This study evaluates Covid-19 news reports by Nigerian newspapers on the Covid-19 pandemic in a bid to establish the extent of background information used in these reports as well as factors that drive the usage. It adopts the historical methodology and oral/in-depth interviews to extract heuristic and useful information from the news desks of ten newspapers. The evaluation shows that only three newspapers reported the pandemic when it broke out in Nigeria in February 2020 while one, surprisingly, provided background information. It turned out newsroom politics, professional issues, poor sense of news judgment, undue government influence, proprietorial interests, newsroom production pressure, and the phobia of technological application inhibited the inclusion of background information in stories. More contributory to the hindrance was the fixation on the two-dimensional reporting which emphasizes the traditional 5Ws + H whose limitation is of concern. The recommendation suggests that journalists embrace the three-dimensional system which promotes comprehensive reporting.