Sex Dominates Headlines in Mainstream Nigerian Newspaper

As you scroll down the entertainment section of the online Lagos-based newspaper The Vanguard, you can find the majority of stories solely focused on sex. In the entertainment section, the first eight out of ten stories are started with a sexual headline. When noticing this pattern you can think of two reasons for it. Sex sells greatly in Nigeria, or entertainment in Nigeria is a bit shallow. In other words, there just isn't much else to talk about.

When scrolling down the entertainment section, you read headlines like, "A Mad Man Grabbed My Bum in Public", or "Men Negotiate How Much They Will Pay to Have Sex With Me". These type of headlines are surely attention grabbers, however it seems hard to figure out why this is the only news they seem to cover. After clicking on the headline to read the article, you find out that the write ups are from interviews with certain entertainment celebrities in the country. 

This is the beginning paragraph of an article in the entertainment category of The Vanguard:

"Pretty Youruba actress, Bukola Adeeyo, who rode in the film industry in 2008 on the wings of gangling Odunlade Adekola, has given an insight on what her sexual life is like. The fair skinned Oyo State born, Abeokuta actress told Potpourri she is not a virgin but has little time for sex."

We don't know if every Nigerian newspaper follows the same strategy when covering entertainment news. So there is a need to go into further research to see if in fact all of the major newspapers focus strongly on sex in their articles. The Daily Sun, another Lagos-based newspaper did not share the same strong presence of sex in their entertainment articles. Both newspapers do produce the same "interview style"  format with their articles. However, The Daily Sun possesses more variety as they cover more topics with the celebrities they interview.

Here's the beginning paragraph of an article from The Daily Sun:

"Bolaji Okusaga, Managing Director, The Quadrant Company, sees fail­ure as a learning process. Although successful in his chosen field, Okusaga prefers his works to speak for him. He told Sunday Sun the mixed emotions that ac­companied the prestigious SABRE Award won by The Quadrant Company in 2012, as well as the low moments in his career."

 

 

 

Pretty Yoruba actress, Bukola Adeeyo, who rode into the film industry in 2008 on the wings of gangling Odunlade Adekola, has given an insight into what her sexual life is like. The fair-skinned Oyo State born, Abeokuta bred actress told Potpourri she is not a virgin but has little time for sex. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/im-not-sexually-active-bukola-adeeyo/#sthash.uJL1m6UK.dpuf

A mad man grabbed my bum in the public – Didi Ekanem - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/category/entertainment/#sthash.Tyw3iUrs.dpuf

A mad man grabbed my bum in the public – Didi Ekanem - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/category/entertainment/#sthash.Tyw3iUrs.dpuf