The mass media are veritable tools for information dissemination, surveillance and correlation.
Conflict reporting is one of the delicate areas of media practice. The type of agenda the media set
on a conflict can either fuel or quell the crisis. Warring parties take their grievances to the media,
with words as lethal as ballistic missiles. The Nigerian media, having been divided along ethnic
lines since the colonial era, report separatist agitations with ethnic lens. With the trend, peace
journalism, an emerging form of journalism that creates conducive environment for peaceful
resolution of conflicts, seems elusive in Nigeria. This paper examined how the Nigerian media
reported Biafra and Boko Haram, and how peace journalism approach can be adopted to improve
media performance in this regard. Using desk review, descriptive survey, content analysis and
personal interview methods, the study found that the Nigerian media adopted war journalism
approach in reporting Biafra agitation and Boko Haram, amidst influencing factors. The paper
recommends the adoption of peace journalism approach by the Nigerian mass media, to be relevant
in finding lasting solutions to the conflicts; integration of Nigerian media into the national
security framework and domestication of Freedom of Information Act in States of Nigeria.
