Effectiveness of Daily Sun and Vanguard Newspapers Coverage of Campaign Against Political Corruption in Nigerian Electoral Process

Abstract

Corruption is a cancer that impedes any society from fair and equitable distribution of resources and it leads to lack of accountability, credible leadership, political and socio-economic development. The persistent effort by the press to fight political corruption in Nigeria electoral process requires concerted efforts by all to make it a success. Starting from the colonial rules in Nigeria politics, the Nigerian journalists had played a prominent role in not only setting the agenda for the citizens but also carrying out diverse campaigns which are geared towards curbing the menace of political corruption. The research method adopted for this study is the content analysis The study revealed that the print media is not entirely effective in campaigning against political corruption in Nigeria electoral. It observed that media ownership influence still hinders effective reportage of corrupt practice in our polity, and so recommends that the print media owners who own newspapers should hand off control of their media organizations once they join partisan politics.