NJOMACS

The study explores print media coverage of farmers-herders' conflicts which have become a major conflict with a long-standing history in Plateau State and Nigeria at large. In particular, the study seeks to investigate the extent of reports on herders and farmers' conflicts, as well as the prominence accorded the coverage, forms of presentation and framing patterns. The study was anchored on the framing theory and undertook quantitative and qualitative content analysis of coverage on the conflicts, as reported by two prominent newspapers; Daily Trust and Vanguard, both of which are influential, and enjoy wide readership among the populace in the Northern and Southern geographical regions of Nigeria, respectively. Using the systematic random sampling technique, which allows every member of the population to be sampled and selected according to fixed periodic interval of 3.1, 190 sample size was derived as reasonable representation of the entire population of 730 editions. The research duration was twelve months; starting from 1st November 2017 to 31st October 2018, which was considered the peak of the clashes. Findings indicated that the conflicts between the herders and farmers in Plateau State were quite frequent. Despite the high comparative frequency of 64%, only 4% to 6% of the reports was accorded prominence and placed on the front pages. Nevertheless, timelines, currency and factual accounts in the form of news stories constituted an average of 50% of the total stories of the herders-farmers' conflicts in Plateau State. Pictures were the second dominant form of presentation and they constituted images of fresh attacks on some villages. Ethnic frame as well as Government-centered and Responsibility frames were also dominant in some of the stories analyzed. The disposition of the newspapers to the all the research variables were found to be significantly similar. The study therefore recommends among others, that Nigerian newspapers should look beyond ethnic and religious frames by highlighting other critical areas of the conflict such as key players of the conflicts, as it is a sure way to resolving the conflict between herders and farmers in Plateau State and Nigeria at large.