Journalism Across the Disaster Cycle: How the Daily Nation Reported Kenya’s 2020–2023 Drought

This study examined how the Daily Nation reported the 2020–2023 drought in Kenya across the preparedness, response and recovery phases. Effective disaster communication requires journalism to address the changing information needs associated with each phase of the disaster management cycle. However, drought, as a slow-onset disaster, presents particular challenges because its development is gradual and its impacts cumulative, potentially limiting media attention before it escalates into a crisis. The study employed mixed-methods content analysis of 137 drought-related articles published between 1 June 2020 and 31 May 2023. Articles were identified through keyword searches of the newspaper’s digital archive, screened for relevance and coded using a structured instrument. Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages and cross-tabulations, complemented by qualitative interpretation of textual and visual content. The analysis examined article type, sourcing, framing, tone, visual salience, depth and the extent to which reporting addressed phase-specific communication needs. Guided by disaster communication, agenda-setting and framing theories, the findings revealed uneven coverage across the disaster cycle, with response accounting for 72 articles (52.6%), preparedness 31 (22.6%) and recovery 34 (24.8%). Preparedness coverage was dominated by shorter opinion pieces, response by news articles and recovery by feature storytelling. The findings demonstrate that journalistic approaches varied across the drought cycle, reflecting the changing communication needs of each phase. The study recommends greater investment in preparedness reporting and more agency-oriented, action-focused information during response.