Abstract:
With the turn of the century, Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, has had its share of
terrorist activity. Due to their nature, global media houses have centred on
these occurrences as they have formed the focal point during their
immediacy. This has led to the rise of media; in all its variety, as a reliable
ate truthful source of information: on the other hand, terrorists have used
the media as a veritable and strong propaganda tool. This is in line with
the main aim and intent of terrorism; the spread of fear and it also feeds
to the belief by various terrorist groups that media is one of their biggest
investments. This study sought to examine media’s role in televised media
coverage and it’s influence on terrorist attacks in Nairobi County, Kenya.
The sample size for the study was derived from 110 officers from the Anti-
Terror Police Unit, a section of the Directorate if Criminal Investigations
and informants numbering to 14 from television editors, freelance
reporters, and across civil society. The data was collected through
questionnaires and interview guides for the officers from ATPU and
respondents from the media and civil society respectively. It was further
analysed using SPSS and presented through the use of frequency
distribution tables and bar graphs; other modes include inferential
statistics of linear regression and Chi square. The study revealed that there
was a significant effect on the security situation in Nairobi due to televised
media coverage of terrorist attacks. The study revealed a significant
relationship between media coverage of terrorist incidents and increased
insecurity in Nairobi. (χ2 = 9.499a, p = 0.023). The recommendations
include the development of proportionality in the reporting on terrorist
attacks. This is because an overemphasis on terrorist threats has an
inadvertent advancement of terrorism and terrorist activities. There is
therefore a need for care by journalists lest they be used as vehicles of
propaganda by terrorists. This is due to the power that is inherent in
misinformation in denying the general public independent reporting and
the resultant understanding that comes with it. It is recommended that
there be a limit as to the amount and type of information released to the
media and eventually to the public in the event of a terrorist attack; this
helps in averting the spread of terrorist propaganda and the
misinformation of the public.
