Abstract:
The role of media in enhancing peaceful co-existence among communities is widely
accepted; however, in Kenya, media has been blamed for propagating ethnic conflict
during crises moments by assigning blame to some ethnic groups and innocence to
others. The objectives of this study are threefold. First, the study sought to identify
discursive strategies used by reporters to assign blame and innocence. Second, the
study aimed to explain how the strategies identified are used to assign blame and
innocence. Finally, to explain the implications of blame and innocence on the
relationships among ethnic groups in Kenya. The study employed a qualitative
approach and a descriptive research design. To achieve the set objectives, 40
editorials from the online version of the Daily Nation and The Standard newspapers
published between the years 2013 and 2015 were purposively sampled (20 from each
daily). The Standard and Daily Nation newspapers were selected because of their high
readership numbers. The study period was selected because it was a period when the
two terrorist attacks happened in Kenya. Editorials that responded to the Westgate and
Mpeketoni attacks and related ethnic affairs from the two newspapers were
downloaded, and data was collected using content analysis. Discursive strategies were
identified and grouped according to their role in the assignment of blame and that of
innocence. Using principles from Critical Discourse Analysis, the study analyzed the
identified discursive strategies. The analysis of these strategies was done using
Fairclough's three-step method, which is identification, explanation, and
interpretation. The findings show that through lexical choices, naming, and over-
lexicalization, reporters categorically apportion blame to ethnic groups. Using passive
voice and lexical choices, they apportion innocence to other groups. Further, using
lexical choices, reporters categorically assign innocence, and using passivization, they
non-categorically assign innocence. The tendency to categorically assign blame to one
ethnic group and innocence to another suggests that reporters emphasize differences
among ethnic groups. The findings imply that if the tone of discussion in online
newspaper media platforms is not regulated, it could lead to situations that may ignite
and escalate ethnic conflicts. The results of this study will benefit media houses, both
print and electronic, as they will help improve the quality of discussions and debates
on their platforms. This study recommends that further research should be done on
other different types of hate speech bordering on religion, race, and gender.