Why Silence? Reporting Internal Conflict in Ethiopian Newspapers

Ethiopia and its people have been experiencing internal conflicts that have caused many deaths, destruction of property, as well as other tragedies. The main causes of these internal conflicts were the country’s internal political instability and scarce resources, its historical paths, its geographical location, and the current religious fundamentalism in the Horn of Africa. In this research, these internal conflicts were classified into four groups: ethnic, religious, National Power \ Regional Predominance (NP\RP), and Other more minor incidents, based on their formation, intensity, and nature. This dissertation’s overarching purpose is to examine how these internal conflicts were reported in selected Ethiopian local newspapers, namely, Addis Admas, Reporter, The Daily Monitor, and The Ethiopian Herald in the period 2005-2013. The sampled newspapers were deliberately selected since they have been published for many years, are interested in dealing with critical issues and current affairs, and have relatively large circulations within the country. Similarly, the period (2005-2013) was intentionally chosen, since there were several conflicts during that particular period. With the purpose of meeting the main objectives of the dissertation, three main research questions were set. These are: To what extent do the selected newspapers cover the internal conflicts? How they do frame the stories, and what are the challenges they face during reporting on these cases. <br><br>The study answered these major questions by using content analysis, textual analysis, and interview data collection and analysis instruments. The content analysis was used to consider the extent of the internal conflict stories that appeared in the selected newspapers. The textual analysis was also employed so as to discover how the newspapers frame the internal conflicts. The interviews were added to the study to make sense of the reasons for which the selected newspapers reported in the way they did. The study was supported by agenda setting, framing, and symbolic annihilation theories. The former two theories were employed to develop the tools of the study, to identify the problems and to support the discussions. The latter, however, was merely used to discuss the data.<br><br>The study reveals that the internal conflict reporting in the selected Ethiopian newspapers was not only minimal in its number but also tended to silence cases, by ignoring some of the issues or facts of the events in their stories. The frame analysis also reflects that the texts try to hide some of the important elements of the events relating to the internal conflicts. Two frames, the annihilation frame and the attribution of responsibility, are identified in the study. The study also identifies that the Ethiopian local newspapers and their journalists in general, and in those selected newspapers, in particular, have been facing challenges, mainly in relation to ownership, fear, self-censorship, and pressures, which lead the reporters to compromise their professional integrity while reporting on cases of internal conflicts. By looking at the overall findings, the study also outlines the possible practical and theoretical implications in the Ethiopian media, and the media and conflict reporting, more generally.