The Role of Media in the Prevention of Election Related Conflicts: a Case Study of Kenya’s 2007 General Election

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the role of print and broadcast media in political discourse and their influence on citizenry during the 2007 General Election. The study examined the role of print media in reporting conflict during the escalation and de-escalation period. To examine these variables, the study was guided by the following objectives; to determine the factors informing the print and broadcast media’s coverage of electoral conflicts in Kenya; to examine the print and broadcast media’s role in the escalation of the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya; to assess the effectiveness of the functions of the print and broadcast media in the prevention of the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya. The study applied the agenda setting theory, the manufacturing consent theory and the social conflict theory. The theories were relevant due to their three dimensions of the media in setting the agenda, political bias and the inevitable factor of underlying societal inequalities during political process that all influence and lead to post-election violence. The design used in conducting data collection and analysis was exploratory in nature. The study solely adopted qualitative methods of research using content analysis and a population of 30 participants randomly chosen from journalists, news editors, political commentaries and analysts who have been in the mainstream media for past 10 years. Qualitative analysis was used in the study to present the findings based on the three main research questions. The analysis found out that the media contributed to the emergence and escalation of the conflict through select words, framing and order of stories as well as purveying the notion that the election was going to be rigged, heightened tensions and suspicions. However, the major factors that influenced the manner in which the media presented contents were lack of media independence occasioned by controls, political affiliation, business interests by the media houses themselves and over emphasis on peace journalism over conflict journalism. Based on these findings, the study recommends that the media should be seen as agents of change, that media intervention should take the form of media training for impartial ethnic reporting and provide opportunities for accelerating social integration.