The discursive construction of Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Day by the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC)

Master's Thesis from the year 2016 in the subject Communications - Media and Politics, Politic Communications, grade: Very Good, Addis Ababa University (Addis Ababa University), course: Communication-Media/Journalism, language: English, abstract: The principal aim of this study was analyzing the discursive construction of nations, nationalities and peoples' day commemoration by the Ethiopian broadcasting corporation (EBC). Discourse theory, framing theory, and political economy of mass media were used as theoretical frame works to make sense of the research questions.The study employed critical discourse analysis with framing as a strategy to analyze the three documentary texts of the Ethiopian broadcasting corporation (EBC). The findings showed that EBC employed attribution of responsibility frame to discursively construct nations, nationalities and peoples' day commemoration. In this regard, EBC discursively constructed nations, nationalities and peoples' day as a forum of displaying their cultures and mobilizing them for development. EBC portrayed the past Ethiopian regimes as abusers of human and democratic rights of nations, nationalities and peoples. In contrast, the current regime was portrayed as democratic that ensured equality of religions, equality of languages and equality of all kinds of identities of the Ethiopian peoples. The study also revealed that some important narratives about nations, nationalities and peoples were marginalized in EBC's commemorative discourse. The findings of the study concluded that EBC's portray of the past regimes and the current system is a misrepresentation