British media coverage of the post-election violence in Kenya, 2007–08

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7843312
AutoresKeith Somerville (0000-0001-9768-6894, Brunel University of London, autor de correspondencia)
Año2009
Volumen3
Número3
Páginas526-542
Fecha de publicación2009-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Eastern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1753-1055 • E-ISSN: 1753-1063
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17531050903273776
OpenAlexW2010098600
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas15

The post-election violence in Kenya in December 2007 through to April 2008 was reported extensively but erratically in the British media. While BBC News Online, the Guardian, Telegraph and Independent gave regular coverage with online updates on their websites, other mass circulation media like Sky, the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail were more sparing in their coverage. But a common factor to all was a tendency to rely on simple, all-encompassing descriptive and analytical language to frame the reporting of the conflict – focusing on tribal and ethnic issues to the virtual exclusion of broader and deeper analyses of factors involved. This paper examines the coverage and compares and contrasts that coverage with some of the more thoughtful and in-depth analyses produced by experienced journalists and academics. The paper looks, too, at the journalistic processes and habits that may have led to this concentration on, in particular, the "tribal" and ethnic explanations of the violence. The study will draw on an analysis, quantitative and qualitative, of the content of British media coverage from December 2007 to April 2008 and on the author's first-hand experience of covering Africa as a BBC journalist and a writer for specialist African publications over 30 years

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