1 / 16

Text messages and their influence on Kenya’s political culture

Text messages and their influence on Kenya’s political culture . By Wilson Ugangu. Media and the 2007 General elections: The debate. Debate has mainly centered on what the media did or did not do right- whether they abdicated fourth estate/democratic responsibilities to society

mave
Download Presentation

Text messages and their influence on Kenya’s political culture

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Text messages and their influence on Kenya’s political culture By Wilson Ugangu

  2. Media and the 2007 General elections: The debate • Debate has mainly centered on what the media did or did not do right- whether they abdicated fourth estate/democratic responsibilities to society • Contention on whether media’s coverage actually led to the post election violence or whether there are other variables that could have stimulated the violence

  3. Debate • The role of community FM radio stations/local language stations in promoting violence • Information/internal security ministries have led onslaught on the media • BUT those in the media, human rights have dismissed these accusations.

  4. The positives: • Media( new and traditional forms) credited for providing a platform on which the campaigns were played out, meanings generated, debated and evaluated- civic space • They mobilized voters as well as educating the public on the issues and the candidates • The watchdog responsibility is also emphasized ( Commonwealth Observers Team Report)

  5. Positives • New media provided alternative spaces for expression/alternative view points after the government clampdown on mainstream media • They had up to date information on the vote tallying process, and the ensuing violence • Kenyan civil society campaign – aimed at urging the international community not to give recognition to the Kibaki government. Campaign reached 145 foreign affairs departments across the world

  6. The Negatives: • BUT there have been accusations: From politicians, religious groups, civil society, general public etc Accusations are mainly motivated by the post election violence- in which approximately 1,200 people died and close to 600,000 displaced

  7. Nature of accusations • That the media took sides in the political debate- mainly driven by ethnic considerations/they promoted ethnic nationalism at the expense of national cohesion • They promoted negative ethnic stereotypes and feelings of hate between ethnic groups

  8. Nature of accusations • That the media became hostage to regional and tribal political establishments- with politicians influencing the editorial agenda • Unprofessional- fairness, accuracy and balance- no clear distinction between the roles of media as speaker and civic space

  9. Conclusion;

  10. SMS messages: Positives • Used by political parties to mobilize supporters to vote • Ordinary citizens used them to warn relatives of possible danger • they provided an alternative channel for receiving information

  11. SMS messages: Negatives • Kinsmen used SMS messages to ostracize and discipline errant relatives with differing political opinion/orientation • For instance: “Is it true what im hearing? Tell me if you are PNU? You have to change because you have embarrassed your family by supporting PNU”

  12. SMS messages • Short text messages in local languages were circulated urging members of communities not to vote for perceived enemies- underlined the nature of citizenship in Africa- civil/national and cultural • One such message implored members of a particular community not to vote for a man who is not circumcised

  13. SMS messages • 31ts December: Government clampdown on the media- created an information vacuum • SMS henceforth used to fill the information gaps • Lies and half truths were passed on to the public

  14. SMS messages • On the morning of 1ts January a false message reached my village that three key opposition figures had been arrested- within hours youths had armed with all manner of weapons – as a result five policemen were killed and property worthy millions destroyed.

  15. SMS messages • Government security agencies used sms to warn demonstrators/threaten/propagate their version of the truth etc • Service providers promoted peace through sms

  16. Other media: bloggers • Bloggers provided useful spaces for discussion, debate on issues around the elections • Political parties and their sympathizers created websites for political campaign propaganda • Some bloggers used their spaces to post hate messages and propaganda

More Related