The Coverage of Youth Unemployment in Nigeria: A Study of Vanguard and Daily Sun Newspaper
Chapter One
Research objectives
The objective of the study is to analyze newspaper Youth unemployment coverage In Nigeria. Also, it is to analyze the performance of the media in providing speedy, efficient, effective, and qualitative employment coverage. Using the Vanguard and Daily News newspapers as a case study.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter focuses on two variables that are important to this study: youth and unemployment. As the causes of unemployment (the anticipated variable) and the surrounding circumstances are investigated, these variables are defined from the viewpoints of many academics. The chapter also reviews previous research on the study’s goals, including obstacles to young people’s employment, such as the level of skills, experience, and competencies of unemployed youth in Nigeria, whose job it is to respond to industry demands regarding the various types of programs that have been implemented to address youth unemployment; partnerships strategies available among stakeholders to ensure that young people have access to employment opportunities; and finally, the lessons that can be learned from the success and failures of youth employment initiatives in Nigeria.
Conceptual framework
The conceptual underpinning for this study was developed from O’Higgins’ article on young unemployment, The Challenge of Youth Unemployment. Under that definition, unemployment is described as the discrepancy between the supply and demand for labor. The author also notes that the ILO defines the jobless as people who, while being available for and actively looking for employment, did not work for more than one hour during the reference period (O’Higgins, 1997). This description is explained by the UN’s comparable definition of the unemployed youth as a class of the labor force between the ages of 15 and 24 who are jobless notwithstanding their availability and employment search (O’Higgins, 2007).
These explanations suggest that teenage unemployment is not voluntarily chosen; rather, it is determined by the economic needs of the labor market. Simmons supports this claim by stating that the current status of the economy and the labor market at a given time are important factors determining the total employment in each economy and labor market (Simmons, 2009). Youth unemployment and labor force participation may have a dual relationship, but this relationship will depend on which factor predominates in a given situation (O’Higgins, 1997). It is also noteworthy that the definitional content of the aforementioned propositions is supported by Brunner and Meltzer’s claim that unemployment is the difference between the amount of employment that is demanded and supplied at each real wage or as the difference between actual and equilibrium employment (Brunner & Meltzer 1978). As a result, it makes sense to conclude that the aggregate supply and demand functions of the labor market, respectively, control employment and unemployment.
Unemployment rate: A Nigerian perspective
The unemployment rate is a crucial core statistic used globally to track and evaluate labor markets. It is a measure of the proportion of people without a job in the present labor force, which includes both working and unemployed people (Morris, 2006). According to the NBS (2013), a person is unemployed if they are in the economically active group, want a job, but are unable to find one. The unemployment rate is then calculated by dividing the total number of jobless people by the entire number of people who are willing and able to work, or the “labor force.”
Additionally, Statistics Nigeria (2013) defines unemployment as being available to start a business or take up employment but was unemployed during the week before the interview (Statistics Nigeria, 2013). The enlarged definition, on the other hand, also includes discouraged job seekers, who are individuals who have given up hunting for employment. In contrast, Mohr (2016) defines the unemployed as people aged 15 and older who (a) are not in paid employment or self-employment, (b) were available for paid employment or self-employment during the seven days prior to the interview, and (c) took specific steps to find paid employment or self-employment during the four weeks prior to the interview.
As a long-standing issue, acute unemployment in Nigeria’s labor market has created a climate that makes it difficult for young people to access the labor market (Lam, Leibbrandt & Mlatsheni, 2007). In comparison to most developing nations in Africa, South America, or Asia, the nation now has the highest unemployment rate (27.2%). (Statistics Nigeria, 2019). Considering the restricted definition of unemployment as an index, the official unemployment rate in Nigeria increased from 24.9% in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 25.2% in the first quarter of 2013 and 27.2% in July 2018. (Statistics Nigeria, 2019). Importantly, the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2018 was 36.7%, which was the highest level since 2008.
Regrettably, the rate has greatly increased since pre-apartheid Nigeria and is even more alarming now that the country is suffering from unstable socio-economic conditions (Gumede, 2012; Robberecht, 2010; Hoffman, 2011). The ongoing labor unrest and acts of public violence reflect the hopelessness of the unemployed and impoverished Nigerian population. According to Barker (2007), the most serious issue in Nigeria is unemployment, which is also the main contributor to other long-lasting socioeconomic issues like crime and violence (Barker, 2007). Due to high crime rates, social unrest, and lawlessness brought on by hunger, frustration, anger, and resentment toward a system that has made it difficult for them to find fulfilling employment, unemployment not only degrades an individual’s dignity and self-respect but also has an impact on society as a whole. This provides a clear signal to the government and other socioeconomic partners to give the issue their full attention by implementing job-creating initiatives (Roux, 2008).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The research design adopted in this study was content analysis. Content analysis was chosen because the focus of the study is to study the corpus or content of selected newspapers in Nigeria. Content analysis was adopted as our research design because the researcher intended to establish or discern patterns of direction or coverage of youth unYouth unemployment in Nigeria newspapers. Finally, the choice of content analysis as the research design was predicated on the fact that it is systematic, objective and quantitative in nature together with its unbiased and heuristic ability in describing communication contents. (Wimmer and Dominick 2005).
Population of the Study
The research population is limited to two prominent and most read newspapers in Nigeria. So, the Vanguard Newspaper and Daily Sun Newspaper were selected. Meanwhile, the two newspapers have been chosen using the following criteria:
Ownership Structure
The two newspapers are owned by private individuals. It is expected that privately owned newspapers should be fair and objective in their reportage.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Question One: What were the employment themes covered or reported in Nigerian Newspapers?
Table 1: Showing general distribution of themes in the Vanguard and Daily Sun Newspapers
CHAPTER FIVE
RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
From the study, newspaper employment coverage in Nigeria has been highlighted. It has further given credence to the symbiotic relationship between employment and the media. Based on this study, it is established that without the media constantly beaming its spotlight on employment events and youths, neither their exceptional talents nor the entertainment and commercial value of employment would have been realized.
From the findings, a scholarly conclusion can be drawn unequivocally that the media have robust media content with reference to employment publications. However, the various subject matter especially issues such as: standard up grade, curricular monitoring, teachers’ welfare and students unrest which have been identified as bane and worrisome factors hindering Nigerian Youth Unemployment section are not professionally or critically examined and where the papers did, those issues are not punchy or assertive enough to propel employment stakeholders to action or may be those crucial issues are not media agenda hence, little were said on the said crucial Youth unemployment.
employment publication coverage should not be commoditized. Hence, journalists and employment correspondents should move round the three levels of employment to interact with employment stakeholders and engage in intellectual discourses so that service delivery can be monitored along with national objectives and philosophy of Nigeria employment. Consequently, the media should partner with employment stakeholders as well as inform the public accordingly.
The advocacy is that the media should help to probe the sector at least expose the lapses in Youth Unemployment section so that concerned stakeholders can come to the rescue in revamping the ailing sector. The media should not think it is a favour done on Nigerians but it is part of their corporate social responsibility to inform and educate Nigerian citizens.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations are made:
Concerted efforts should be put in place to encourage greater media coverage of employment by liberalizing the media to encourage more investors to come on board and establish more media outfits in every corner of Nigeria.
Adequate funding of the media and employment in Nigeria is also another critical factor in employment development. Media owners should evolve ways of generating, appropriating and utilizing of funds for employment development.
The mass media should be given freedom to seek information and express them as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The employment development policy has to be regularly reviewed to accommodate greater role for the media in employment development and sustained partnership between employment administrators and the media.
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