Abstract:
Has the Twitter hashtag that trends on the Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) space become so powerful, that it determines the television news content that Kenyans watch at 9pm? The purpose of this study was to explore the intermedia influence between the internet via social media and traditional news media (Television prime time news). Within theoretical framework of agenda setting, this study examined the correlation of the Twitter hashtag #LipaKamaTender (Kiswahili for: Pay like a tender) on television news coverage of the Kenya National Doctors strike that started on December 5th 2016 and ended on March 5th 2017; at the first level (similarities of themes) and second level (informational vs opinion) of agenda setting through content analysis of Citizen television prime time news and the content on the #LipaKamaTender hashtag. Results indicated that (a) the #LipaKamaTender hashtag was actively used by #KOT (Kenyans on Twitter) during the height and the entire course of the doctors' strike between December 2016 and March 2017. The hashtag trended (ranked) as the top three and its main influences were the striking doctors led by their union‘s official Twitter handle @kmpdu and (b) that the Citizen News at 9pm during the study period focused on themes of strike, health and government response in the five types of coverage bulletins spread over the week. Lastly, (c)both media platforms place an equal amount of salience on matters strike (45.7% ranked first issue for mentions on Twitter and 29.3% for Citizen TV news), health (34% for Twitter and 23.3% for TV) and government response (9.7% for Twitter and 21.6% TV). The study yielded a very strong correlation (Spearman‘s rho) of (.90) with 0.04 significance between the #LipaKamaTender agenda and the Citizen TV prime time news media agenda confirming first level intermedia agenda setting. (d)Results did not confirm second level agenda setting as tweeps preferred opinions (28.8%) and emotion-related remarks (26.9%) while stories covered by Citizen TV during prime time focused on content that was informational (68.4%). The study concluded that media agenda gradually grows to take the shape of the social media agenda as salience increases on social media. At 1st level agenda setting, this study contributes to knowledge in the area of intermedia agenda setting studies and Twitter hashtags studies in an African context. The study was however limited by the use of hashtags as hashtags extend beyond Twitter to other social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook where they can also influence Television news trends. The study was also not able to locate the geographical location of the people who tweeted using the hashtag LipakamaTender. Moreover, further studies should examine the time lag aspect of agenda setting between the two mediums. Keywords: Intermedia, Agenda setting, Hashtag, content analysis, Citizen TV, National Doctors Strike
