The Implications of Nation Newspapers Peace Reporting in the Run up to 2013 Elections in Kenya.

Abstract

This study examined peace reporting by Nation newspapers in the run up to the 2013 elections. In the run up to the 2013 general elections, Kenyans were constantly reminded of the 2007/2008 post election violence through newspaper reporting. Since the media is inextricably connected to elections, seemingly there was the need to interrogate the implications of peace messages in newspapers and the coverage of elections held in Kenya. The objectives of the study were: to describe the Nation newspaper peace messages in the editorials, headlines, news, opinion, and advertisement in the run up to the 2013 elections; to establish Kenyans‟ reactions to the peace messages from the newspaper contents; and to determine the perceptions of the newspaper readers on the contribution of these messages to the 2013 elections in Kenya. The study relied on descriptive research design, which is a design in qualitative research and premised on Agenda Setting theory by Mc Combs and Donald Shaw. The study population consisted respondents from four marked newspaper-vending points within Nakuru town and the selected contents from the Nation newspapers. These newspapers carried messages advocating for peace between the periods of February and April 2013. Purposive sampling was used to select newspaper contents with peace messages and to select newspaper readers in Nakuru town. Focused Group Discussions and Interviews were used as research instruments. Content and textual analysis was the main form of data analysis in the study. Research findings showed that Nation newspapers carried peace messages in news and feature stories, editorials, opinion and advertisements. The study findings revealed that majority of Kenyans read the peace messages and took them into consideration in their conduct during the elections. However, the findings show that although media experts and scholars accused the media of „indulging‟ in peace advocacy and forgetting their watchdog role, the respondents praised the role media played in ensuring after poll calm, peaceful coexistence and tolerance. These findings are useful to the media houses and media practitioners in their effort to use newspapers as a medium of peace reporting and other forms of advocacy besides contributing to knowledge on how media contents are received by the society and the way society behavioral patterns are shaped through the media.