The IPC noted that the report, which represents a part of the post-election coverage and reportage of the electoral process and democratic governance issues, has established that media reporting continues to be skewed in favour of the two leading political parties.
A new report by the International Press Centre has shown that most media publication focuses reportage on the ruling All Progressives Congress and the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party.
The IPC noted that the report, which represents a part of the post-election coverage and reportage of the electoral process and democratic governance issues, has established that media reporting continues to be skewed in favour of the two leading political parties.
The report covers the outcome of the monitoring of 12 print and online newspapers in the said period.
The monitored newspapers include PUNCH, Guardian, Daily Sun, Vanguard, ThisDay, Nigerian Tribune, The Nation, Leadership, Daily Trust, Blue Print (online version), TheCable (published online only) and the Premium Times (published online only).
Also monitored was the twitter handle and website of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
According to the IPC, the two major political parties were reported a combined 92.32 per cent of the total media coverage given all the political parties.
“While APC got 781 media mentions amounting to 48.39 per cent, PDP got 709 mentions which accounts for 43.93 per cent.
“Out of all the other 89 parties, only 27 parties, representing eight per cent, had media coverage and this showed a consistent pattern as had been witnessed in previous media monitoring that focus on the pre-elections and the election period.
“The two other political parties that came third and fourth in the scale of media coverage are much far behind in terms of the scope of media coverage they got.
“While the Social Democratic Party got 32 mentions or two per cent, the All Progressives Grand Alliance got 30 mentions at 1.86 per cent,” the report shows.
Executive Director of IPC, Lanre Arogundade, urged media owners and reporters to be sensitive in their reportage, abide by the ethics of the profession and also be inclusive in their report.
He said, “In dealing with these issues, it is our contention that the media must continue to be ethical and conflict sensitive in their reportage.
“Thus, the report serves as a reminder to the media on their role in preventing insecurity and violence during and after elections through fact-based, independent, transparent, accountable and impartial reporting.
“There is the need for INEC to conduct an administrative appraisal on its information dissemination strategies, both in the mainstream and on social media platforms.”