Representing school arson in Kenya : an analysis of newspaper reporting
Date
2020-07
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE
Abstract
Arson is a recurrent problem in Kenyan secondary schools. Although school violence – notably gun violence – has received significant attention, there has been less academic attention paid to school arson, especially in Africa. This study explores how newspaper reports in Kenya framed school arson and links these framings to broader questions about the understanding and production of Kenyan identity. A thematic analysis of 334 newspaper reports revealed multiple understandings of school arson. Print media discourse afforded journalists an opportunity to make a commentary on the post-colonial globalized Kenyan society. We discuss the implications of this for understanding post-colonial media in Africa.
Description
CITATION: Oburu, H., Coetzee, B. & Swartz, L. 2020. Representing school arson in Kenya: An analysis of newspaper reporting. Global Media and Communication, 16(3):293–311. doi:10.1177/1742766520946472
The original publication is available at https://journals.sagepub.com/home/gmc
The original publication is available at https://journals.sagepub.com/home/gmc
Keywords
School violence -- Kenya, Arson -- Kenya, Reporters and reporting, Social representations, Schools -- Fires and fire prevention
Citation
Oburu, H., Coetzee, B. & Swartz, L. 2020. Representing school arson in Kenya: An analysis of newspaper reporting. Global Media and Communication, 16(3):293–311. doi:10.1177/1742766520946472