Media Framing of Westgate and Garissa University Terror Attacks in Kenya: News Frames, Responsibility and Major Actors..

Abstract

Founded on framing theory in communication, the current research examines the media coverage of two major terror attacks in Kenya – the Westgate Shopping Mall and Garissa University College in which 200 people perished. Using quantitative content analysis, the study explores four things in the coverage of the two terror attacks by three Kenyan national newspapers. First, the research examines the most common media frames employed by journalists in reporting the twin terrorist attacks. In the same vein, significant variation in the use of the most prevalent frame between the two terror attacks also is investigated. The study also investigates whether the publications’ coverage was episodic or thematic. Similarly, the research investigates if the most prevalent framing type (episodic or thematic) significantly vary between the two terror cases. From the attribution of responsibility frame perspective, the research investigates who the media assigned the blame for the two terror attacks. The major news sources (actors) for the two attacks in the newspapers’ reporting of the terror incidents are also examined. Findings show that human interest was the most-common frame in the coverage of the two terror cases, followed by attribution of responsibility, and the quest for security. The newspapers’ overall reporting was episodic. While the major sources of news were government officials and ordinary citizens, police, terrorists, and the executive wing of the government were blamed most for the terror attacks.