Determinants of women legislators’ media coverage in a male-dominated Kenya political landscape

Abstract

This research explores visibility of Kenyan women Members of Parliament (MPs) in newspapers news between 2013 and 2017 – a non-election period. Within the backdrop of coverage based on news values, the study examines whether non-institutional characteristics (ethnic group size and seniority), and institutional attributes (party size and political leadership) predicted the coverage of 68 female legislators. And under the context of media as a mirror of political reality, it investigates if criticizing national government, commenting on corruption and devolution determined their appearance in national newspapers’ news. Findings indicate that commenting on corruption, criticizing national government, and seniority were the main predictors of the MPs’ newspapers reportage.