MEDIA AND FOREIGN POLICY RELATIONS: A FOCUS ON XENOPHOBIC ATTACK BETWEEN NIGERIA AND SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

The social nature of man has manifested in states behaviour within the global system and as such the adoption of foreign policy become useful and inevitable. The media constitutes an undeniably powerful and complex component of the public sphere. Its
power to shape, inform and direct derives from its multifaceted and universal character. The media provides a range of technology-based platforms – from internet, broadcast and film to print and mobile – which constitute the means by which the public sphere is st most commonly articulated in the 21 century. This paper therefore, examines the role of media in the coverage and reportage of Nigeria's foreign policy through informing, educating and enlightening the international community on issues and nature of international politics in general. Using the communication theory and secondary method of data collection, the paper examines the extent at which media performed her role in Nigeria's response to xenophobic attacks in South Africa. The paper submits that the media plays a pivotal role in Nigeria's response to xenophobic attacks in South Africa and that there is a linkage between Media and Nigeria's external relations especially in this era of globalization. The paper recommends that the media need to be socially, politically, economically, nationally and internationally responsible in the way it carry news stories about Nigeria's foreign policies.