Assessment of print media coverage of the war against terrorism in Kenya : a case of the Daily Nation and The Standard Newspapers

Abstract

he main purpose of this study w as to assess the print media co verage of war agains t terrorism in Kenya. The study focus ed on terror - related stories in the April 2014, a period when the government b eefed up security operations in the country in an operation dubbed ‘ Operation Usalama Watc h 2014 ’ . The Daily Nation and the Standard newspape rs were used in this study. The study sought to establish: The types of st ories in the print media related to terrorism in Kenya ; placement of stories on war against terrorism ; and the m essages print media carr ied on the war against terrorism. The research study applied retrospective study design to establish the print media coverage on war against terrorism in Kenya . Purposive sampling w as used to pick suitable stories for the study . The data collection procedure applied document review method to collect t he necessary stories from the respective news pa pers. The data w as analys ed using content and thematic analysis techniques, based on the emerging issues (themes) under study . The study concluded that news stories on terrorism in Kenya were given more promin ence in the print media than those from other beats . The study recommends that the media should exercise a lot of caution in reporting on terrorism. They should avoid words and images that magnify the threat and fear in people , and tone down on negative rh etoric and instead ensure objectivity and accurate reporting