Nigeria 2002: A case study of media impact on ethnic and religioustension


In November 2002, the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna erupted in violence, leaving more than 200 people dead and thousands injured or forced to flee their homes. Long-running tensions between two communities in Nigeria were apparently aggravated by an international event, the Miss World contest that some Nigerians found distasteful, and then inflamed by an article in the Nigerian 'ThisDay' national newspaper. The whole troubled story makes a good case study for anyone interested in local reporting and the role of the media during conflict or in situations of ethnic and religious tension.


• WorldPress.org coverage of the incident
• ThisDay's apology for its article
• BBC coverage of the incident - 1
• BBC coverage of the incident - 2
• Human Rights Watch report on the incident (PDF / 242KB)
• A case-study on the incident prepared by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting
• Al-Ahram weekly coverage of the incident
• Ummahnews.com coverage of the incident
• Nigeriaworld comment piece on the incident
• Frontline World coverage of the incident