Investigative Journalism in the Nigerian Press: Strong Watchdogs, Weak Investigators?

The promise of investigative reporting – and watchdog journalism more broadly – to hold power to account and promote democratic governance by exposing corruption in high places remains strong among journalists, scholars and other observers in developing democracies like Nigeria where “corruption” is a dominant issue in politics and media coverage. But how, and to what extent, is investigative reporting situated within overall coverage of corruption in Nigerian media? To answer this question, this study examines scandal reporting (n = 615) in four Nigerian newspapers during the first dozen or so years of democratization in the country. Findings show that just about one in ten reports of corruption in the sample were investigative by demonstrating elements of investigative journalism, while about 90 percent of the reports were non-investigative, as they are generated from investigations by anti-corruption agencies, probe panels, parliament, etc. Equally significant, investigative reports reflect low-scale wrongdoing that are commonplace and readily observable by citizens and journalists alike, as against the more clandestine and large-scale corruption in high places exposed in non-investigative reports. The implications of these findings for understanding investigative reporting in the Nigerian press are then highlighted and discussed.