The Coverage of Rape by the Kenya Dailies: A Content Analysis

Abstract

The researcher investigated the coverage of rape by two Kenyan dailies, East African Standard and Nation, between 1990 and 1992. Using content analysis as the research method, he sought to determine if the two dailies had given rape, a taboo issue in Africa, prominence in their coverage. He also aimed to establish the ratio of female writers to male writers, to know the type of stories most often cov- ered and to compare the police statistics with the media coverage. The study was triggered by the July 1991 St. Kizito High School rape event, in which the school's male students stormed the female student's dormitory and raped over seventy of female students. Nineteen female students died during the incident. In this study, the researcher assumed that the media coverage given to the St. Kizito incident was a one-time event, hence, rape would not later receive promi- nent coverage in the media. Also, stories to be covered later would be short in length and placed in the inside pages. However, the study revealed that rape had been given prominence in the media prior to the St. Kizito incident. The media coverage prominence given then, however, did not trigger a public debate over the issue as did the St. Kizito event. The study's significant findings were: 1. The Kenyan print media gave rape prominence as demonstrated by issue page placement and the length of the story. 2. The media agenda set for the St. Kizito incident became a public agenda. 3. The number of reports reaching the police was higher tham the volume of "rape" news that reached the newsrooms.