Coverage Of Famine By The Daily Nation And The Kenya Times. A Content Analysis Case Study: The Turkana Community.

ABSTRACT

The role of the media in development issues cannot be over emphasized. The media is the

vehicle through which masses are mobilized and policies are explained.

Famine is basically an agricultural question, agriculture being a sector that has not been

effectively and reliably investigated through the media.

The basic tenets of the social responsibility theory emphasizes that the media has certain

obligations to society. Apart from acting as a people's watchdog, the media should

maintain high standards of truth and accuracy in addressing issues of societal concern.

Recurrent famine in Kenya is a salient issue for the media to pursue causes of famine as

outlined should be brought to the attention of the public. The media should also make

early warning of impending famine to prevent unnecessary loss of life through delayed

action.

An inaccurate picture of the scale of a disaster is often the result of distortion of facts for

political purposes. In another scenario, media content is inappropriate for rural people,

because they do not have access to new technology in agriculture that's often the focus of

new stories.

The various media in Kenya need to move beyond raising the pertinent issues only when

disaster strikes but, should endeavor to carry out a sustained campaign for the

development of sufficient food production all year round.

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