Broadcast Media & Youth Participation in Sociopolitical Mass Protests in Emerging African Democracies

• In Event: Children, Adolescents, & the Media Division - Research Escalator Sessions (Panel 2)

Abstract

This study examines the extent to which broadcast media in emerging African democracies mobilizes youth participation in socio-political mass protests, beyond social media. This challenges the widely held belief that social media platforms have become the sole rallying call for the success of these protests. A 2012 study by the US based Institute for Peace on the role of social media in mobilizing the Arab Spring confirms the significance of broadcast media in sustaining these movements. The study found that only 13% of Tahrir Square protesters relied on Twitter as opposed to the overwhelming 92% who said they relied on television. Thus would this finding be replicated in the Kenyan context? News stories from two mainstream news stations will be content analyzed to examine the prevalence of four media frames (Valence, Attribution of Responsibility, Violence, Democracy) in the coverage of the recent Independent Electoral Board Commission (IEBC) mass protests.

Author

• Joy Kibarabara, Daystar U