Official Source Dependence and the Failure of Accountability Journalism in Nigeria's Public Affairs Reporting

Abstract

This paper examines why Nigerian public affairs journalism depends heavily on official sources and what prevents journalists from producing independent accountability reporting. Three principal theoretical frameworks anchor the study: agenda setting theory (McCombs & Shaw, 1972), the watchdog theory of journalism, and information subsidy theory (Gandy, 1982). An integrated literature review was adopted as the research design, drawing on peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Sources were identified through Google Scholar, Sage Journals and Taylor and Francis databases using the search terms official sources, information subsidies, watchdog journalism, accountability journalism, Nigeria and press freedom. The review was structured across three analytical levels: global, African and Nigerian, to situate the Nigerian problem within its broader scholarly context. The analysis indicates that reliance on official sources in government reporting is a global structural phenomenon shaped by the economics of news production, and that this problem is compounded in African and Nigerian contexts by political incentive systems that discourage independent reporting and by institutional arrangements that sustain source dependence. In Nigeria specifically, five barriers were identified: weak enforcement of the Freedom of Information Act, limited investigative skills, ownership pressure tied to government advertising, threats to journalist safety, and dependence on foreign donor funding. The paper concludes that official source dependence in Nigerian public affairs journalism is a rational economic outcome produced by interlocking structural conditions. Addressing it requires coordinated reform across legal enforcement, media ownership, journalist welfare and investigative training.