Managing Difficult Relationships: The Case of Foreign Correspondents in Nigeria, State Officials, and Senior Editors in Overseas Media

ABSTRACT

This research systematically and empirically examines challenges that confront Nigerian foreign correspondents, including how foreign correspondents manage the demands of their job such as pressures from senior editors at their head offices, restricted access to information and state officials, and government officials interfering with objective news reporting. The study also looks at correspondents’ accounts of their individual experiences and the strategies they deploy to circumnavigate the challenges they encounter in their professional practice. The merit of this research lies in its intent to fill existing gaps in the scholarship of foreign correspondence in Africa. Specifically, the study contributes to knowledge and understanding of foreign correspondents in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, including an understanding of the difficult environment of journalistic practices in a non-Western country.

KEYWORDS:

• Foreign correspondents
• Nigeria
• foreign news
• Africa
• journalism practice
• media freedom
• news and diplomacy

Introduction

The evolving nature of the work of foreign correspondents reporting in Africa provides the space to examine closely the current terrain of foreign correspondence in Nigeria, the critical issues that affect those who work in the field, the challenges faced by local citizens who work as correspondents in the country, including how they relate with government officials, the relationship between correspondents and senior editors in their overseas head offices, and the changing platforms of foreign news reporting in general.

While foreign correspondents’ challenges are widely discussed in the literature, research on their work, even in major Western countries like the United States, remains limited (Willnat and Weaver 2003, 404). Fewer studies exist on foreign correspondents in Africa, and little to none focus on African correspondents working for non-African media outlets. This study examines challenges faced by Nigerian correspondents and how they navigate the difficulties they face on the job.

Exploring how correspondents operate in their home countries is a topic under-represented in the literature that warrants systematic investigation. In addressing this research gap, our study contributes significantly to the understanding of foreign correspondence in Africa, specifically its processes and challenges within an African nation. Understanding constraints faced by Nigerian correspondents reporting within their home country enhances global insights into journalism-state relationships, Africa’s portrayal in international news, foreign news selection processes, and press freedom.

Nigeria’s selection as a research site is justified by its status as Africa’s most populous nation, and the continent’s “largest active press community” (Parker 1995, 1). Despite its challenges, Nigeria has a dynamic media landscape, with multiple radio and TV channels and numerous daily newspapers, following broadcast media regulations’ relaxation in 1992 (Cohen 2022). Nigeria’s political stability remains, however, complex, with ongoing issues like government corruption and militant groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa Province (Cohen 2022). This said, the scarcity of literature on countries with limited press freedom, like Nigeria, underscores the study’s importance (Josephi 2010).

This research explores the relationship between Nigerian correspondents and state officials, recognising that constitutional press freedom guarantees may not always translate into practice (Bosch 2011). Understanding a foreign correspondent’s relationship with senior editors in overseas headquarters is equally crucial, as senior editors are pivotal gatekeepers shaping news selection and correspondents’ news gathering.

Analyzing challenges encountered by Nigerian correspondents contributes to the study of news production processes in Africa, adding to the growing scholarship on African foreign correspondence.

The three overarching research questions investigated in this study are:

What are the challenges that confront Nigerian correspondents in their home countries and how do they navigate those difficulties?

How do the challenges differ from or relate to the experiences of foreign correspondents operating outside their home countries?

What is the nature of the relationship between Nigerian correspondents and senior editors in overseas head offices?

Challenges of Foreign Correspondence in Africa

Foreign correspondents in Africa encounter numerous challenges, including financial constraints (Rodny-Gumede 2016), government restrictions on document access (Pirmasari 2016), journalist arrests (Nankervis 2017), editorial pressures to align with head offices’ directives (Li and Rønning 2013), demands for profit-oriented reporting (Bunce 2015b), fact-checking difficulties with state officials (Vicente 2013), racial targeting (Lemke 2020), travel expenses (Mody 2014), unfamiliarity with local contexts (Kogen 2019), and convincing editors about Africa's news relevance (Bunce, Franks, and Paterson 2016). Literature also highlights inadequate institutional support (Gagliardone and Pál 2017), cross-border office demands (Doyle 2007), and editorial challenges (Nothias 2020).

Research highlights the transformative impact of technology on journalism, emphasising media freedom, declining foreign news quality, biased portrayals of Africa in Western media, challenges faced by foreign correspondents in emerging democracies, media audience fragmentation, and journalism’s uncertain digital future (e.g., Archetti 2012; Bunce 2015a, 2011; Frère 2015; Heriot 2020; Lemke 2018; Mabweazara 2015; Nothias 2020 & 2018; Rozen 2021; Stafford 2017; Sundaram 2019; Vicente 2013; Wasserman 2013). Regardless of all these challenges, Franks (2005, 100) highlights the importance of nuanced, comprehensive, contextualised, and insightful foreign reporting:

the most compelling reason of all for good foreign reporting is that the demarcation between home and abroad is dissolving as never before … , domestic and foreign matters intersect in an ever more complicated way. […] Our security and well-being at home depends upon well-explained and informed foreign news. That is the best reason for monitoring and for ensuring that the standard of international coverage remains high.

This study addresses the urgent need to comprehensively explore obstacles encountered by Nigerian correspondents working in their home country for international news media. It highlights foreign correspondence dynamics within an African context, encompassing the construction of foreign news by local correspondents, reporting challenges within familiar territories, and the influence of political and sociocultural factors on news reporting.

Methodology

This qualitative exploratory study aims to comprehend the challenges faced by Nigerian citizens working as foreign correspondents in their home country, focusing on the nature of these challenges and the strategies employed to address them. Unlike hypothesis testing or theory proposition, our research is solely designed to address an underexplored area. We formulated research questions, posed them during in-depth telephone interviews with correspondents, and adopted a thematic approach to gain a better understanding of the evolving foreign news landscape.

Semi-structured In-depth Interviews

To address our research questions, we conducted qualitative semi-structured telephone interviews with Nigerian correspondents working for foreign media organisations. We used this approach because qualitative semi-structured interviews provide an open space for journalists to express their views about how they perform their work, how they navigate impediments to their professional practice, how they relate with government officials, and how they interact with senior editors in their overseas head offices. We used in-depth interview as the primary method for data collection because it allows research participants to share their perspectives on a subject matter. Through in-depth interviews, researchers can gain insights into, and an understanding of, issues relevant to the study (Merrigan and Huston 2004). This included, as in this research, an understanding of the challenges facing foreign correspondents in Nigeria. It is therefore important to understand journalism research of this nature that allows researchers to question long-established beliefs, ideas, rules, and principles about the nature of journalism. This data collection method is also more effective in producing clear narratives from foreign correspondents, editors, and other journalists. The interviews were conducted with five correspondents selected through snowball sampling.

Snowball Sampling

In snowball sampling, the researcher asks key research participants to suggest other interviewees who have very good knowledge of the research topic (Creswell 2009; Obijiofor 2015a; Patton 2002; Small 2009, 14; Tongco and Dolores 2007). In this context, a respected Nigerian correspondent with over 30 years of experience in prominent European media organisations, facilitated the identification of other experienced correspondents knowledgeable about the research topic. This method allowed us to engage highly esteemed correspondents with extensive backgrounds in news correspondence. The journalists we interviewed using snowball sampling are pivotal research contributors. It is crucial to note that only a limited number of full-time correspondents in Nigeria are employed by overseas news organisations.

Purposive Nature of the Sampling

As explained above, journalists with highly relevant experience to reflect on the issues addressed by this research and who met the selection criteria and the study’s objectives were purposively selected from a limited pool of potential participants. Only Nigerian citizens who work full-time for foreign media organisations (whether broadcast, print, and online media) and for at least five years were selected through snowball sampling. Each participant held a well-informed practitioner view of how foreign correspondents relate with government officials, how they relate with senior editors in their overseas head offices, as well as the challenges that confront them and how they overcome those work-related difficulties. Pseudonyms are used to report the findings to protect the identities of the correspondents pursuant to the ethical clearance obtained for the research (Table 1).

Table 1. Participants.

Correspondent’s pseudonym	Professional experience	Years of experience
Anthony Diri	Worked as a foreign correspondent for various media organisations in Nigeria and overseas.	22 years (1998–2020)
John Annan	Worked as a foreign correspondent in Africa and an international news agency for most of his career	38 years (1982–2020)
Peter James	Served as foreign correspondent, communication adviser, advocacy adviser and consultant for various media and humanitarian organisations in Africa	37 years (1983–2020)
Simon Epu	Started career in 1982. Worked for various media in Nigeria and as a stringer for an international news agency. He joined another major international news agency in 1998 and has remained with that agency.	39 years (1982–2021)
Jonathan Okwute	Started career in 1988. Worked for various media in Nigeria and as a stringer for an international news agency.	32 years (1988–2020)

Interview Sample Size

The literature on qualitative research regards sample size as a contentious issue. Nevertheless, the literature states that it is worthwhile for the researcher to select the sample size that will provide insights into the key issues being investigated in a study. For instance, Patton (1990, 185) believes the reliability and value of ethnographic research has “more to do with the information-richness of the cases selected and the observational and analytical capabilities of the researcher than with sample size”. See also Patton (2014).

The literature supports small sample sizes in qualitative research like the present study. Boddy (2016) argues that determining sample size is context-dependent, even justifying single-case studies (426); he highlights their relevance and potential for new insights (428). Williamson (2006) also emphasises purposive sampling in qualitative research. In this study, we interviewed experienced foreign correspondents so they could provide insights into the challenges in African foreign correspondence, aligning with small sample size effectiveness (Romney, Weller, and Batchelder 1986, 326). One outstanding feature of a qualitative study with a small sample size is that “it simultaneously deepens understanding and builds breadth into the investigation through mindfulness of other work in the field. Thus, in principle, just one ‘case’ can lead to new insights” (Crouch and McKenzie 2006, 493). The researchers argue that in qualitative studies, using “a small number of respondents” is the way in which “analytic, inductive, exploratory studies are best done” (2006, 496). In this research, the small sample size also allowed us to examine rich narratives provided by the correspondents which, according to Campbell (2010, 488), allow for the exploration of “individuals” understandings of their experience in the context of their everyday lives”.

It is also crucial to note that few full-time foreign correspondents operate in Nigeria and most African countries, with exceptions like South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, and Sudan. Due to logistical and financial constraints, one correspondent often covers multiple African nations (Amha 2021; Arregui, Thomas, and Kilby 2022; Bunce 2015a; 2015b; 2011; Hannerz 2002; Nothias 2020; Otto and Meyer 2012). Notably, Otto and Meyer (2012) observe that in the first decade of the twenty-first century, The New York Times had only three correspondents in Africa, and The Washington Post just one. Amha (2021) also highlighted the absence of Canada's major media outlets in Africa, with only one full-time reporter covering the continent for the Globe and Mail, and no permanent presence for organisations like CBC News, Global News, and CTV News.

Thematic Analysis of Interview Data

In terms of analysis techniques, thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data. We manually transcribed the interviews, which was manageable due to the small sample size and our role as interviewers. Guided by Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-step thematic analysis, we coded and organised the interview responses into similar and dissimilar themes, facilitating a thorough, contextually informed analysis of foreign correspondents’ experiences and perspectives.

Ethical Clearance Processes

The study received ethical clearance from the Low and Negligible Risk (LNR) ethics sub-committee of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) of the lead author’s university (details are withheld to facility blind review of this manuscript).

Findings and Analysis

The study’s findings revolve around the following themes: complex government-foreign correspondent relationships, correspondent challenges, “colonial mentality,” risky space of foreign correspondence, and hierarchical influence models. We first present interview-derived themes, and subsequent discussion and conclusions.

Government-Foreign Correspondents’ Relationships Reflecting “colonial mentality”

The correspondents all seem to suggest that access to information and state officials is often strongly influenced by gender, race, and skin colour, all of which served as impediments to their ability to gain access to state officials, including access to important, often official (i.e., state-controlled) information. Correspondent Anthony Diri started by reflecting on his time working as a correspondent for an overseas news agency during military rule in Nigeria from the mid-1980s. He recalled his cold relationship with government officials in Nigeria. He said:

One challenge I faced as a Nigerian correspondent is that I didn’t get respect from Nigerian government officials. If you had a white skin, you [would] get easy access. If you are a woman, it would be easier. White or woman, it would be easier for you. If you are a Nigerian, they don’t respect you.

He said his experience working for a foreign news organisation in a foreign country allowed him to compare the challenges he faced in Nigeria with those (or the absence of similar challenges) in other countries:

[…] I worked for … out of London; I didn’t have any such problems at all. If you call an agency and say you want information, they will go out of their way to get the information you need without making much bones about it.

He argued the treatment he received from Nigerian government officials could be likened to the behaviour of Nigerian presidents or military dictators who made a habit of breaking major news stories to foreign media. He saw the two patterns of behaviour as related. He narrated an experience in which he tried to get hold of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. He recounted how he was effectively blocked from speaking or meeting with Sanusi: “I tried everything and it didn’t work,” he said. However, when a foreign visitor requested access and officials saw he was a foreigner, he was granted access: “Within a day the appointment was fixed.” He suggested such treatment could be attributed to what he referred to as “colonial mentality,” a carry-over from colonial era administration which he said was quite strong with Nigerian government officials. He added that the ability to access government officials was often based on a correspondent’s racial background, nationality, or gender:

If you step into an office and you are a black man, they will hardly pay attention. If you are a white man, they will go out of their way, the minister will come and meet you at the door. That’s the biggest problem I have faced as a journalist in Nigeria working for a foreign organisation.

This low-level relationship between correspondents and government officials resonates the fourth level of the hierarchy of influences theory.

Hierarchy of Influences Theory

As Zamith (2022, 87) argues, the hierarchy of influences theory is useful to explain factors affecting news content. This study employs this model to examine the unequal relations between Nigerian correspondents and government officials, alongside their interactions with overseas senior editors. The fourth hierarchy level emphasises external influences like news sources. Correspondent Anthony Diri's experience illustrates how government officials impact foreign correspondents’ work. Government sources significantly shape the frequency of news, news content, and public comprehension, influencing news through language, event interpretation, the provision of information, and accessibility to journalists.

Correspondent Simon Epu echoed similar sentiments about the unhealthy relationship between Nigerian correspondents and government officials. Asked how he was treated by government officials and civil society in Nigeria, he said: “ … , they didn’t trust us. But it is not only the government that did not trust us. Ordinary people also treated us with suspicion. When government officials talk with us, they are a bit apprehensive.” He said government officials and the people saw him and other foreign correspondents as spies, even though he was a Nigerian. He added: “That’s just to show you the level of that distrust. The government doesn’t trust us. People too don’t trust us. That is the way we are treated.” He clarified that the treatment he received was not because of who he was but because of the organisation in which he worked.

Correspondent John Annan said some African countries often treated important information as protected state property and access to state officials was often difficult. He discussed experiences that resonate with Anthony Diri’s thoughts on the concept of “colonial mentality” that seemed to influence foreign correspondents’ access to official information in Africa. John Annan’s views about the distrust between government officials in Africa and foreign correspondents in the continent are in sync with the views expressed by Anthony Diri and Simon Epu, all of which align with the fourth level of the hierarchy of influences theory. Interestingly, Annan also observed differences in the complexity or ease of accessing important and official information in Anglophone and Francophone African countries:

Because of the revolutionary fights leading to independence, some of the emerging leaders develop some secrecy in the way they handle information or the way they communicate with their people. So, the things that affected them during their liberation fight also extended to how they relate with people, with official information, etc. In that environment, state command became the hallmark of their survival. These attitudes and behaviours continue when they become independent states. Like in Angola, getting information was like a gold nugget. Getting information in a country like Cameroon was so difficult. It’s a lot freer in places like Nigeria and Ghana where they have Anglophone culture of journalism that is very well developed. You can write a story as a foreign correspondent based on the information you read in the newspapers. But in places like Cote d’Ivoire, for the whole time I was there, they didn’t have a well-developed media. Independent newspapers started coming up in the late 1990s. There are a lot more now but the quality is very poor. There are deficits in reporting and training. In those Francophone countries, you have to work a lot harder as a foreign correspondent to find information. In Congo, there were also security risks involved for foreign correspondents. Reporting was more dangerous under Mobutu Sese Sekou. You were at the risk of being detained for a very minor offence.

John Annan’s views concerning the impediments to reporting in Francophone African countries are supported in the literature (e.g., see Frère 2015).

“Colonial mentality”

Correspondents’ perspectives in this study indicate that the colonial history of African nations influenced the dynamics of government officials’ relationships with journalists. For example, as John Annan noted, journalism practices in Anglophone Africa tend to be less intricate than in Francophone Africa, where state officials often perceive correspondents as subordinates. Officials in Francophone Africa guard official information closely, limiting journalist access, including encounters with senior government figures. These differences in treatment of journalists, government-journalist relations, and the handling of official information across African nations are well-documented (e.g., Kanuma 2004; Lister 2004; Malaolu 2014; Nyarota 2004; Obijiofor 2015b).

The Risky Space of Foreign Correspondence

Simon Epu’s experiences covering the Niger Delta conflict and meeting militants and leaders resonate the hazardous nature of foreign correspondence, aligning with the hierarchy of influences model. His account highlights the challenges and dangers posed by the region's instability, abductions, militant political struggles, and environmental activism against oil companies’ destructive activities. Simon Epu said covering the region involved risking his life because there was a time Nigerian soldiers were pursuing militant leaders. He said despite the obstacles, he was not discouraged from covering the region and the militant leaders. He said although coverage of the militants was risky, the insights provided by the militant leaders were “very rich”. He said the coverage was particularly dangerous because

you are dealing with not just one militant group but rival groups. When returning from coverage of one group in their camp, I was often intercepted (held up) by another rival group that questioned me about where I was coming from, what I went to do there, etc.

He emphasised the importance of skill in covering conflicts and uprisings.

Foreign correspondence is indeed risky in various ways, particularly in conflict zones like Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta, which is a region marked by prolonged conflict involving government forces, multinational oil companies, environmental activists, and separatist youth. More than a decade since conflict erupted, unrest has persisted, with escalating violence, killings, abductions, and attacks on oil infrastructure. Rooted in British colonial history and oil exploration, the region has always been resource-rich, sparking discontent that has targeted ordinary citizens, foreigners, and journalists. These conditions render the area hazardous for correspondents, presenting unique challenges and compromising the quality and depth of foreign news reporting (See Connell 1982).

Still on the risky space of foreign correspondence, Peter James, whose work experience as a correspondent partly coincided with the period of military dictatorship in parts of Africa, including Nigeria, added to the experiences of correspondents in Nigeria through his reflections on how changes in legislation affected his capacity to perform his job as a foreign correspondent. He mentioned the infamous Decree 4 of 1984 in Nigeria, which abridged media freedom and for which two journalists working for The Guardian newspaper (Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson) were jailed. He said, at that time, it was the government that determined that what a journalist reported was false even though the report was true when the journalist reported it. He referred to Decree 4 as a draconian law that weakened the Nigerian press. He said Decree 4 touched on human rights issues because journalists couldn’t express themselves freely. He clarified he was able to navigate Decree 4 by remaining professional. For example, he said he couldn’t open a bank account in a foreign currency in Nigeria because, at that time, it was not allowed, and this was an issue for him as he was working as a stringer for a London-based news organisation and an American media organisation. Thus, the Nigerian government law impeded his freedom not only by restricting access to information, but also limiting, or at least heavily challenging his ability to make a living as a foreign correspondent.

Peter James observed that difficulties in accessing information persist in Nigeria, regardless of the political regime, unlike Western countries where officials often readily give journalists access to information. He argued that in Africa, including Nigeria, information is viewed as a privilege, and access to it is a “work-in-progress” and an ongoing challenge even in the democratic era. Despite the enactment of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act in 2011, a study conducted by Obijiofor, Murray, and Singh (2017) revealed that many government entities in Nigeria still operate secretively, denying journalists access to public information. Other challenges included government interference, censorship, and media ownership.

Correspondents’ Relationships with Senior Editors at Overseas Head Offices

Another recurring theme raised by the correspondents during interviews was the nature of their relationships with senior editors at the overseas head offices. The correspondents said a high level of pressure was placed on them by senior editors at the head offices of their news organisations. Specifically, Anthony Diri said he often received directions about the kind of stories and the angles he should take when writing news stories. He said he frequently heard his Bureau Chief say something like “Nobody wants to hear that kind of stuff in London.”

Some materials are very parochial. But sometimes I didn’t quite agree with that call. They were stories I felt were worthy of being known, or maybe they were more favourable to Nigeria and not very negative and then they say nobody wants to hear about that. So, the unspoken one is that people only wanted to hear negative things about Nigeria. So, those things do exist. Yes, they do … Your background, where you are coming from, your country, your history, … and very often Africa doesn’t come out favourably as a consequence.

He recalled a time when he wanted to write a report about an enterprising young Nigerian who was working with General Motors in the US. When the young man returned to Nigeria, he was appointed to head the government project to develop electric cars. When Anthony Diri submitted the story idea to his editor, he said that, to his amazement, his editor shot it down. When he enquired why he was not allowed to continue to develop the story, the editor’s response was that he dropped the story idea because Nigeria didn’t have electricity and so how could the country be talking about the development of electric cars. That experience illustrated a typical example in which the biases held by an editor often influenced their news judgment. Unfortunately, the images of Africa that foreign news editors hold in their heads tend to affect the negative perceptions the editors might have about African countries.

Peter James also said he faced challenges and disputes with senior editors at the head office. He provided insights into his experiences working with a foreign news organisation:

There are different levels of gatekeeping. The correspondent can get their story but someone else at a higher level can inject biases in slanting the story. If you file your story and you don’t follow up, the final product might not represent the story you sent out. So, these are the kind of issues you live with. Some reporters just file their stories and continue with other stories without following up to make sure the final product was the story they filed. You need to have the liver to challenge any attempt to slant your story.

Peter James said he always followed up on stories he wrote regardless of the organisation in which he worked. He said he never hesitated to convey to his senior editors his dislike for, or disapproval of, any attempt to slant his story:

You can edit story but don’t tamper with the substance. Be professional and respect the correspondent … you must not change a story for the sake of it. You are only adding value but don’t change the story filed by a correspondent who reported what they observed or heard.

He added: “Correspondents have to be alert to ensure their stories are not slanted to the point they don’t recognise them when they are published or broadcast.” This shows that, even within their news organisation, correspondents must be vigilant to monitor how their stories were treated at the head office. He said:

If your stories are slanted, you need to stand up and make sure that they are corrected. It is always good to start by giving everyone (at the head office) the benefit of the doubt. If there is a genuine mistake, you recognise that and plead it should not be repeated. You have to do it with some diplomacy.

Switching to how Western news organisations portray Africa, Peter James said:

It is also worth knowing that, for a long time, international news organisations sell news that are entertaining and therefore could involve some embellishment. This applies mostly to news about Africa, e.g., places like Congo. For example, they write about African heads of state the way they would not write about European heads of state. It is like a kind of exotic reporting.

This particular view is supported in the literature on foreign news reporting. Foreign correspondents may face editorial disinterest in certain stories (Arregui, Thomas, and Kilby 2022; Sundaram 2019; Nothias 2020) and for various reasons. For example, correspondents often encounter content and market challenges, pressured by senior editors to produce marketable stories (Bunce 2015b; Malaolu 2014). US media also often emphasise events, crises, and conflicts in African coverage (Fair 1993). Institutional and political economy factors within the global media structure thus shape their work (Ojo 2014) and embellishment is prevalent with correspondents sometimes reporting on unfamiliar countries (Nothias 2020; Kogen 2019). Anthony Diri and Peter James’ experiences with senior editors align with existing literature, highlighting the collaborative nature of news production (Nothias 2020). Challenges extend to image selection, headline writing, and issues faced by both local and foreign reporters in Nigeria (Ogbondah 1994).

Hierarchy of Influences Theory

The experiences recounted by Nigerian correspondents and reflected in the literature illustrate news reporting practices described in the two levels of the hierarchy of influences theory: the routine level and the organisational level of influences. These levels significantly shape journalists’ news reporting and interpretation. The routine level encompasses news reporting conventions that guide journalistic work, including news values. News values, such as prominence, proximity, impact, currency, human interest, and conflict, influence editorial decisions and contribute to the selection, presentation, angle, and allocation of space and time for news (Conley and Lamble 2006, 81–97). On the other hand, the organisational level of influence pertains to newsroom policies, implicit regulations, economic priorities, and journalists’ needs within news organisations. This dynamic necessitates a balance between organisational priorities and journalistic professional values. Prior research has documented the challenges foreign correspondents face when contesting directives from senior editors in their European and North American head offices (e.g., Beattie et al. 1999; Dowden 2007; Doyle 2007; Ezeah and Emmanuel 2016; Fair 1993; Kenney 1995; Rodny-Gumede 2016).

Dealing with News and Diplomacy

In 1936, Stowe wrote about how foreign correspondents could cause diplomatic row between two countries. Stowe’s (1936) views deeply resonate with Nigerian correspondents’ experiences. Peter James said the role of a foreign correspondent was to report “in a way that does not cause diplomatic incident. So, you have to be very careful how you couch your language. Your message must be succinct. It must be accurate. And it must be balanced … ”

Drawing on history, John Annan recalled the 1976 military coup in Nigeria, where General Murtala Muhammed was killed, causing tensions between his foreign news organisation and Nigerian authorities. The organisation’s Nigerian office was shut down by the Nigerian military government because of allegations that the correspondent published a story the Nigerian authorities thought was false and created alarm.

John Annan noted that, after General Murtala Muhammed was killed during the coup, there were riots across Nigeria and his organisation reported there were also riots in Kano, another Nigerian city. The military government was so incensed by that report that they shut the news organisation’s office in Nigeria from 1976 until about 1982. He continued:

Also, relations between Nigeria and the UK were so bad because of the coup thing because, if you remember, after Yakubu Gowon was overthrown (in 1975), he went into exile in the UK and was granted some kind of asylum. So, that decision by the UK government created some kind of animosity between Nigeria and the UK government.

Reflecting on whether he ever considered reporting in a way that avoided generating diplomatic row between Nigeria and other countries, Correspondent Jonathan Okwute said:

Absolutely. I want to give you an example. In 1989, the war in Liberia broke out. Then in 1990, Samuel Doe (leader of one of the factions) came to Nigeria to ask for arms. When we received that information, we sat down and analysed it. But another journalist told us he had received the information and was preparing to write the story. We told him we had also received the message but were still studying it. We told the guy that if we went ahead to report that Nigeria had agreed to give arms to Samuel Doe, it could trigger hostile response from the other faction in Liberia. I was mindful that if you don’t manage information carefully and responsibly, you could do more damage than good … they went ahead and carried the report that Nigeria would send arms to Samuel Doe. By mid-day, Charles Taylor (leader of the other faction) announced that, for every rebel killed by the government of Samuel Doe, he would kill 10 Nigerians. That news report altered the configuration of that war.

Again, these experiences underline the hierarchy of influences theory’s foundations, which recognise that journalism is influenced by journalists and their news organisations, along with external factors. This theory offers valuable insights into factors impacting news content (Zamith 2022, 87), which are relevant in this study to examine news reporting practices, the relationships between correspondents and government officials, the diplomatic community, and senior editors in overseas media organisations.

Shoemaker and Reese (2014) explain how various forces shape media content and messages, arguing the hierarchy of influences “takes into account the multiple forces that simultaneously impinge on media and suggests how influence at one level may interact with that at another” (Shoemaker and Reese 2014, 1). Zamith (2022, 87) also highlights the impact of broader social, economic, political, and technical systems on journalistic actors, which, in turn, influence their work and the journalistic products they generate.

Inaccurate news reporting can often generate strict media monitoring and restrictions on press freedom. Simon Epu narrated an experience some years ago that reflected how inaccurate reporting led to serious diplomatic dismay and dire consequences for the news organisation in which he worked. He said that was the first time his news organisation was indicted by the Nigerian government. He said the organisation had been in Nigeria for a very long time and had never been accused by the Nigerian government of engaging in unprofessional practice. The event he referred to occurred during the time of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He said:

We kind of committed a blunder. One of our staff reported that Yar’Adua was dead. I think the staff who reported that story got it from another news platform. Of course, when the international news agency publishes a story, everyone assumes it must be correct and factual. And people believe we have a way of getting our facts. When the organisation published that Yar’Adua was dead while in fact he was still alive, the Nigerian government was not happy at all. When I got to the office on that day, I saw Department of State Security (DSS) officials who came to pick up our boss, but our boss was not around the office at that time. I really don’t know how that case was resolved but that was the beginning of the bugging of our office phones. Our boss called all of us and said everyone should be careful about what they discuss on the phone.

Conclusion

The interviews conducted with Nigerian correspondents working in Nigeria showed the high level of difficulty, contempt, and discrimination the correspondents endured to access official information by state officials. The correspondents indicated that access to official information was governed by correspondents’ gender, race, and skin colour. All these elements constitute barriers to foreign news reporting. The correspondents also revealed that foreign journalists visiting Nigeria on official assignment were respected and accorded special privileges and support that were not offered to their Nigerian counterparts. The results showed that Nigerian correspondents were disregarded by state officials and were treated as spies or agents of foreign governments. This poses a risk to the ability of correspondents to do their job well, to access important information freely, timely, and without constraints. These impediments negatively impact the work of foreign correspondents.

The uneasy relationships between government officials, journalists/correspondents, and media organisations in Africa are documented in the literature, which also shows how various governments in Africa controlled or aimed to hinder journalists’ freedom to serve the public (e.g., Chipare 2004; Kanuma 2004; Lister 2004; Obijiofor 2015b). The correspondents discussed their strained relationships with Nigerian government officials, the absence of recognition for their work, and the perception that they conducted dubious activities for foreign organisations operating in Nigeria.

The issues discussed in this research and raised by the correspondents have implications for quality and depth of their news reports, the freedom that correspondents should have to verify and report news, and their potential to promote good governance. Clearly, the transition from military rule to democratic system of government in Nigeria in May 1999 and the ratification of the Freedom of Information Act in 2011 have not significantly improved the relationship between correspondents and government officials. These experiences and challenges were not limited to foreign correspondents working in Nigeria. Some of the correspondents recalled that when serving in Francophone African countries (e.g., Cameroun and Cote d’Ivoire) or other African countries (e.g., the Democratic Republic of Congo), access to information was much more restricted. Essentially, the correspondents said Francophone African countries treated information as state property that should be protected while Anglophone African countries were more liberal in the way they handled information and in the way they related with journalists. This raises the troubling issue of “colonial mentality” that resonates how colonial experiences of African countries affected the level of freedom that is accorded to correspondents, as well as how Anglophone and Francophone African countries treated or handled information and the ease or difficulty with which correspondents accessed state officials.

The ease of accessing information in government offices in Anglophone and Francophone Africa, coupled with state officials’ treatment of correspondents, reflect attitudes and behaviours rooted in colonial legacies. These legacies lead to tensions in the correspondents’ relationship with government officials as they question state officials. The extent of correspondents’ ability to inform the public and scrutinise officials depends on extent of freedom,sociocultural norms, and social values (See also Mowlana 1997). Nigerian government officials’ preferential treatment of foreign journalists further reinforces the notion of “colonial mentality,” wherein African officials may feel inferior in their interactions with Western counterparts.

Babatunde Jose, former chairperson of Nigeria’s Daily Times newspaper once said that

Many African journalists still believe that a good press is one that is in a constant state of war with the government; that a ‘progressive’ journalist is one who writes anti-government articles every day and a leading journalist is one who is in and out of prison for sedition. (Babatunde Jose, cited in Parker 1995, 4)

The account presented by foreign correspondents in Nigeria highlights the nature of the tense relationships between foreign correspondents and state officials, as well as the unsteady relationship between correspondents and senior editors in their overseas head offices. Correspondents’ experiences echo the challenges faced by Reuters correspondent Helen Nyambura-Mwaura in Kenya when covering her own country. Kanuma (2004) and Nyarota (2004) also outline impediments to African journalism, leaving journalists vulnerable to state authorities and undermining their integrity, credibility, and the degree of respect they are accorded.

The connection between Nigerian foreign correspondents and senior editors in their overseas head offices could be described as a master-servant relationship. While the correspondents said they recognise the right of the senior editors to make news decisions, they note they do not accept that senior editors have the absolute right to tamper with or slant news reports filed by the correspondents. There are serious implications when senior editors reconfigure news reports filed by foreign correspondents. First, tampering with stories filed by correspondents could misrepresent facts and trigger diplomatic tension between countries. That intervention could damage the professional integrity and profile of the correspondents. News sources who are misrepresented in news reports could end their relationship with foreign correspondents. Additionally, the image of a news organisation could be sullied if the organisation is perceived to be encouraging unprofessional practices.

Overall, at both individual and organisational levels, there is more harm than good when senior editors radically alter reports filed by foreign correspondents. Truth, accuracy, professionalism, objectivity, balance, and fairness in reporting, all of which represent standard values in journalism, could be endangered when senior editors in distant locations slant or amend reports of events they did not witness.

The unequal relationship between Nigerian correspondents and senior editors and its implications for news coverage has been explained through the lens of the hierarchy of influences theory. As the correspondents interviewed for this research point out, some Western media organisations often deliberately focus on negative news about Africa, thereby revealing the prejudiced or standardised template with which Africa is portrayed in the news. There is considerable research into how Africa is represented in Western news media, including the variety of topics covered in the news. One prevailing aspect of the literature is the biased coverage of Africa by Western media (e.g., Alozie 2007; Golan 2008; Wall 2007). In an analysis of news magazine coverage of the Rwanda crisis in the United States news media, Wall (2007, 261) points out that:

The type of news that gets published about Africa is influenced by the general values and organizational demands of the Western media. News is not merely the random reporting of events, but is rather constructed and shaped by reporters and editors who determine what is worthy of coverage and what is not, and how events will be presented. Because the media tend to value conflict and crisis, especially when the news is coming from foreign countries, that is the type of story that most often gets reported.

Her argument resonates the key issues that overshadowed the debate over a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) in the late 1970s and up to the early 1980s, regarding the imbalance in the quantity and quality of world news flow, particularly news about developing countries. African representatives at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) contended that Western media paid little attention to news from developing countries, and much of the news they cover tend to focus on negative events such as conflicts, riots, natural disasters, wars, diseases, hunger, famine, military coups, street demonstrations, and so on. This pattern of reporting tended to portray Africa as unstable and likely to experience catastrophes and conflicts (Caroll and Tuggle 1997). More than 30 years after the NWICO debate, the old order of media representation of Africa has persisted although the nature of reportage is beginning to change as reflected in research evidence (see Ojo 2014; Scott 2017 & 2009). Still, there is need for more research examining Western media coverage of Africa and how to improve on the coverage. Such research should inform how a shift away from the current pattern of reporting could be achieved.

In summary, Nigerian correspondents face significant challenges that limit journalistic freedom, but also risk integrity. Strained relationships with government officials and the preferential treatment of foreign journalists also underscore the persistence of historical influences in African journalism. This study underscores the need to address complex dynamics among African correspondents, government officials, and (Western) media organisations in Africa for a more inclusive and nuanced approach.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).