This paper reframes the argument that privately-owned print media should play the role of government watchdog in debates about structural adjustment policy. The author examines the extent to which Nigeria’s print media offers an effective, autonomous space for public debate, and finds that reductions in education budgets and increases in the cost of living have reduced citizen participation in media-led debates. Although some civil society groups have protested government policies over the course of successive regimes, Nigeria’s privately-owned print media generally appear to have served the business elite’s interests more than the public interest.