Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Digital Journalism (MADJ)
First Supervisor/Advisor
Rosalind Raddatz
Second Supervisor/Advisor
Prof. Abraham Mulwo
Department
Graduate School of Media and Communications
Abstract
Media coverage of conflict is central to public interpretations of these conflicts. This public comprises policymakers who, among key of their mandates, is developing policies that protect the masses' lives and properties. Conflicts among pastoral communities have been endemic for decades. Media as a channel through which the masses get informed has been found by research worldwide to have an effect on conflicts through coverage. This media influence is mirrored through how it frames stories of conflict and who it quotes in those stories. Frames and sources used to determine how the audience perceives and interprets those conflicts. This study analysed the print media coverage of conflicts among pastoral communities of Turkana and Baringo counties by analysing frames and sources used and determining the Media’s social responsibility. It also sought to establish why the media uses those frames and sources. A mixed method approach and explanatory research design were adopted in this study. Content analysis and interviews were the research methods applied. Among the key findings, the study established that attribution of responsibility was the most used frame; the government is the most quoted source, and the media is not socially responsible in its coverage of conflicts among pastoral communities of Northern Kenya. The study also identified the significant relationship between dominant sources and frames. This study further advances the framing theory as it applies both the generic and issue-specific frames.
Recommended Citation
Wamalwa, F. S. (2024). Print media coverage of conflict among pastoral communities in northern Kenya: a case study of nation and the standard newspapers. (Unpublished master's dissertation). Aga Khan University, East Africa.