Africa in the Face of a Global Media, National Image and Nation Branding: A Content Analysis of the Coverage of Nigeria by the British Press from 2007 to 2010

Globalisation, the manifestation of a global village, has meant that countries compete with each other for the attention, respect and trust of investors, tourists, consumers, immigrants, the government of other nations, and the media. A desired national image has become a form of soft power which has the ability to get what a country wants through attraction. Third world countries are facing the need to create a positive image to the West for sustainable economic development. It is with this background that this thesis examines how Nigeria as a country has been reported by the British press between 2007 and 2010. It assesses the image of Nigeria presented by the British press and appraises Nigeria’s rebranding campaign ‘Good people great nation’ launched in 2009. This thesis also addresses the question ‘Can rebranding work for Africa?’ With the aid of content, framing and discourse analyses, the results showed an increase in the amount of news coverage on Nigeria from 2007 to 2010 but the coverage was sporadic, negative and centred on crisis events. The rebranding campaign did not show much effect on the reporting of Nigeria in the British press. The launch of the campaign and all the activities carried out by the campaign were not considered newsworthy by the four newspapers in this thesis. A few positive indicators of change noted were shadowed by the continual negative portrayal and recycling of frames from the colonial era. This study concludes that rebranding can only work if Africa as a continent invests in its own communication networks, and utilise all forms of media to counter negative reporting. African countries should leverage the power of technology to project their success stories and potential. Rebranding of African countries shouldn’t be about defending the indefensible, a few positively targeted stories in the West but a measured process of reform.