Framing of news on Kenyan judicial reforms: a comparative study of the Nation and the Standard newspapers

Abstract

This study was undertaken to assess how the Daily Nation and The Standard newspapers frame news on judicial reforms in Kenya. The study sought to compare the coverage of news on judicial reforms by The Nation and The Standard newspapers, to determine the slant used by The Nation and The Standard newspapers on judicial reforms and to assess whether the coverage of news on judicial reforms promotes the independence of the Kenyan judiciary. Framing, priming and Agenda setting theories were used to provide a better understanding of the study. The researcher did a content analysis of The Nation and Standard newspapers for a period of one year, from May 30th 2012 to April 30th 2013. Purposive sampling was used to select papers with content on judicial reforms. The study found out that; The Nation newspaper gave more coverage to news on judicial reforms than The Standard newspaper; most of the news on judicial reforms covered by the two papers was placed in the inside pages of newspapers, there were very few photos and graphics in both papers and finally, most articles that were analyzed in both papers, supported judicial reforms. From the findings, the study recommended that Newspapers should increase their coverage and give more prominence of news on judicial reforms. The study also recommends for further studies to be done on the role of the audience in the framing of news on judicial reforms for a better understanding of the study.