A Study of Source Consideration and News Selection in Ethiopian Television
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Date
2006-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The study aims to examine the practice of source and story selection in
Ethiopian Television (ETV). The study thus explores the dominant sources used
within ETV news to see whose views are reflected most in the news and how
these sources become frequently used by journalists in the news. The study
also examines criteria for selecting stories at ETV. The nature of methodology
employed in this study is qualitative. In-depth interviews with key informants
and content analysis were used as techniques to gather data.
Some 503 television news stories were collected between 1 May 2006 and 30
May 2006. Key informant interviews were also conducted with media
practitioners who are responsible for news production. Results showed that
government sources were used as major information providers in 73.4 % of the
stories, and government officials were visible in 54.3 % of the stories. The
interpretation drawn from these results is that government voices are preferred
for news stories, with representatives from other sections of society being given
less chance to express their perspectives.
The thesis concludes that that political power is a major source consideration at
ETV. The powerful decision-makers at the editorial conference, gatekeepers of
the final product, are inevitably members of or sympathetic to the ruling party.
With regard to criteria for news selection, issues that deal with development are
given priority, and portraying the government positively is also an important
criterion for choosing stories. The findings also show that there are both
internal and external pressures affecting journalistic decisions, often forcing
journalists to practice self-censorship in order to depict the ruling party
positively and omit facts that are offensive to the ruling party.
The thesis concludes that different sections of society are not able to
communicate their perspectives on ETV since the organization serves as a
conduit for government policy messages instead of regularly entertaining
diversified views.
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Keywords
Consideration and News Selection in Ethiopian