Demographic determinants of climate change coverage among journalists in Nigeria

Abstract

It is generally believed that demographic factors such as sex, income, experience and others could drive societal development and professional practices. Some scholars even established links with journalists' professional practices and social status. But none, at least to our knowledge, has established a link between demographic determinants of journalists and climate change coverage in Nigeria. Climate change is a societal issue requiring media efforts to mitigate its impact. This study is aimed at ascertaining demographic determinants of climate change coverage among journalists in Nigeria. It is a survey study using a questionnaire administered through the Internet and purposive sampling procedure. The sample size was 390 determined using Glenn (1992) sample size table 2. The study objectives were; to identify the demographic determinants of climate change coverage among journalists in Nigeria; ascertain where demographic determinants influence journalists’ most in coverage of climate change in Nigeria; and determine the extent demographic determinants influence climate change coverage among journalists in Nigeria. The findings showed that the demographic determinants of climate change coverage among the Nigerian journalists was training. It was also found that the demographic determinants influence journalists’ mostly in generating climate change news ideas. The study hereby concludes that demographic determinants influence journalists’ coverage of climate change in Nigeria to a great extent.