Victims Understanding Of Government through Actions and Communication: The Case of Garissa University College Terror Attack
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Date
2020-12
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of International Relations, Media and Mass Communication Studies
Abstract
This study falls within the government communication field. In the study,
we aim at exploring what citizens make of government from its actions and
communication. The study was contextualized in the government actions and
communication during the 2015 Garissa University College terror attack. Terrorism is
violent communication aimed at discrediting the position that governments protect
citizens’ lives and property. How government deals with the attackers and how it
communicates to citizens who eagerly await government communication reveals
something about the nature of government. Although government communicates to the
citizens, studies have been silent on citizen feedback based on the messages and actions
of the government. This study adopted a qualitative approach and took a hermeneutic
phenomenological design where terror victims’ lived experiences were interrogated to
elucidate some perceptions towards government and government communication.
Three methods were used to generate data, namely: interviews, observation and
document analysis. The study findings revealed that terror victims interacted with
government — an interaction that revealed a government that send mixed signals on its
capacity to handle the situation
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Government communication, Nature of communication, Terrorism
Citation
Aswani, R., Mbutu, P., & Mwithia, J. (2020). Victims Understanding Of Government through Actions and Communication: The Case of Garissa University College Terror Attack. International Journal of International Relations, Media and Mass Communication Studies, 6(3), 1–13.