Data Journalism in Nigeria: Interrogating the Nigerian Mainstream Media’s Data-Driven Reporting of the Elections of 2019

Abstract

This chapter interrogates how data journalism practices are being appropriated and centred in Nigeria’s mainstream media. It uses the Nigerian elections of 2019 as an illustrative anchor to explore whether and how journalists in Nigeria are incorporating data in their reporting, particularly during periods of ‘data deluge’ as elections in the country. The chapter argues that not only are the various data journalism trainings, which some of these journalists have participated in, beginning to yield results, but it is also leading to the creation of ‘new’ departments within the newsroom, known for instance, as the ‘Data Desk’ in one of the sampled media organisations. The study finds that there is a sense in which data-driven reporting is enabling journalists to reinforce their credibility as the society’s arbiter especially during elections when fake news is rife. The chapter concludes that data journalism, beyond the visual and statistical representations that it entails, might be becoming an important resource for journalists in the country to ensure a fairly accurate representation of events as they unfold, particularly in times of elections.