MEDIA FRAMING OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN NATIONAL INTEGRATION CAMPAIGNS
This study investigated the framing of national identity in selected national integration campaigns on the network service of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). The study was necessitated by a dearth of studies on the framing of national identity in the national integration campaigns. The study is anchored on Ervin Goffman’s frame theory. The research utilized a qualitative content analysis. The qualitative content analysis is deductive. Three prominent national integration campaigns were utilized for the analysis. The categories of framing drawn from the literature are: the use of language and the selective appropriation pattern of prominence and omission in the rendering of national identity. Findings revealed that the language used in the portrayal of national identity is constructive. Labeling and titling were used to project a constructive image of the Nigerian nation. There was a copious use of pronouns as an inclusive device. The national identity is portrayed utilizing the model of Civic identity, with the cultural identities receiving a lower order selective appropriation. The integration campaign is framed in such a manner that it omits the salient issues that are influential in the grievances of subgroups in the Nigerian state. The study recommends that the producers of the integration campaigns address the diversity of the subgroups in the Nigerian state and issues of grievances as elements in the campaigns and work towards building a model of unity that recognizes such differences.
Keywords: Framing, national identity, integration campaigns, Nigerian Television Authority, Ervin Goffman, selective appropriation, language use, Civic identity