The African and Kenyan media as the political public sphere

The purpose of this paper is an attempt at demonstrating the importance of the application of the concept of the public sphere in the critical appreciation of the role of the mass media in the democratization process of African countries in general and of Kenya in particular. Starting from a discussion of normative media theories, the article reviews media politics in Africa. Against this backdrop, an assessment is made of Kenya's performance, pointing towards a further discussion of the applicability of general theoretical frameworks in the understanding of African development progressions.