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Social Trust, Political Trust and News Media Credibility in the Context of Ethiopia

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Social Trust, Political Trust and News Media Credibility in the Context of Ethiopia ‘Triangular Trust or Mistrust?’: Social trust, political trust and news media credibility in the context of Ethiopia by Abdi Ali Seid Student Number: 206518983 Supervisor: Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli Submitted to the School of Applied Human Sciences, College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal in fulfilment of the requirements of a PhD in the Centre for Communication, Media and Society (CCMS) October 2018 DECLARATION I, Abdi Ali Seid, hereby declare that the research reported in this thesis, except where otherwise indicated, is my original research; this thesis has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university; and, this thesis does not contain other person’s data, pictures, graphs or other information, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other persons. This thesis does not contain other persons’ writing, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers; where other written sources have been quoted, the i) their words have been re-written, but retains the meaning and is referenced, ii) where their exact words have been used, then their writing has been placed in quotation marks and referenced. I also declare that this thesis does not contain text, graphics or tablets copied and pasted form the internet, unless specifically acknowledged, and the source being detailed in the thesis and in the Reference section. Signature…………………………………. Date……………………………………… Supervisor.……………………………….... Date……………………………………... i ABSTRACT Access to and use of the media by the public, including public perceptions of media credibility, are important elements in grasping the role of the media and why it exists (Wanta and Hu, 1994). The mass media play a critical role in socio-economic and political transformation of societies in the sense that they significantly contribute to shaping and reflecting relations between the State and society and elites and the public (O’Neil, 1998). In developing countries like Ethiopia, the media also have a significant role in nation-building and political transformation. The success of the mass media, therefore, depends on its credibility and believability in the eyes of members of the public. These two pillars of media existence constitute the foundation for public trust and confidence (Garrison, 1992). News media credibility is considered as an essential element of effective communication (Rayudu, 1998). In this regard, and as Steyn (1996) observed, credibility is the media's most cherished possession which allows them to be worthy of belief. Media and society are intertwined with each other (McQuail, 2005) and the issue of trust or mistrust is not bound, nor does it exist only in the circle of the media environment. Rather, it is mirrored in all facets of society, including the socio-political arena. Mindful of this, my thesis focuses on exploring the intertwined relationships between and among social trust (particularized and generalized trust), political/institutional trust and news media credibility from perspectives of the public. The thesis assesses public trust and confidence in the media, media access and media usage patterns within selected independent variables, i.e. region, residential area, gender, age, income, education and political affiliation. Given the fact that there is no universally-agreed conceptual framework for analyzing levels of social trust, political trust and media credibility, including the triangulation of trust or mistrust, I used a combination of proven theories and approaches in analyzing respondents perceptions of social trust, political trust and media credibility. In assessing public media access, exposure, consumption patterns and preferences, I used the integrated model of audience choice, which is the new version of the media uses and gratifications theory. My findings revealed that ownership of various household media hardware, media exposure, motives for media choice and use, including the social context of media use, cannot be not be attributed to any single socio-demographic factor. Rather, a combination of multiple factors, such as residence, level of education, level of income, availability of communication networks/infrastructure and suitability of one type of media hardware against others, all variously influence ownership of ii household media hardware, media exposure, motives for media choice and use, including the social context of media use. I also applied the social and cultural theory and the institutional performance theory as a way of determining levels and reciprocity of social trust and political trust and media credibility. Findings indicated that there were low levels of social trust and political trust in general among respondents. The other finding was that there were variations in levels of social trust (particularized trust and generalized trust), political trust and media credibility across respondents’ socio-demographic factors. In analysing levels of trust or mistrust, political views and ideological orientation of members of the public are significant. Political ideas and beliefs of the public are reflected in their day- to-day life and, invariably, influence their assessment and perceptions of media credibility. My findings further indicated that there were relationships between and among social trust, political trust and media credibility. Triangulation of trust and mistrust, however, varied across variables. Respondents in Tigray, for instance, had highest trust ratings for particularized trust, political trust and trust in national news media. Conversely, respondents in Addis Ababa had the least particularized trust, political trust and confidence in national news media and the highest trust in international news media. These findings may be useful in prompting further research in the extent to which social trust, political trust and media credibility in Ethiopia are entwined and have reciprocal interrelationships and dependencies. Key words: household media hardware, media access, media exposure, social context of media use, gratifications of media, social trust, particularized/generalized trust, political/institutional trust, news media credibility, triangular trust iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the first place, I want to thank The Almighty Allah for blessing me with courage, bravery and strength throughout the long period that it took me to undertake the research and to write this thesis. There were times I felt tired and thoroughly spent but Allah always picked and urged me on. My research and writing of this thesis were made possible by the full scholarship from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) in support of the project for the establishment of the School of Journalism and Communications (SJC) and the Centre for Research in Mass Communications and Journalism at Addis Ababa University (AAU) in collaboration with the Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communication (GSJC) of Norway. I was excited and felt extremely humbled when I heard that I had been awarded the Scholarship which made me one of the pioneers of the preparatory work for the establishment of the SJC at AAU. I would like to sincerely and wholeheartedly thank all members of the selection panel, and especially late Professor Abiy Ford, Dr Øyvind Aadland, Dr. Gibre Medhin Simon and Terje Skjerdal who played key roles in making me a recipient of the Scholarship. The scholarship fully covered all my expenses such as stipend, tuition and research fees during the period 2006 to 2009. I would also like to profoundly express my sincere gratitude to my able supervisor, Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli, for her tireless and continuous encouragement and support during the entire duration of my study and research. Her patience, motivation, counsel and inexhaustible knowledge were my sources of inspiration and determination to undertake and complete my study. Without her inputs, advice and professional guidance this thesis would not have been possible. Furthermore, I wish to express my unreserved gratitude to members of the Dissertations and Theses Committee of the Centre for Communication, Media and Society (CCMS) especially to Professor Keyan Tomaselli. His iconic knowledge of media, communication and culture, including his insightful comments, proved handy throughout my study for and preparation of this thesis. Given the fact that English is my second language, I would like to sincerely thank late Professor Margaret Mary Lenta and Mr Bernard Chisanga for taking time to studiously edit iv the thesis without altering my ideas and messages. Their invaluable work has helped me a lot for meeting my work in the permissible standards of a doctoral thesis. Getting permission and clearance from relevant authorities is a requirement for undertaking a major study at national or regional level of Ethiopia. In this regard, I would like to thank officials and administrators of Zones, Woreds and Kebeles, the areas in which I did my research, for, kindly, navigating me through bureaucratic process. I would also like to thank all the people who actively participated in data collection and collation, especially in administrating questionnaires and conducting interviews in different local languages. Individuals who meticulously cleaned and entered data into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) equally deserve my unreserved gratitude. I would further like to sincerely thank librarians and facilitators from the Cornell University Carpenter Library, Olin Library and Uris Library, Maryland Howard County
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