SECTOR 1 made headline news in 2014 for slapping a journalist in public over a story the State executive felt injured his reputation. The governor allegedly tried to kill the reporter, even after the latter was transferred to a different town by his news organisation. In another instance, a police commissioner arrested and detained a journalist for simply referring to the security official as “controversial” in a news report. Generally, “the level of intolerance of top officials is very high and this is reflected in media reporting.” Terrorism and other inflammable internal issues also limit how much journalists can exercise their freedom of expression. Subjects like Boko Haram and the apparent return of the Biafra secessionist struggle are considered very sensitive, although they are nonetheless reported. The lack of specific protection for journalists breeds fear in the media. Operating under bad economic conditions, media houses are also mindful of the consequences of their reporting on business, while journalists try not to offend some newsmakers with business, political or other ties to their employers. Journalists are concerned about their future and prioritise staying employed over the full expression of press freedom. Compared to the past, Nigeria’s media landscape is nonetheless freer today. Even though there has been a surge in the flogging of journalists as well as other forms of assault on them, it does not compare numerically to the years of military rule, when the imprisonment of journalists was rife and even assassinations and disappearances of journalists were known to occur. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 14 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NIGERIA 2015 3.4 (2008: 2.4; 2011: 2.3)