PRESS FREEDOM: ANALYZING THE PORTRAYAL OF NIGERIAN-STATE ON NATIONAL DAILIES COVER-PAGE HEADLINES

Freedom of the press is not only a complementary to the human rights and popular democracy, also a cardinal principle that guarantees media public sphere that facilitates public discourse and vibrant flow of political communication. In many countries, freedom of press remains contentious issue as a number of journalists are inhumanly treated by dictatorial regimes in order to achieve conformity in their individual territories. This study applies content analysis on cover page news stories of two privately owned Nigerian newspapers and analyzes the extent to which the press in the country practices in a free environment. The findings suggest that, the press in Nigeria is considerably free since it repeatedly covers issues that are considered critical to the government by giving such stories prominence to appear on the cover page. The study covers the period of two consecutive months; the selection of the newspapers is based on wide readership and geographical representation.