Media Framing of the First Administration of Devolution in Kenya

The current research, which content analysed 565 news stories in the Daily Nation and The Standard, examined media framing of devolution in Kenya between 2013 and 2017. It examined the most dominant frame in the four-year coverage of devolution, whether the coverage used episodic or thematic framing, and whether the tone of newspaper reports was positive or negative. Findings show that the coverage of devolution was conflict-driven, episodic, and negative. The dominance of the conflict frames shows that the polarised nature of Kenyan politics continues to influence media coverage of devolution, leaving Kenyans without a deeper understanding of how the implementation of devolution impacts development or a grasp on the challenges the new system of governance continues to grapple with.