Creating sensationalism on gender violence stories in Kenya in the name of “husband battering”

Sensationalism is an approach to content dealing mainly with soft news and appeals to human interest stories mostly exposing wrong doings and appealing for Justice. Sensationalism has received increased attention in the media houses. This has caused numerous debates explaining why sensationalism is on the increase and its possible effects to the public. Publications are under more pressure than ever to increase their circulation in order to attract profits. A publication that has few readers will not stay in business for long. Hence media houses are adopting sensational reporting, for example, the stories on the mainstream Newspapers (Nation and Standard) between February 2012 and April 2012 on husband battering in Nyeri County, Kenya. This study was guided by the Agenda setting theory and Critical Discourse Analysis Theory. This research adopted a qualitative approach, specifically an Ex-post facto research design with a prospective orientation. Data was obtained from primary sources through interviews and content Analysis. The study population was all texts covering husband battering in Nyeri County and all Male and Female respondents chosen to represent readers of Daily Nation and the Standard Newspapers. The study identified features of sensationalism on the stories on husband battering in Nyeri County. The findings of this study indicated that sensationalism is on the increase and news must be packaged in a manner that attracts the readers.