Analysis of Interactive Features in Nigerian Online Newspapers

Abstract

This paper is a content analytical study of the top ten Nigerian online newspapers to identify the interactive elements featured and those not featured in the newspapers. The unit of analysis was all individual straight news stories on the web pages of the sampled online newspapers. Content categories were adopted from Chung's (2008) typology of interactive features. Inter-coder reliability was calculated using Holsti's formula and produced reliability co-efficient of 0.79. Findings showed that Nigerian online newspapers possessed interactive features, but significantly interactive features of high functionalities. The newspapers lacked interactive features that give concession to users and allow users to be part of the news creation process. It was recommended that news organisations and journalists should take into cognizance the value of users and as such avail them every opportunity to express and be part of the news process, and that online newspaper websites should be structured in simple, beautiful and easily comprehensible manner, to allow users have a hitch free experience of the platform. Similarly, news organisations should employ a hybrid of both professional journalists (who would take care of the content) and ICT professionals (who would take care of the technology that would drive the content to ensure proper implementation of interactive features).