Environmental Communication and Climate Change Reporting in Nigerian Media

This study analyses environmental communication and climate change reporting in Nigerian media, empirically examining coverage adequacy, framing patterns, scientific accuracy, and audience engagement with climate content. Nigeria faces severe climate change impacts including desertification in the north, coastal erosion in the south, and flood frequency increases nationally, yet the quality of climate change communication in Nigerian media has not been systematically assessed. This study employs quantitative content analysis of 600 climate and environment stories from six newspapers (three national, three regional), four television news programmes, and five online news platforms over a two-year period. A validated climate communication coding instrument assesses coverage volume, scientific accuracy, frame types, source diversity, local impact specificity, and solution orientation. A survey of 240 journalists across all geopolitical zones assesses climate change knowledge, reporting confidence, and structural constraints on environmental journalism. Findings reveal that climate change receives inadequate media attention (averaging 1.8 percent of total story volume), is frequently confused with general environmental issues rather than treated as a distinct scientific and policy domain, and significantly underrepresents local communities as sources and affected populations as story subjects. Scientific accuracy is lowest in outlets without dedicated environmental correspondents. Journalists report very limited climate science training despite strong interest in improving coverage. The study concludes that Nigerian media climate reporting requires both journalist training and editorial leadership attention. It recommends a national climate journalism training programme and dedicated climate beats in major newsrooms.

Keywords: environmental communication, climate change, Nigerian media, science journalism, reporting quality.