Impact of Framing of the Kenyan Economy Bydaily Nation and the Standard Newspapers During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Daily Nation andThe Standard newspapers framed the Kenyan economy in some disparate way through reporting guided by institutional policies and taking into account wider socio-economic concerns in the context of Covid-19, yet there is examination on how it was done, from a scholarly viewpoint. This study therefore sought to establish the kind of framing applied by theDaily Nation andThe Standard to report on the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic in the period March-October 2020. It content-analysed carefully selected articles in 168 Daily Nation and The Standard newspapers corresponding to the number of editions (87Daily Nation and 81 The Standard determined through purposive sampling. Quantitative content analysis was used to evaluate the objectives, which were three: to establish the valence in the framing of the economy by theDaily Nation andThe Standard during March-October 2020; analyse how attribution of responsibility was done in the framing of the economy in theDaily Nation andThe Standard during March-October 2020; evaluate the economic consequences frame used in reporting on the economy in the Daily Nation and The Standard during March-October, 2020. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data, and the findings presented in tables in form of counts, percentages, means and standard deviations. Interpretation and inference -making followed in line with the stated objectives. Coverage of the stories had a predominantly negative valence (86.3%). Attribution of responsibility framing was done as individual/Group responsibility,” problem alleviation, suggested solution, government responsibility, and urgent solution. Economic consequences frame took the form financial loss or gains frame, cost/degree of expense, and economic consequences of taking/not pursuing a cause of action. Newspaper coverage of the economy tended to assume a negative or positive valence depending on the prevailing circumstances, and so, accordingly, the Covid-19 pandemic, which broke out in 2020 received negative coverage by the Daily Nation and The Standard . A balance of valence and framing is necessary to present an objective picture of the prevailing situation.