“The New Sheriffs in Town”! Newspapers Visibility of Kenya’s First County Governors

The Kenya “high-octane” devolution politics: Comparing predictors of governors and senators coverage in national press

“…However, Ochieng and Ireri (2022) found that in Kenya, political leadership was not a predictor of the county governors’ coverage in the national media. In political parties, Vos (2016) argues that the size of a party, measured by its electoral strength could influence the visibility of its members—an observation backed by Van Aelst et al (2008), but not so in Kenya (Ochieng & Ireri, 2022). Thus, Vos (2016) found that in the coverage of Norwegian MPs, party attachment was key to their visibility—with politicians from big parties judged as being more newsworthy.…”

“…Fico (1985) confirmed Weaver and Wilhoit (1974) findings where governors representing larger constituencies received more coverage from reporters. Similarly, Kenyan governors representing the large counties in terms of population received more media coverage (Ochieng & Ireri, 2022). In Europe, Gattermann and Vasilopoulou (2015) found that political office and party leadership had a positive effect on the news visibility of MPs, while in the U.S. Senate, committee, and party leaders won more coverage compared with nonleaders (Sellers & Schaffner, 2007).…”

“…Fogarty (2008), Gershon (2012), Ireri and Ochieng (2020), Ochieng and Ireri (2022), and Squire (1988) are some of the studies that have examined this theoretical perspective. Payne (1980) found that politically active politicians receive less media attention, while Fogarty (2008) reported no positive effect of politicians’ activities on their media coverage.…”

“…Van Santen et al (2013) research of France, Germany, and the Netherlands found that MPs’ reactions to ongoing debates or topical issues made them attract more media coverage. In Belgium, MPs who react to “hot topics” achieve significantly higher levels of visibility in media (Vos, 2016), while in Kenya, reacting to contentious issues of corruption and devolution influenced MPs’ and county governors’ coverage (Ireri & Ochieng, 2020; Ochieng & Ireri, 2022). Related to commenting on topical issues, criticizing the government also tends to attract media attention (Harcup & O’Neill, 2001; Ireri & Ochieng, 2020; Ochieng & Ireri, 2022).…”

“…In Belgium, MPs who react to “hot topics” achieve significantly higher levels of visibility in media (Vos, 2016), while in Kenya, reacting to contentious issues of corruption and devolution influenced MPs’ and county governors’ coverage (Ireri & Ochieng, 2020; Ochieng & Ireri, 2022). Related to commenting on topical issues, criticizing the government also tends to attract media attention (Harcup & O’Neill, 2001; Ireri & Ochieng, 2020; Ochieng & Ireri, 2022). Consequently, this literature review on media coverage as a mirror of political reality leads to hypotheses 3a, 3b, and 3c:…”