Influence of mass media reports on public perception of climate change issues in Nigeria and Ghana

This study sought to assess the exposure to, and perception of, climate change—as reported by the media—among residents of Lagos, Nigeria, and Accra, Ghana. It employed primary data obtained from a total of 500 respondents. A questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection, while the student T-test and Mann Whitney U test were employed to analyze the results. The study revealed that there exist significant differences in exposure to media messages on climate change in Lagos and Accra. Further, the results of the Mann–Whitney U test revealed that, overall, there were significant differences in how respondents from Nigeria and Ghana perceived news media coverage of climate change at the 0.05 significance level. The study concluded that there is an urgent need for improved climate change education through media outlets in Nigeria and Ghana.