Media as Public Forum: An Investigation of Mestawet program produced by the Amhara Television.
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Date
2012-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study was concerned with investigating the nature of discourse and the way of public participation in the mestawet program. This was through an extensive study of relevant literature and the implementation of specific research methodology. The latter was carried out through a qualitative study using individual in-depth interviews with the manager, editors and forum moderators, Focus Group Discussion with journalists, and Analysis of Sample Broadcasts. This research produced a number of key findings. The study found that mestawet is an example of how broadcast media such as Television can be a forum of citizen engagement. A range of public issues were discussed in the program, from civil service process of government sectors, corrupt practice, lack of adequate urban infrastructure and inadequacy of staff in the municipality. The study also shows that mestawet has a power of mediating the public and the officials. However, it was found that there were a lot of factors that affect the flow of diversified views during the discussion. This study also revealed that the continuity and follow up activity of mestawet program is not addressed well
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Media as Public Forum