DATASET ON INTERNATIONAL MEDIA REPRESENTATION OF AFRICA: A STUDY OF CNN AND BBC

This study examined the international media's representation of Africa, with a focus on CNN and the BBC. Content analysis was employed, and the study’s population comprised media content from CNN and BBC. The sampling technique used was purposive selection of international news networks for the study, as previous studies have proved that they are the most popular international news outlets among Nigerians. From the websites of the two news outlets, the census method was used to select all news stories on Africa and its people. The findings of this study indicate that more than half of the stories on Africa from the two selected international media were written as straight news, at 53.4%. Straight news conveys a tone of seriousness and urgency in the stories it reports. Meanwhile, most of these stories may not even be such that would portray the continent in a positive light, but by writing them as hard news, a lot of attention may have been drawn to stories in this category. The study reveals the frequencies of the different themes of African stories covered by the two selected international media.