TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER TITLE PAGE
Fly Leaf
Title Page – – – – – – – i
Certification – – – – – – – ii
Dedication – – – – – – – iii
Acknowledgements – – – – – iv
Table of Contents – – – – – – v-vii
List of Tables – – – – – – viii
List of Appendices – – – – – ix
Abstract – – – – – – – x
1.0 INTRODUCTION – – – – – 1
- Background of the Study – – – – – 1-3
- Statement of the Problem – – – – – 3-4
- Objectives of the Study – – – – – 5
- Research Questions – – – – – 5
- Scope of the Study – – – – – – 6
- Significance of the Study – – – – – 6
- Limitations of the Study – – – – – 6-7
- Definition of Terms – – – – – 7-8
2.0 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE – – 9
2.1 History of Newspaper in Nigeria – – – 9-18
2.2 The Concept of Newspaper – – – – 18-19
2.2.2 A Typical Newspaper Department – – – 19-20
2.2.3 Functions of a Newspaper – – – – 20-21
2.2.4 The Editorial Department of a Newspaper – – 21-22
2.2.5 Officers in the Editorial Department – – – 22-23
2.2.6 Editorial as a Content of a Newspaper – – – 23-24
2.2.7 Types of Editorial – – – – – 24-25
2.2.8 Steps in Writing Editorial – – – – 25-26
2.3 Overview of Error – – – – – – 26-28
2.3.2 Types of Error – – – – – – 28-29
2.4 Theoretical Framework – – – – – 29-33
2.5 Review of Studies – – – – – 33-35
3.0 RESEARCH MOTHOLOGY – – – – 36
3.1 Design of the Study – – – – – 36
3.2 Population of the Study – – – – – 36-37
3.3 Sample and Sampling Procedure – – – 37
3.4 Units of Analysis - – – – – – 37
3.5 Categorization – – – – – – 38-39
3.6 Coding Content – – – – – – 39
3.7 Inter-Coder Reliability – – – – – 39-40
3.8 Method of Data Analysis – – – – – 40
4.0 DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS – – – 41
4.1 Data Presentation and Analysis – – – – 41-45
4.2 Discussion of Findings – – – – – 45-50
5.0 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary – – – – – – – 51-52
5.2 Conclusion – – – – – – – 52
5.3 Recommendations – – – – – 52-53
References
ABSTRACT
This work on the assessment of errors in editorial contents of select Nigerian newspapers was to study whether errors do exist in the editorials of the Nation and the Daily Sun Newspapers. In line with this, the study had it basic objectives of determining the frequency of errors in the editorials of the Nation and the Daily Sun newspapers, to know the types of error in the editorials of the Nation and the Daily Sun newspapers, to identify the sources of errors in the editorials of the Nation and the Daily Sun Newspapers and to determine the dominant error in the editorials of the two national dailies. Out of the 308 editions of the newspapers which served as the population for this work, the researcher used a content analysis method and systematic random sampling to select 176 editions as the sample size. Findings drawn from this work showed that; there exist errors in the editorials of the two national newspapers, and that typography had the dominant number of errors in the editorial of the two national newspapers. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were made that; the principle of simple and correct english should be a key focus for the editorial writers, other human related or personal issues should be kept aside while undertaking the responsibility of writing editorial, assigning of people to write the editorials should be based on qualification and experiences, editorial writers should create more time for themselves in order to go through all the content before publication and editorial writers should from time to time attain workshops and seminars to learn more on modern techniques for greater professionalism. From the above, the conclusion was that; since editorial is the position of the newspaper on any crucial or important issue; Nigerian newspapers should always strive for error-free editorials, which will see to efficiency in productivity, promote and sustain the image of their respective newspapers as well as dignifying the journalism profession.
