Date of Award

2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA) in Digital Journalism​

First Advisor

Denis Galava

Department

Graduate School of Media and Communications

Abstract

Kenyan newsrooms increasingly employ visuals to break down complex numbers and stories into lasting mental images to elicit action for impact. The objectives of this study were: to assess how newspaper journalists in Kenya applied data journalism in coverage of cervical cancer vaccination; to determine factors driving application of data in coverage of health in Kenya, focusing on cervical cancer (human papilloma virus -HPV) vaccination and to determine the gaps, challenges and opportunities in using visuals in complementing multimedia reporting in the digital era. The study was based on agenda setting and framing theories. The approaches were qualitative and quantitative, while the research design was explanatory, examining the use of data journalism in newspaper coverage of health in Kenya and focusing on HPV in the first three and half months after the nationwide rollout on October 18, 2019. The population was Daily Nation and The Standard, one health editor and two health reporters from each of the newspapers. The participants were purposefully sampled, for working in the health desk. After requisite research approvals were obtained, content analysis of 156 newspapers and in-depth interviews were conducted using a codesheet and codebook (content analysis) and an interview guide. Quantitative data was processed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and presented in tables, while qualitative interview content was categorised into themes. Some 56% of stories used infographics; factors driving data journalism include growing interest and training in data science, adoption of artificial intelligence, preference for data-driven story angles, fact-checking, among others. Some gaps include incomplete data sets, limited access to crucial data, inadequate data journalism skills, absence of guidelines on AI. Media inhouse training, review of journalism curriculum, establishment of protocols on AI, establishing unlimited public data repository are some recommendations, while studying audience interaction with visuals with multiple newspapers is key.

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