A VISUAL-PRAGMATIC STUDY OF SELECTED NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS’ PHOTO NEWS ON HERDSMEN AND FARMERS CLASHES

Abstract

The study explores the various pragmatic acts performed with photo
news on insecurity in Nigeria, especially the construction of acts or
meaning through visual codes. The study drew insight from Mey’s
(2001) aspects of Pragmatic acts and Hoye and Kaiser’s (2007) visual
acts as the theoretical framework underpinning the study. A total of
eight (8) photo news reports relating to herdsmen and farmers’ attacks
were purposively selected from two Nigerian newspapers (The Punch
& Daily Trust) and analysed. These papers were selected because they
were across the six Geo political zones, and they have online presence.
The study revealed that photo news are capable of performing many
of the same complex pragmatic acts of urging, indicating,
condemning, and accusing, protesting, challenging, wearing and
shaming which are often suggested in the captions of photo news. The
study also revealed that photo news in Nigerian newspapers is far from
being straightforward. It goes beyond choosing and placing specific
photographs forgetting readers’ attention, or for authenticating verbal
news. That is, some pragmatic acts are craftily performed through the
photo news and are meant to surreptitiously influence readers’
evaluation, opinion and action about herdsmen and farmers’ attack
on insecurity in the country. The paper concludes that a visualpragmatic approach has the potential of helping readers decode
journalists’ messages through photo news.