A Comparative Study of the Coverage of Development Issues in the Ethiopian Herald and the Reporter
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Date
2012-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This research attempted to study the coverage of development issues in government and
private newspapers in Ethiopia. It was informed by modernization, dependency and
participatory theoretical frameworks. Its focus was on a comparative analysis of
development issues coverage in the Ethiopian Herald (the government newspaper) and
the Reporter (the privately owned newspaper). The emphasis was on the coverage of
economic, social and political developments. To this end, it evaluated the extent of the
coverage of development issues, the aspects of the development issues in focus, the
sources of the development issues, and the prominent pages of the issues of development
in the newspapers. A Content analysis was conducted on the stories carried by the two
selected newspapers to provide a description of the coverage of development issues. The
analysis shows that the private media covered less development issues than the
government media. The economic development was considered the most important
aspect of development coverage in both newspapers. In general, the Ethiopian press,
particularly the government owned one gave little or no shortcomings on its coverage of
social, economic and political issues in the country. This implies that the government
press advances the government’s point of view. Based on the findings, pertinent
recommendations were forwarded.
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Ethiopian Herald