Maternal Mortality Media Reports from Anglophone West Africa

Kiran Roy's dataset contains a content analysis of 53 detailed digital media articles on maternal deaths from five Anglophone West African countries. The data was extracted from widely read online newspapers and popular blogs, primarily from Nigeria and published in 2023. It includes quantitative and qualitative coding based on the three-delay model and journalism standards.

Use Cases

• Analyze the frequency of reported delay types (e.g., facility negligence, payment withholding) across different countries using coded categories.
• Assess journalistic quality by examining columns for adherence to standards like fact-opinion separation, respectfulness, and perspective capture.
• Identify geographic and temporal trends in media coverage by analyzing the publication country and year for each article.
• Compare reporting characteristics between source types (online newspapers vs. blogs) using the source classification field.

Strengths

• 53 detailed articles were included in the analysis.
• Data covers five specific countries (The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone).
• Coding was performed using established models (three-delay) and journalism standards, with inter-coder reliability assessed.

Limitations

• The dataset is small, with only 53 articles, limiting statistical power.
• 75% of articles are from Nigeria, creating a geographic bias within the regional sample.
• Most recent articles are from 2023, with potential staleness for analyzing current media trends.

Provenance

Source

Digital media (online newspapers and blogs) from five Anglophone West African countries.

Collection Method

Content analysis involving search, retrieval, and manual coding of articles reporting maternal deaths due to obstetric causes.

Time Range

Articles primarily from 2023.

Freshness

Last updated on the platform in April 2026, but article content primarily from 2023.

Geography

The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.