REPORTING CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA’S GOVERNANCE: HOW HAS THE MEDIA FARED? OPINION OF JOURNALISTS IN RIVERS STATE

Corruption is a menace in Nigeria, and if not checked, undermines a nations or society’s development. One of the media’s key responsibilities, as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution, is to hold the government accountable. Consequently, this study examined the media's performance in reporting and communicating corruption in Nigeria’s governance. The study's objective was to examine the current approach to corruption reporting, identify areas for improvement, and propose a practical solution. The study adopts a qualitative design, using focus group discussions as a data collection method. A purposive sampling technique was employed. The study population was 83, which is relatively manageable; therefore, a census was adopted. The Social Responsibility Theory served as the theoretical underpinning. Data were presented and analyzed qualitatively or descriptively. Findings indicated that there is effective reporting of corruption in Nigerian governance, but also note a flawed approach in reporting corruption. Based on the findings, this study concludes that the media in Nigeria have been reporting cases of corruption. However, the current approach to reporting corruption is incurably flawed; this was attributed to political interference, limited investigative capacity, ethno-religious biases, and a lack of continuity in reporting corruption cases. The paper, therefore, recommends a proactive investigative reporting approach to corruption within Nigeria’s governance system.