Constructing Germany in Nigerian Print Media: A Framing Analysis of Bilateral Relations Coverage, 2019-2024

This study conducts a systematic framing analysis of how Germany and German-Nigerian bilateral relations are constructed in Nigerian print media, drawing on a corpus of articles published in eight major Nigerian newspapers and news magazines between 2019 and 2024. Framing theory provides a robust analytical framework for understanding how media representations shape public knowledge, attitudes, and policy preferences regarding foreign nations and bilateral relationships. Nigeria's expanding economic, diplomatic, and educational relationship with Germany has generated increasing media coverage, but how this coverage frames Germany, German institutions, and the bilateral relationship, and with what implications for Nigerian public opinion and policy discourse, has not been studied. The study constructs a corpus of approximately 800 relevant articles from The Punch, Vanguard, This Day, The Nation, and four regional newspapers with North, South West, South East, and South South circulation bases. Quantitative and qualitative framing analysis identifies dominant news frames, source citation patterns, and ideological orientations in the coverage. Findings reveal that Germany is predominantly framed through economic and developmental lenses, with significant use of German institutional sources and limited critical engagement with asymmetries in the bilateral relationship. The study recommends media literacy interventions and more diverse source diversification in German-Nigeria coverage. Keywords: framing analysis, Germany, Nigerian print media, bilateral relations, media representation.