Broadening mass communication research for enhanced media practice

This article examines how the attention which media scholarship gives to only thequantitative research method impacts on journalism practice in Nigeria. Firstly, typicalmass media texts were purposively selected and presented on a titled table. SecondlyCritical Discourse Analysis (CDA) methods were used to analyse selected texts. Thirdlye-mailing and audio recording were used to elicit comments from a reporter and aneditor. The editor and the reporter who commented wrote the stories from which theselected newspaper texts were drawn. Lastly, elicited comments were used to buttressarguments as the analysis progressed. In Nigeria journalists report news withoutimputation. Reporting news without imputations flaws news presentation. In this articleflaws in news presentation are attributed to the attention which media scholarship inNigeria gives to only the quantitative research method. The article proposes that as thequalitative research method, more so than the quantitative method, imparts better criticalskills to journalists, the qualitative method should be emphasised more in mass mediaresearch.