Why Does Pain Go Viral? Multimedia Journalism, Audience Emotion, and the Attention Economy in Nigeria

Abstract

Stories of pain increasingly dominate Nigeria's digital news space, attracting widespread public attention and rapid online circulation. Multimedia journalism has strengthened this trend by combining videos, photographs, live updates, and other visual formats that make stories more immediate and emotionally engaging. This study examines how multimedia journalism influences audience emotion and drives the circulation of painful stories within Nigeria's attention economy. The study is anchored on Media System Dependency Theory, which explains that media exert greater influence when people depend on them for information during periods of uncertainty and crisis. The study found that emotionally rich multimedia content significantly increases audience attention, emotional engagement, and sharing behaviour, making stories of pain more likely to spread across digital platforms than less emotional news. The study contributes to knowledge by extending Media System Dependency Theory to explain how multimedia storytelling shapes audience emotion within Nigeria's evolving digital media environment. The study concludes that multimedia journalism has become a major driver of emotional news consumption and viral circulation in Nigeria's digital media ecosystem. It recommends that news organisations balance audience engagement with ethical reporting that preserves accuracy and respects the dignity of victims.