News Framing of A Health Pandemic in Kenya: The Case of Covid-19 News Coverage by Citizen Tv
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Date
2023-10
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Daystar University, School of Communication
Abstract
The study set out to explore the framing of the COVID-19 news pandemic by Kenyan broadcast station Citizen TV during the first wave of the pandemic. A descriptive research design was used for this study with the methodology being quantitiative research. It was guided by the following objectives; To establish which themes Citizen TV focused on in news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, to examine the types of news frames Citizen TV used in news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and to determine the trends in prominent constructive and negative frames in the news coverage of COVID-19 pandemic at Citizen TV. The target population was all stories focused on COVID-19 broadcast on Citizen TV between 1st March 2020 to 31st October 2020 whilst purpose sampling was used to select a sample size of 50 stories. Data collection was done via content analysis and this data was then analysed using Microsoft Excel. The findings showed that nearly 80% of the stories sampled focused on social and health challenge themes of the pandemic. It was also apparent after analysis that journalist used both constructive and negative frames in their story-telling. The most dominant contructive frame was the solution oriented frame seen in 26% of stories sampled especially in the months of April, May and September. The most prominent negative frame was the consequences one in 33% of stories sampled and it was key in the months of March, May and August. The study concluded that Citizen TV utilized a number of frames and as such the study concludes that because of the use of diverse frames, the news coverage of the pandemic was diverse but there were gaps in the coverage of some critical factors. The study recommends that media outlets should train their journalists more and collaborate with stakeholders to further improve the framing of health crisis, when they do occur.
Description
MASTER OF ARTS
in Communication
Keywords
Health Pandemic, Covid-19 News Coverage, Citizen Tv
Citation
Mwaura, W., (2023). News Framing of A Health Pandemic in Kenya: The Case of Covid-19 News Coverage by Citizen Tv: Daystar University, School of Communication