REPORTING ON CORRUPTION - Autonomy and control in the Kenyan mainstream press HELGE KVANDAL Thesis submitted for the Cand. Polit. degree Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo Autumn 2006 Abstract This thesis is a sociological case study of news on corruption in Kenya. The study explores the autonomy and watchdog role of the Kenyan mainstream press. It analyses corruption content and the production and mediation of corruption news in the Kenyan mainstream press from 2001 till 2005. The study shows that journalism on corruption increased as President Moi resigned and President Kibaki took office in late December 2002. The newswortiness of corruption increased. Revelations boosted newspaper circulation and fed journalists’ ideological self esteem as independent watchdogs. New and more sources on corruption enabled a culture of more openness and transparency in Government organisations. A counter trend emerged in 2004 as revelations started to hit the sitting regime. Government’s (re)enforcement of means to maintain secrecy, particularistic use of state resources against media firms, and clientelist use of media practitioners, impact on production practices. These and other factors catered for a relatively more constrained environment for disclosures of corruption in late 2004 and 2005. Journalists’ autonomy enables revelations of corruption; however it also enables clientelist use of the press. The Kenyan mainstream press serves as a watchdog of Government deviances and simultaneously as an instrument for non-professional internal and external interests. Sammendrag Denne hovedoppgaven er en sosiologisk studie av nyhetsproduksjon om korrupsjon i Kenya. Studien utforsker autonomien og vaktbikkjerollen til den kenyanske dagspressen. Oppgaven analyserer den kenyanske dagspressens korrupsjonsinnhold, nyhetsproduksjon og mediering av korrupsjon i tidsrommet 2001 til 2005. Studien viser at korrupsjon fikk økt nyhetsverdi da Kibaki overtok som President i Kenya etter Moi i desember 2002. Korrupsjonsavsløringer ble godt stoff, solgte aviser, og tilfredsstilte journalister selvbilde som uavhengige vaktbikkjer. Nye og flere kilder muliggjorde en ny åpenhetskultur i offentlige kildeorganisasjoner. En mottrend finner sted i 2004 i det korrupsjonsavsløringer begynner å ramme det sittende regimet. Myndighetene iverksetter tiltak for å stoppe informasjonsflyten fra myndighetsorganisasjoner til pressen for å sikre hemmelighold. Innflytelsesrike kilder benytter statsapparatet selektivt mot mediebedrifter og bruker journalister klientelistisk for å hindre publisering. Disse faktorene vanskeliggjorde korrupsjonsavsløringer i pressen i siste halvdel av 2004 og 2005. Den kenyanske dagspressen er i dag både en vaktbikkje og samtidig et instrument for ikke-journalistiske interne eller eksterne interesser. ii Acknowledgments When working on this study I have received direct and indirect assistance and support from a number of individuals. I am in particular indebted to journalists and editors in the Standard and the Nation for their willingness to participate in the research as informants. They have generously shared their time, knowledge and interpretations with me, and put up with my stumbling in a foreign environment trying to make sense of unfamiliar codes and conducts. Without their participation this thesis would not have been written. I am grateful for the support of Frank Wang’Endo, Jens Barland and Esther Kamweru who assisted me in getting access to news workers in Nairobi. This assistance was crucial for the conduction of my research there. Martha Wangethi at the Nation Media Group’s library; Hilde Klemetsdal at the Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi; Tone Bratteli at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation; and Jan Borgen at the Transparency International Norway have provided valuable technical support at different stages of the work process. I would also like to thank Louise Hallgren, Frank Wang’Endo, and Subramonia Ananthakrishnan for social gatherings, their generosity and friendship that made life in Nairobi enjoyable. Randi Haraldstad, Kjersti Grut, Lars Helgeland and Mette Kvandal have provided fruitful comments to draft chapters of this thesis for which I am most thankful. Åsta Stangeland Heien has generously proofread the thesis and significantly improved readers’ access to it. Professor Tore Slaatta at the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo has provided firm and most valuable supervision and support from the thesis’ initial phases to its finalisation. Finally, this thesis would not have been finalised without the lovely generosity, patience, and support of my family, in particular my wife Mette. Helge Kvandal Oslo, November 2006 iii Table of contents 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................. 1 THE ROLE OF CORRUPTION DISCLOSURES – TWO PERSPECTIVES.......................................................................... 2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 5 THE ORDER OF THE THESIS .................................................................................................................................. 7 2. SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO NEWS PRODUCTION AND THEIR APPLICABILITY IN THE KENYAN CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................... 10 NEWS PRODUCTION – THREE APPROACHES........................................................................................................ 10 THEORETICAL APPROACH.................................................................................................................................. 12 OWNERSHIP AND INSTRUMENTALISM................................................................................................................ 13 NEWS INSTITUTION, NEWS ORGANISATION AND NEWS VALUES ......................................................................... 14 SOURCE PARTICIPATION IN THE NEWS PROCESS ................................................................................................ 17 AUTONOMY....................................................................................................................................................... 21 COMMENTS ON TERMINOLOGY AND RESEARCH OUTLINING .............................................................................. 22 3. METHODS ...................................................................................................................................................... 24 SCOPE OF ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................................... 24 METHODS.......................................................................................................................................................... 25 QUANTITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................. 26 QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS................................................................................................................................27 DOCUMENT ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................................... 30 ANALYSIS AND VALIDITY.................................................................................................................................. 30 FIELDWORK ...................................................................................................................................................... 34 SUMMARY AND COMMENTS .............................................................................................................................. 35 4. OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL IN THE KENYAN PRESS..................................................................... 36 POLITICS AND CORRUPTION IN KANU KENYA ................................................................................................... 36 ANTI CORRUPTION EFFORTS AND CONFLICTS IN NARC KENYA ......................................................................... 37 REGULATORY CONTEXTS FOR JOURNALISM ON CORRUPTION ............................................................................ 39 OWNERSHIP AND PATRONAGE IN KENYAN MEDIA............................................................................................. 41 MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND AUTONOMY ................................................................................................................ 48 SUMMARY AND COMMENTS .............................................................................................................................. 49 5. CORRUPTION COVERAGE IN THE MAINSTREAM PRESS 2001-2005 ............................................ 51 KENYAN MAINSTREAM JOURNALISM................................................................................................................. 51 A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF EXTENT AND CHANGE ...................................................................................... 52 CORRUPTION STORIES IN THE MAINSTREAM PRESS............................................................................................ 57 SUMMARY AND COMMENTS .............................................................................................................................