Abstract

This study focused on assessment of issues related to environmental degradation in the Niger Delta Region by selected Nigerian newspapers. The Region is faced with the problem of oil-related environmental degradation; the press is the watchdog of society which is supposed to draw the attention of all and sundry to environmental issues. In this vein, the study had a sample of 324 in a population of 2,193 issues of Nigerian newspapers. The research design used for this study was a content analysis of the coverage patterns of oil-related environmental degradation issues in the Niger Delta Region by Nigerian newspapers: The Guardian, Daily Sun and The Nation. The objective was to identify issues of oil-related environmental degradation reports in the newspapers across the years (2020-2021). The trends of their reports showed that oil- related environmental degradation stories were on the increase from 2020 to 2021.The study recommended that journalists and other media organizations should be trained and assigned special reporters to cover oil-related environmental degradation issues in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria.

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