The Pen as a Shield

Abstract

This study examines how Nigerian journalists cover the Boko Haram insurgency in the country’s North-East as well as the professional, ethical and institutional dynamics that shape that coverage. It addresses the limited attention given in peer-reviewed scholarship to the lived experiences of Nigerian conflict reporters. Adopting a qualitative design, the study draws on semi-structured telephone interviews conducted between June and September 2025. Eight purposively sampled journalists, namely bureau chiefs, correspondents, reporters, publishers and a chief executive officer, were drawn from public and private print and broadcast organisations whose editorial mandates include the North-East zone. Data were transcribed verbatim, anonymised and analysed manually using the six-phase reflexive thematic analysis approach, with framing theory operationalised across its four classical dimensions - selection, emphasis, exclusion and elaboration. Four research questions guided this study: (1) addressing the roles journalists play, (2) how they negotiate accuracy and objectivity, (3) the perceived effects of their reportage, and (4) the safety, welfare and institutional challenges they confront. Findings indicate that journalists frame Boko Haram coverage through deliberate selection of verifiable security information, emphasis on counter-terror cooperation with state agencies, exclusion of operationally sensitive details, and elaboration of victim and community voices, while contending with inadequate protective equipment, low remuneration, restricted access to military-controlled zones and psychological strain. The study contributes a practitioner-centred account to the literature on media and terrorism in Nigeria while proposing recommendations for newsroom training, occupational welfare and editorial policy.