Language Use in Media Representation of Insecurity in Nigeria and its Impact on the Masses

Abstract

This paper delves into the analysis of language use in media representation of insecurity in Nigeria. Nigeria is encapsulated in gross insecurity; a situation which cuts across diverse social strata: tribes, status, religion, age, gender and so on. The different activities like: kidnapping, terrorism, banditry, insurgency etc. depict insecurity in Nigeria and are exposed, expressed, discussed or represented via language in different media. Sometimes the representation style affects the masses positively or negatively. This study therefore investigates and analyses the language use, patterns and strategies adopted in different media platforms by different social strata: journalists, religious leaders, youths, and ethnic groups, in representing or reporting cases of insecurity in the media space. It further considers the effects these language use and patterns of reporting insecurity in Nigeria social media have on the masses. ?The Reception Theory‘ of 1973 also called ?Encoding and Decoding Theory‘ propounded by Stuart Hall is used for this work. The data for this study border on representations of insecurity and social discourse on insecurity issues in Nigeria gotten from different social media platforms like: Facebook, Twitter (X) and the digital edition of newspapers. The different reports of insecurity issues in these platforms are sampled and the effects on the masses are measured via their responses gotten from some sampled comments and emojis, accompanying the reports. This paper reveals first, the interrelationship between language, the media and the social discourse in Nigeria. Secondly, it proves that the linguistic style of representation vary from one medium platform to another and from one social stratum to another. Thirdly, the language of presentation affects the masses positively or negatively and thus affects their responses and actions. The efficacy of language use and strategies on media representation especially on insecurity cannot be overemphasized, all media platforms and all social strata should endeavour to adopt appropriate language and strategies for effective results.