UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI THE YOUTH’S PERCEPTION OF KENYAN TELEVISION WOMEN NEWS ANCHORS: THE CASE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI LETTY ANYANGO K’OKUL K50/74146/2014 A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTERSOF ARTS INCOMMUNICATION STUDIES, SCHOOL OF JOURNALISMAND MASS COMMUNICATION NOVEMBER, 2016 DECLARATION Candidate’s Declaration This project is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other university. Signed:………………………. Date:………………………… Letty A. K’Okul K50/74146/2014 Supervisor’s Declaration Thisproject has been submitted for examination with my approval as the University supervisor. Signed:……………………………….Date:……………………………… Dr.JosephNyanoti Lecturer, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Nairobi. ii DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this research project to my late Father Dr. R. K’Okul, my motherDr. F. K’Okul who has endlessly encouraged me and tirelessly checked how far I am with this project.Dr. J. Katu, thank you for being my study partner. I would also like to dedicate this project to my dear friend, Salome, for pushing me towards not giving up and lastly Erica; thank you for your patience through this whole project. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to acknowledge all those who contributed to the success of this project. Special thanks to my supervisor for his guidance and support during the entire period of the study. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .................................................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................................ ix ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................................................... 11 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 11 1.0. Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 11 1.1. Background of the Study ......................................................................................................................... 11 1.1.1. Overview of the Television News Industry in Kenya ..................................................................... 14 1.1.2. Youth Preferences in Media Content .............................................................................................. 15 1.2. Statement of the Research Problem ......................................................................................................... 16 1.3. Objectives of the Study ........................................................................................................................... 17 1.3.1 Specific Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 17 1.4 Research Questions ......................................................................................................................................... 18 1.5 Scope of the Study ................................................................................................................................... 18 1.6 Significance of the Study ......................................................................................................................... 18 1.7 OPERATIONAL TERMS .............................................................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................................................. 21 LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................................................... 21 2 Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 21 2.1 Historical Background ............................................................................................................................. 21 2.2 Contemporary Television News Broadcasts and Emerging Trends ........................................................ 23 2.3 Television News Viewership ................................................................................................................... 28 2.3.1 Anchors’ Sex Appeal, Physical Appearance, Gender and Age ....................................................... 29 2.3.2 Sex-Appeals Used In Television News Broadcasting ..................................................................... 31 2.3.3 Eye Tracking Data Representation and Visualization in Television News ..................................... 32 v 2.3.4 Discrimination in the Television News Industry ............................................................................ 32 2.3.5 Youth Perception of Sexualized Television News Anchors ........................................................... 34 2.4 Objectification Theory ............................................................................................................................. 35 2.5 The Gaze theory ...................................................................................................................................... 36 2.6 Shock Advertising or “Shockvertising” ................................................................................................... 38 2.7 Viewers’ Perception of Television News Anchors and Sexual Appeals ................................................. 38 2.8 Sex-Appeal and Marketers ...................................................................................................................... 40 2.9 Moral Discussion around objectifying Women ....................................................................................... 41 2.10 Summary of Literature and Knowledge Gap ........................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER THREE .............................................................................................................................................. 43 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................... 43 3.0 Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 43 3.1 Research Design ...................................................................................................................................... 43 3.15 Study Area,Target Population and Sampling Technique ......................................................................... 44 3.3 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................................................. 45 2.11 Reliability and Validity ........................................................................................................................... 46 2.12 Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................................................. 47 CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................................................ 49 ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION .................................................................................................................. 49 4.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................................ 49 4.2 Most viewed Television News Station ........................................................................................................... 49 4.3 Factors for viewership .................................................................................................................................... 50 4.4 Anchors’ Physical Attractiveness, Age and Gender ....................................................................................... 51 4.5 Female vs. Male Anchors ............................................................................................................................... 53 4.6 Targeted gender viewership ............................................................................................................................ 54 4.7 Youth Viewers’ Perception of a Sexualized Female News Anchors .............................................................. 54 4.10 Anchors appearance during presentation ................................................................................................. 56 4.11 Popularity attribution to sex appeal ......................................................................................................... 57 vi 4.12 Employer vs. Public Expectations, and most affected gender ................................................................. 57 4.13 Employers, do they consider physical attractiveness when employing Anchors ..................................... 58 4.14 Are viewers more interested in anchors physical attractiveness or knowledge and expertise ................. 58 4.15 Are Viewers distracted by presenter’s looks and do they lose concentration on content ........................ 59 CHAPTER FIVE .................................................................................................................................................. 60 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................... 60 5.1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 60 5.2 Summary of the Findings................................................................................................................................ 60 5.2.1 Most Popular Television News Station ....................................................................................................... 60 5.2.2 Factors influencing viewership .................................................................................................................... 61 5.2.3 Anchors’ Physical Attractiveness, Age and Gender .................................................................................... 61 5.2.4 Female vs. Male Anchors ............................................................................................................................ 62 5.2.5 Targeted gender ........................................................................................................................................... 62 5.2.6 Youth Viewers’ Perception of a Sexualized Female News Anchor ............................................................. 62 5.2.7 Anchors appearance during presentation ................................................................................................. 63 5.2.8 Popularity attribution to sex appeal ......................................................................................................... 63 5.2.9 Employer vs. Public Expectations, and most affected gender ................................................................. 64 5.2.10 Employers, do they consider physical attractiveness when employing Anchors .................................. 64 5.2.11 Are viewers more interested in anchors physical attractiveness or knowledge and expertise .............. 64 5.2.12 Are Viewers distracted by presenter’s looks and do they lose concentration on content ..................... 64 5.3 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................... 65 5.4 Recommendations .......................................................................................................................................... 66 5.5 Need for further research ......................................................................................................................... 67 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................... 68 APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................................................... 77 APPENDIX A: ..................................................................................................................................................... 77 GADO ILLUSTRATION OF SEXUALIZED TELEVISION NEWS ANCHORS ............................................. 77 APPENDIX B: LETTER OF PERMISSION ....................................................................................................... 78 vii APPENDIX C: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE .................................................................................... 79 APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR NEWS ANCHORS AND FIELD REPORTERS .................. 80 APPENDIX E: CERTIFICATE OF FIELDWORK ............................................................................................. 81 APPENDIX F: CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONS ......................................................................................... 82 APPENDIX G: DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY FORM ........................................................................... 83 APPENDIX H: PLAGIARISM TEST .................................................................................................................. 84 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AMWIK - Association of Media Women in Kenya CCK - Communication Commission of Kenya GoK - Government of Kenya ICT - Information Communication Technology KBC - Kenya Broadcasting Station KTN - Kenya Television Network MOA - Media Owners Association NGM - Nation Media Group NTV - Nation Television RMS - Royal Media Services SGL - Standard Group Limited TV - Television ix ABSTRACT This study sought to find out how Kenyan youth perceive female news anchors of local television stations. The study utilised a qualitative approach underpinned by the objectification theory, which attempts to explain the tendency to equate women with their bodies.The population of the study was the youth from The University of Nairobi andnews anchors and field reporters from media houses. The sample was selected purposively and included thirty–two students, eight anchors and fifteen field reporters. The objectives of the study was to determine factors that influence the youth(attractiveness, gender, experience and knowledge) on perception of female news anchors and subsequently on the choice of the of television stations in Kenya. Data collection was conducted using focus group discussions consisting of thirty-two respondents from the University of Nairobi, as well as structured interviews among twenty-three media news presenters. Data was analysed thematically and presented in narrative format. The study found out that both male and female respondents agreed that attractiveness influenced perception of news anchors and choice of television stations, however what each gender considered attractive varied across gender. Female respondents were attracted to female news anchors with regards to being made aware on the latest trends in fashion while among male respondents’ beauty and physical attributes were more influential. The conclusion was that the perception of female news anchors and choice of television stations is influenced by attractiveness of the news anchors and this may play a role in competition among media stations. Despite scarcity of studies conducted locally on the influence of attractive female anchors, this study sensitizes media stations on the role played byattractive female anchors as opposed to experience and knowledge in popularizing television stations.This study recommends that policy makers as well national governments should identify loopholes in the present media guidelines so as to have standards in the code of dressing for the female anchors who are going at lengths to try all modes of popularizing their respective television stations, also the researcher recommends that media houses should give an equal playing field when it comes to employing attractive female newscasters as opposed to anchors with experience and knowledge. x