ABSTRACT

Employing the hierarchy of influences model this study examines source use in Covid-19 news coverage by Kenyan and Zimbabwean newspapers, an understudied area in Africa. A quantitative content analysis (N = 557) revealed the dominance of elites and men as sources and reporters. Women as sources were absent in 72% of all news stories while ordinary voices were present in only 9.3%. The voices of Covid-19 affected (victims and families of the sick/dead) were also neglected, appearing in less than 1% of news articles. Meanwhile, government officials, business executives, and representatives of civil society were the most privileged class in news sourcing. These findings align with extant literature suggesting the news media mute voices of women and ordinary citizens and privilege the opinions of elite men. The similarity in sourcing patterns between Kenyan and Zimbabwean newspapers, despite the different media and political systems, could be linked to the prevailing patriarchal culture in both nations that undermine women’s participation in the public sphere.

摘要

本研究采用影响层次模型检查了肯尼亚和津巴布韦报纸在 Covid-19 新闻报道中的来源使用情况，这是非洲一个未被充分研究的地区。定量内容分析 (N = 557) 揭示了精英和男性作为消息来源和记者的主导地位。72% 的新闻报道中没有女性作为消息来源，而普通声音仅占 9.3%。受影响的 Covid-19 的声音（受害者和病人/死者的家人）也被忽视，出现在不到 1% 的新闻文章中。与此同时，政府官员、企业高管和民间社会代表是新闻采购中最享有特权的阶层。这些发现与现存的文献一致，这些文献表明新闻媒体会压制女性和普通公民的声音，并优先考虑精英男性的意见。