THE IMPACT OF ONLINE NEWSPAPERS ON ERADICATION OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

ABSTRACT The media have been generally used in Nigeria to effect behavioural changes, promote particular attitudes, behaviours and social norms since the 1970s. It is a veritable instrument used to pursue attitudinal behaviours and societal changes through diffusion approach. The approach includes information dissemination, large-scale media campaigns, and other one-way communications. The use of mass media to crusade and mobilize support against certain crude and inhuman cultural practices has remained an essential focus on the social responsibility function of the media. The media has a unique power to help protect the rights of women and girls and to educate those who still believe that FGM is a rite of passage for a girl, hygienic, or a prerequisite to marriage. According to the study's findings, media framing of female genital mutilation has been shown to have a significant impact on public’s desire to see the menace of female genital mutilation curbed in society, in addition to making the public aware of stories of female genital mutilation in newspapers, on radio, and in television reviews. Therefore, continuing this proactive framing of female genital mutilation would help to lower the alarming rate of the menace. Content analysis was used to analyse Daily Trust, Guardian and Punch Newspapers of January to March 2022. The study found out Victims' and offenders' perceptions were influenced by the pattern of female genital mutilation coverage, which included factors including prominence, frequency, depth of stories, and direction of reporting. The Nigerian newspaper business has been instrumental in defining the discourse and influencing public opinion around the worldwide public health issue of female genital mutilation. The study thereafter recommended that in order to accelerate the anti-female genital mutilation campaign outlined in the numerous national, regional, and worldwide frameworks for girl-child/women's protection, stories about the ills associated with female genital mutilation should be given adequate prominence on the front, back, and editorial pages of newspapers.