Kenya Vision 2030 youth agenda portrayal: an analysis of coverage by Daily Nation and the Standard Newspapers

Abstract

The study examined the print media portrayal of youth agenda issues as enshrined in Kenya vision 2030. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: the extent to which print media staff members are aware of vision 2030 key youth agenda issues, the vision 2030 youth agenda issues given a wider coverage by the print media, vision 2030 youth agenda issues that are neglected by the print media and the mechanisms that can be put in place to create more awareness about youth agenda issues.

A survey research design was employed by the study. Two major media organizations were purposively selected. Simple random sampling was used to arrive at thirty (30) writers of the selected media houses. Purposive sampling procedure on the other hand was used to arrive at two senior editors. Questionnaire was used to collect data from the writers while structured, self administered interview guide was used to collect data from the senior editors. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Data from questionnaires were purely analysed quantitatively, and presented in frequencies and percentages while that which was collected through the interview method was analysed qualitatively. From the analysis, the study found out that: most of the print media staff members are aware of issues on unemployment among the youth, representation of youth in politics and youth and entrepreneurship themes.

The study further revealed that there were certain youth agenda issues that had not attracted wide print media coverage. These included educational reforms in secondary, tertiary and university level, early childhood education, youth and retrogressive Practices and representation of youth in politics. The study suggests the government to provide enabling policy environment for the media to cover youth agenda issues as provided for in Kenya Vision 2030. The print media and other stakeholders in the industry have also a duty to play towards establishing right policy guidelines on youth agenda issues coverage.