A sentiment analysis of the COVID-19 vaccine crisis in Nigerian online newspapers

Purpose This article examines how three Nigerian newspapers framed the COVID-19 vaccination campaign roll-out. Design/methodology/approach Using framing theory, we applied natural language processing and sentiment analysis to understand the tone of Nigerian newspapers on the COVID-19 vaccine between December 1, 2020 and December 1, 2022. Findings Findings indicate Vanguard reported the most on the vaccine, while Daily Trust reported the least. Results revealed headlines were predominantly neutral, whereas the content of the news articles was generally positive in tone. Headlines conveyed terms like “dose,” “targets”, “health”, “pandemic”, “protocols”, “stakeholders”, “compulsory”, “urges” and “second”. Articles focused on positive language in framing the approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a safe and effective way to combat COVID-19. By implication, the three major newspapers actively informed the public about the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out and highlighted political, and socio-economic impact. Practical implications For communication/media professionals, the results provide insight into how media in Nigeria framed a crisis event. Media professionals working during a health crisis should work to clearly communicate the positive effects of steps being taken and how such steps are part of the “core business” of the organisation, council, etc. Originality/value This is the first study to employ NLP to examine how Nigerian newspapers framed the COVID-19 pandemic and/or the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. This analysis reveals how the three newspapers actively informed the public about the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out and highlighted political, and socio-economic impact.