Abstract: Overwhelming evidence from all over the world shows that the media are the major influencers of opinion today. By the way they report an event they set the terms of debate and, in the process, they may have a negative or positive influence. The tone, frequency, depth and prominence given by the media towards a certain issue is believed to determine the reaction or the attitudes of the targeted audience towards it. This study examined the portrayal of students’ protests in Kenya by the Nation Newspapers during the year 2008 when increased student protests raised a nationwide outcry. Contents of copies of the Nation Newspaper during the year were analysed to determine the tone, prominence and source of each story concerning student protests. The results showed that mentions of student protests were negative with 60% of the stories studied associating the protests with crime and indiscipline. Only 5% of the stories concerning student protests were published on the front page with the majority of the news sources being teachers (45%) and government officials (38%). Results of the research should offer stakeholders new insight into best ways to evaluate media information and hopefully find effective solutions to violent student protests.
Keywords: Content analysis, media framing, agenda setting, student protests, indiscipline.
Title: Media Framing Of Student Protests: A Content Analysis of the Nation Newspapers, Kenya
Author: Emily Keles-Muli
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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