Dr. Auma Okwany
Institute of Social Studies (ISS)
The Netherlands .
E-Mail: okwany@iss.nl
Abstract
How do the media depict urban poor marginalized children? This paper examines media bias in the depictions of urban poor girls in Kenya . My main argument in the paper is that through the use of selective and subjective coverage, the media does not tell the whole story of the urban poor girl child. I argue that the media promote their sales by using images of the girls to sensationalize their plight. Northern and even Southern newspapers and electronic media often carry pictures of child victims of abuse (child brides, child mothers and victims of female genital cutting) but the stories are told from an adult perspective or told in ways that does not allow for articulation of children's voices. A picture they say is worth a thousand words but many poor children are shown primarily as problems to be solved, often depicted as victims in need of rescue and rehabilitation. Therefore, these photographs fail to capture the full story particularly the issues that a girl growing up in a slum in Kenya has to confront on a daily basis.
I discuss these social and cultural concerns within the broad sphere of gender and feminist discourse, where female voices are often muted. I point out weaknesses of photography as a vehicle for expressing the plight of these girls. I will show that pictures can be sites of control and manipulation loaded with certain stereotypes that perpetuate negative attitudes, violence and domination against women. I posit that media bias can lead to inappropriate official responses and in some cases stagnation or the perpetuation of symbolic and institutional bias. Additionally it plays a significant role in shaping and fuelling negative public perception of social issues. I intend to expand on past works by exploring not only the pictures but also the language and content of captions or accompanying articles to examine the accuracy with which the media depicts the underlying social issues and causal factors as well as the consequences of the plight of urban poor girls in Kenya .