Abstract
Researchers and practitioners within journalism have understood and studied different approaches to journalism from a cross-cultural perspective. Thus, to understand these perspectives from a holistic approach, many studies have indicated the need to study specific cultures independently or in comparison. However, most research studies do not exclusively analyze journalistic cultures through the context of particular events. To build on existing research and generate new knowledge to expand the scope of journalism and cultural studies, this study executes comparative textual analysis between Nigeria and the United States utilizing Geerte Hofstede’s cultural dimensions of Individualism and Collectivism (Hofstede and Bond, 1984). Specifically, the comparative analysis evaluates the reporting practices of journalists from the United States, an individualistic culture, and Nigeria, a collectivistic culture, during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic (Gudykunst,1997). This study critically compares the differences in journalists’ reporting efforts in a crisis and the difficulty of decision-making. To examine these differences and similarities, this paper continues with the work of Folker Hanusch’s study, employing Geert Hofstede’s cultural value of dimensions to understand journalists’ reporting practices. This research project explores the content that exemplifies the output of reporting practices of stories that were covered cross-nationally and locally in Nigeria and the United States - and determines the most important issues or topics focused on by each country when covering a specific event.
Presenters
Adanma MbonuPhD Student, School of Journalism, Michigan State University, Michigan, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
JOURNALISM CULTURES, CULTURAL COMMUNICATION, NEWS, COMPARATIVE TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
