Many scholars argue that the media can influence parliamentarians though the extent of that influence is hotly debated. There is some evidence that the relationship is two way, with politicians taking note of salient media stories but using the media to communicate with their constituents. It is also apparent that, whilst the media may have a role in drawing attention to specific issues, politicians in Kenya do not entirely trust it and thus use a wide range of other sources including government agencies as well as third party sources such as interest groups. This article addresses two gaps in our knowledge―the extent to which parliamentarians in Kenya turn to unofficial sources for information and public opinion, especially interest groups, and the extent to which the media in particular influences parliamentarians in Kenya. The results suggest that parliamentarians in Kenya rely to some extent on both the media and interest groups and that the media is good at raising awareness and stimulating action but that it has only a modest effect on political actions.

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对肯尼亚议员的外部影响

许多学者认为，媒体可以影响议员，尽管这种影响的程度存在激烈争论。有证据表明这种关系是双向的，政客们注意到重要的媒体故事，但利用媒体与他们的选民进行交流。同样明显的是，虽然媒体可能在引起对特定问题的关注方面发挥作用，但肯尼亚的政治家并不完全信任它，因此使用了广泛的其他来源，包括政府机构以及利益集团等第三方来源. 本文解决了我们知识中的两个空白——肯尼亚议员在多大程度上转向非官方来源获取信息和舆论，尤其是利益集团，以及媒体在多大程度上特别影响肯尼亚议员。