Abstract
Given the population explosion and high rate of maternal and infant mortality prevalent in many developing countries, family planning has been promoted as method of controlling the population growth and stemming the occurrence of these birth-related deaths with the mass media as the major campaign tools. This study examined the coverage of family planning-related news in selected Nigerian online newspapers from September 2017 to April 2019, measuring the presence of eight news frames. A quantitative content analysis of the stories revealed that family planning news frequently fell within the attribution of responsibility frame and solution frame. However, it was observed that not enough media attention was given to address misconceptions about family planning, and stories prompting readers to take action on family planning significantly outnumber stories that provided help-seeking information necessary to take such actions. The results provide important insights of how family planning news is reported in Nigerian newspapers.
TopBackground
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa and the seventh globally, with a current estimated population of 204 million (World Population Review, 2020), has a fertility rate of 5.5 births per woman (National Populations Commission, 2019), which makes the country highly susceptible to population explosion. Experts have projected that the country’s population will exceed 390 million by 2050 if measures are not taken to curb the rapid population growth (World Population Review, 2020). If left unchecked, overpopulation is capable of wreaking dire havoc with negative implications nationally and globally. Scientists have warned that unbridled population growth is likely to escalate the exhaustion of natural resources, environmental degradation, unemployment rate, food shortages, migration crises and territorial conflicts, that are currently besieging the world (Leblanc, 2018; Mensah, 2019).
Health specialists have advocated that overpopulation should be discussed as a public health issue because it thrives due to inadequate birth control measures (MPH Online, 2020). While many developed nations are managing population growth and recording low fertility rates through contraceptive use, voluntary sterilization and other birth control measures (United Nations, 2017), majority of low and middle income countries, especially in Africa and Asia are recording higher birth rates and lower prevalence of birth control (Mensah, 2019; United Nations, 2017). An attendant health issue of high fertility rate and incessant births is maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is one of the numerous public health challenges facing many sub-Saharan African countries with majority of the deaths caused by complications during childbirth and abortions. The World Health Organisation (2018), estimates that 214 million women of reproductive age in developing countries are at risk of maternal mortality due to lack of modern birth control use.
Figure 1.
The United Nations projection of Nigeria’s population growth
Key Terms in this Chapter
Mediated Health Information: Health messages disseminated by the media to educate the public about health issues and to promote the adoption of health initiatives.
News Framing: The process whereby news media highlight, emphasize and give more prominence a specific aspect of a news story.
Family Planning: The measures taken to manage, or control conception and procedures engaged in to allow spacing of children.
Misconception Frame: The manner whereby a news media presents and addresses myths and misconceptions about an issue.
Green Dot: A health initiative launched by the Nigerian government in 2017 to promote and improve the adoption of family methods in the country.
Solution Frame: The manner whereby a news media presents explanations of how an issue can be resolved.
Maternal Mortality: The susceptibility of a woman to die during pregnancy or after childbirth.