Framing Strategies in Raila Odinga and William Ruto’s 2022 Campaign Speeches’ Multimodal Message Frames

Abstract

Abstract

This study examined the framing strategies used to construct message frames in the 2022 presidential campaign speeches of Raila Odinga and William Ruto. It was guided by Gamson Modigliani's Framing Theory. The population of this study was the 2022 campaign speeches of Raila Odinga and William Ruto that were broadcast by Citizen Television, NTV, or KTN between January 2021 and 9th August 2022. The study purposively selected 3 televised campaign speeches for each presidential candidate from January to August 9, 2022. In preparation for data analysis, coding was carried out on the literature review: Substantive positive frames, Substantive offensive frames (positive), Negative frames, defensive frames (type of negative frames), and Process frames (personality frames). After coding, the analysis drew on relevant literature on framing strategies, informed by Gamson and Modigliani's Framing Theory. The study found that both Raila Odinga and William Ruto employed a wide variety of framing strategies in constructing their political campaign message frames. It also concludes that these presidential candidates did not always use equal numbers and types of political framing strategies across all campaigns held in various parts of the country. This study recommends a comparative study to determine which substantive and process frames were used more during Kenya’s 2022 general elections. The study is significant because it will help research scholars, politicians, and political communication professionals better understand the framing strategies behind political message framing in African presidential campaign speeches.