Abstract:
1. 1. Introduction
From May 1 to May 31, 2012, the Media Council of Kenya monitored the coverage
of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) by Kenyan daily newspapers in order
to assess the quality of reporting on this sensitive issue. All articles in the Daily Nation,
The Standard, The Star and The People which mentioned “Mombasa Republican
Council” or “MRC” were analyzed.
The MRC is a group in Kenya´s coast province, which is demanding for secession
and mobilizing coastal people to boycott the upcoming general elections. According
to police reports the group is recruiting children and engaging in military training1
.
Formed in the 1990s, the MRC was dormant until 2008, when it called for the establishment
of an independent state. Due to these secessionist demands, the government
declared it illegal in 2010, along with 33 other “organised criminal groups”. The
MRC has since challenged the ban in court.
1.2. Findings
1.2.1. Scope
The Mombasa Republican Council was prominently featured in May 2012. A total
of 161 articles were monitored, of which two thirds were news reports and one third
opinion pieces. 45 articles were published in the Daily Nation, 42 in The Star, 38 in
The People and 36 in The Standard. The majority of the articles were published under
“National News”. The Daily Nation ran twice as many opinion pieces as The Standard
and The Star (
