Empirical Assessment of News Literacy Competencies Among Secondary School Students in Oyo State

News literacy, encompassing the ability to critically evaluate news sources, identify misinformation, and understand news production processes, is increasingly recognised as an essential digital citizenship competency, yet its measurement among Nigerian secondary school populations has not been systematically conducted. This study empirically assessed news literacy competencies among Senior Secondary School students in Oyo State, South West Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 350 SS2 and SS3 students from twelve government and private secondary schools across Ibadan North, Ibadan East, and Oyo LGAs, selected through stratified random sampling. A 30-item news literacy assessment instrument adapted from the validated News Literacy Project competency framework was administered alongside a demographics and media use questionnaire. Results showed a mean news literacy score of 58.4 percent across the sample, indicating moderate overall competency. Source identification skills were the strongest competency area (mean 64.2 percent), while algorithmic filter bubble awareness was the weakest (mean 38.7 percent). Students in private schools scored significantly higher than government school counterparts (p < 0.001), and students whose teachers had discussed media content in the classroom showed significantly higher scores (p < 0.01). Social media use frequency was negatively associated with overall news literacy scores (r = -0.31; p < 0.001). The study provides the first systematically administered news literacy competency data for Nigerian secondary students and recommends development of a National News Literacy Education Framework for integration into the Secondary School curriculum. Keywords: news literacy, media literacy, secondary school students, Oyo State, digital citizenship