The present research examines the coverage of 349 Kenyan politicians in four English national newspapers between 2013 and 2017. Within the contexts of media coverage based on news values, and reporting as a mirror of political reality, the study investigates whether gender, tribe, party size, seniority, committee or party leadership, commenting on corruption and devolution, and criticizing the government predicted the visibility of members of parliament (MPs) in newspaper news. Findings show that seniority, committee or party leadership, commenting on devolution and corruption, and criticizing government emerged as the main predictors of the parliamentarians’ coverage in news media. Overall, committee or party leadership, commenting on corruption, and criticizing the government were the strongest determinants of the MPs coverage.

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The present research examines two aspects of newspaper coverage of devolution during a 4-year period between March 27, 2013, and May 28, 2017: first, through the lens of attribution of responsibility, who the news media most blamed for problems facing devolution; second, whether reliance on official sources in reporting of devolution mirrors the indexing hypothesis. Findings show that the most-blamed actor and dominant news source on devolution is the county executive. Journalists continue to rely on the elite as their main news source and as a result they shape the discourse on devolution.

This chapter traces the evolution and strengthening of the provincial administration as the executive’s instrument of maintaining control from the political center to the local level, which the state has used intensively to intervene in the body politic. The administration has been the eyes and ears of the state—and the president—from 1963 up until the new Constitution was promulgated in 2010. The new Constitution’s attempt to restructure the provincial administration and limit its reach and capability did not come to fruition, as the state succeeded in retaining and consolidating its powers. Therefore, the provincial administration will continue to be the backbone of the state for a long time to come.

This research content analyzes 2,794 news articles in four leading newspapers to compare variables that predicted the coverage of Kenya governors and senators between 2013 and 2017—within the theoretical perspectives of coverage based on “news values” and “mirror of political reality.” Findings show the strongest predictors for governors’ coverage are commenting on devolution and corruption topics, while senators’ visibility is determined by criticizing national government—all under “mirror of political reality” reporting.