Abstract

This article reports on a study that attempted to understand news and information inequalities by mapping the distribution of broadcast media outlets, the spread of accredited journalists, and the presence of established news bureaus in the eight regions in Kenya. Further, the study sought to determine the ownership of the broadcast media in Kenya and the trends in ownership and audience reach within the context of commercial interest and public interest dialectics. The study was anchored on the theory of the political economy of the media which looks at power relations that influence the production, distribution and consumption of resources from a critical tradition. Based on the analysis of documents, audience research data, and literature on media representation and socioeconomic and political development, the study revealed that Nairobi County is the news and information hub. It has the most journalists, radio stations and news bureaus, whereas far-flung counties exist in news and information deserts. Central region residents were found to consume the least percentage of the non-local language radio stations as they prefer local language or vernacular radio stations Western, South Nyanza (Nyamira and Kisii) and North Western regions are unique in that their consumption of radio with a national target audience is fairly high when the Average Daily Radio Reach (ADRR) of the top five radio stations is considered. Ownership of the radio market is in the hands of five media organisations that share 43.70% of the ADRR. The establishment, audience reach and ownership trends of these media organisations coupled with the spread of journalists and news bureaus revealed news and information inequalities. The audience reach by broadcast media outlets, even in areas where vernacular radio stations provide a rich diet of media content, seems to be more interested in ownership for profit maximisation at the expense of public interest.

摘要

本文报道了一项研究，该研究试图通过绘制广播媒体的分布，合格记者的分布以及肯尼亚八个地区现有新闻机构的存在来了解新闻和信息不平等现象。此外，该研究试图确定肯尼亚广播媒体的所有权以及在商业利益和公共利益辩证法的背景下所有权和受众范围的趋势。该研究以媒体的政治经济学理论为基础，该理论着眼于影响一种批判传统的资源生产，分配和消费的权力关系。基于对文件，受众研究数据和有关媒体代表性以及社会经济和政治发展的文献的分析，研究表明，内罗毕县是新闻和信息中心。它拥有最多的新闻工作者，广播电台和新闻社，而分布在新闻和信息沙漠中的县却很多。发现中部地区居民使用非本地语言广播电台的比例最少，因为他们偏爱本地语言或西部，西部Nyanza（尼亚米拉和基西）的白话广播电台，其独特之处在于他们的广播消费量为如果考虑排名前五位的广播电台的平均每日电台覆盖率（ADRR），则全国目标受众相当高。拥有ADRR 43.70％的五个媒体组织拥有广播市场的所有权。成立，这些媒体组织的受众群体覆盖率和所有权趋势，以及新闻工作者和新闻机构的扩散，揭示了新闻和信息不平等现象。即便是在当地广播电台提供丰富的媒体内容饮食的地区，广播媒体也能吸引观众，他们似乎更对所有权有兴趣，以牺牲公共利益为代价实现利润最大化。