A Comparative Analysis of Framing in Kenyan Newspapers’ Coverage of People Living With Disabilities (a Case Study of the Nation Newspapers and the Standard Newspapers)

Abstract

The goal of this research project was to assess how Kenyan newspapers framed the coverage of PWD issues. The research project analyzed the content of PWD news coverage in The Nation and The Standard newspapers by determining the frequency and space allocation to PWD news in the newspapers from November 01, 2012 to April 30, 2013. A population sample of 181 newspapers was used to select the newspapers used in the analysis. Data were collected from newspapers issued during that period and were analyzed with SPSS version 20 using frequency counts percentages. The results show that in The Nation newspaper, about 58.6 percent of PWD news is in general news category and in The Standard newspaper, it is about 70 percent. The study has also shown that The Nation newspaper has more PWD news placed prominently, 17.2 percent as compared to 16.7 percent in The Standard newspaper. There is a significant difference between spaces allocated to PWD stories in The Nation and The Standard newspaper. It is recommended that the two newspapers must increase coverage of PWD news in Kenya.