12-29
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IIUM Press
Abstract
The increasing transnational migration of people and availability of
homeland newspapers on the web have stimulated interest in the understanding
of the use and effects of homeland media on a nation’s foreign residents. This
study explores the relationship between the agenda covered in three Nigerian
online newspapers (N=260) and how they were perceived by Nigerian
students in Malaysia (N=350) during the 2011 Nigerian presidential election.
Specifically, the issues in online newspapers and their location (homepage and
index) and length were compared with the issues perceived as being important
by Nigerian students in Malaysia. Comparing content analysis data with
survey responses, the findings revealed a modest but plausible support for the
agenda-setting potential of the online newspapers. In view of the established
correspondence between issues that are salient in the news and issues perceived
by the readers, the study establishes the importance of homeland online media
to political cognitions and actions among diasporic Nigerians. It also suggests
the need to explore other cues in the online newspapers capable of raising the
salience of issues in the perceptions of the Nigerian diaspora.
Keywords: 2011 Nigerian presidential election; agenda-setting; issues
salience; Nigerian students in Malaysia; online newspapers
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Citation
Mustapha, L. K. & Wok, S. (2015): Exploring the agenda-setting potential of homeland online newspapers on perceptions of elections issues among diasporic Nigerians in Malaysia. Intellectual Discourse. 23 (2): 275-298,