Newspapers Reportage of Natural Disasters and Its Mitigating Impact on Nigeria; (2015-2017)

A natural disaster is inimical to human existence. As a result of natural disasters, humongous damages had been done both to human and natural resources across the globe. Though there are studies on natural disasters, none of them discuss newspaper reportage of the frequency of natural disaster vis-à-vis the nature of natural disaster. Hence, the need to conduct an empirical study on press reportage of natural disasters in Nigeria since the mass media is key to sensitising stakeholders on the desirability of preserving and sustaining natural and environmental resources. The study was anchored on the agenda-setting theory and adopted a content analysis method. The samples are was two Nigerian newspapers, The Punch and The Nation, which were randomly selected. The study revealed a high frequency of reportage on natural disasters. Out of the 293 editions studied, there were 256 stories on natural disasters. Also, the newspapers gave prominence to natural disaster stories as 18% of the stories appeared on the front page. The study recommended that Nigerian newspapers should do more editorials and feature stories on issues of national importance like natural disasters so as to sufficiently educate the citizenry on the prevention and management of natural disasters.