The agenda-setting role of the Kenyan Media in the 2007 general election: a case study of the print media

Abstract

This study focused on the agenda-setting role of the mass media. It is based on the 2007 General that plunged the country the country into serious unrest and wide- spread destruction of land and property, displacement and death. The study is founded on the media agenda-setting theory which stipulates that the media shapes the issues that are considered important and thus these issues are ranked highly by the audiences. The study focused on presidential aspirants Mwai Kibaki, Raila .Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka. The bone of contention was on eight issues on which they ran their campaigns. The Daily Nation, The standard and The People Daily were analyzed in this study.

To establish whether the media set the agenda during the elections, the study employed Spearman's Rank Correlation. Results showed no significant evidence of influence in public opinion. Voter opinion was not influenced by the print media or by issues ranked highly by the media. The three Dailies therefore set the agenda in the 2007 General Elections but not the agenda that was considered important.