MEDIA COVERAGE OF MEDIA COVERAGE OF POPULAR MUSIC FEUDSPOPULAR MUSIC FEUDS

A Content Analysis of Media Coverage of Popular Music Feuds in Jamaica 1970-2010 by

Donna P. Hope and Livingston WhiteUniversity of the West Indies, Mona.

INTRODUCTIONDANCEHALL:

Birthed from Reggae. Originated in Jamaica. One of the most recognised musical genres worldwide. 21st century dubbed “dancehall generation” even though

dancehall begun in the 2oth century. Major source of analyses of dancehall culture originated

from print and electronic media.

INTRODUCTION Gully/Gaza conflict between two popular dancehall

artistes, David “Mavado” Brooks and Adidja “Vybz Kartel” Palmer in 2009 sparked interest in the Jamaican populace.

Kartel/Mavado infarction seemed radically differentiated from the usual artiste-artiste clash.

No major work has been done to capture the configuration of these artiste-artiste engagements in Jamaican music culture.

PURPOSE To provide critical insight on music industry trends to

allow society to understand dancehall feuds.

To provide a point of reference for future recurrences of dancehall feuds.

To offer a historical review of dancehall feuds by content analyzing the Jamaican media’s coverage during the period of 1970-2010.

To address reactions to dancehall’s feuds, especially, the most recent Gully/Gaza phenomenon.

LITERATURE REVIEWJamaican Popular Music Clashes/Feuds The clash motif resonates throughout in dancehall because of the role of high competition and its resultant benefits to the champion.

The Gaza/Gully Clash Of 2007 And BeyondBarnett, Paul, Spence, Stanley-Niaah presented research at the IRC 2010 as an initial attempt to provide academic attention.McCarthy pilot study 2011- coverage of Kartel/Mavado feud in Jamaica’s mainstream.

THEORETIC FRAMEWORK Agenda setting function of the media Who sets the public agenda versus who sets

the media agenda? First level agenda setting – issue salience –

what issues to think about? Second level agenda setting – attribute

salience – how to think about issues?

METHODOLOGY Content Analysis – systematic objective and

quantitative descriptions of media content.

Manifest/Latent Content (Pattern and Projective)

Variables

Inter-Coder Reliability

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Based on work completed to date, approx. 700 newspaper articles about dancehall feuds located after a 3-month archive research.

Work to be completed : content analysis of television content and interviews with journalists.

Frequency of The Coverage X Newspaper

Newspaper Number of Stories Percentage

Chat 32 4.8%

Gleaner 47 7.2%

Herald 13 2.0%

Observer 63 9.6%

Star 427 65.2%

X-News 73 11.2%

Total 655 100%

Frequency of The Coverage X day of week

Day of Week Number of Stories Percentage

Monday 64 12.0%

Tuesday 102 19.2%

Wednesday 73 13.7%

Thursday 74 13.9%

Friday 150 28.2%

Saturday 45 8.5%

Sunday 24 4.5%

Total 532 100%

Frequency of The Coverage x year

Year Number of Stories Percentage1995 10 1.7%1996 16 2.7%1997 29 4.8%1998 20 3.3%1999 8 1.3%2000 29 4.8%2001 29 4.8%2002 15 2.5%2003 24 4.0%2004 28 4.6%2005 16 2.7%2006 56 9.3%2007 46 7.6%2008 49 8.1%2009 117 19.4%2010 60 9.9%Total 604 100%

The characteristics of the headlines

Headline Position 

65%

 

 

72%

 

68%

 

49%

 

35%

 

9%

 

5%

 

 

6%

 

5%

 

5%

 

3%

 

2%

 

2%

 

2%

 

2%

 

1%

 

1%

 

1%

 

Type of articleType of Article Frequency PercentageOpinion 88 12.7%

News 428 61.8%

Feature 135 19.5%

Editorial 10 1.5%

Letter to Editor 21 3.0%

Other 10 1.5%

Total 692 100%

Byline Type Type Frequency Percentage

None 201 32%

Contributed 115 18.3%

Byline 312 49.7%

Total 628 100%

Story appears to be sensationalized

Sensationalized Frequency Percentage

Yes 161 27.7%

No 341 58.7%

Unsure 79 13.6%

Total 581 100%

Tone of storiesTone Frequency Percentage

Positive 78 13.5%

Negative 101 17.5%

Both negative & positive

85 14.7%

Neutral 313 54.2%

Total 577 100%

THE VISUAL ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE

COVERAGEStories including a visual element

Story includes picture(s)

Frequency Percentage

Yes 572 81.8%

No 127 18.2%

Total 699 100.0%

THE VISUAL ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE

COVERAGEPicture: single or montage?

Picture Frequency Percent

Single 518 94%

Montage 34 6%

Total 553 100%

THE VISUAL ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE

COVERAGEPhoto Attribution

Attribution Frequency PercentContributed 37 12.5%

On file 175 58.9%

Taken by an identified photographer

85 28.6%

Total 297 100%

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Future research in this on-going study will involve interviews with key informants from the media industries.

Through in-depth quantitative and qualitative analysis, the research should provide the Jamaican society with a critical understanding of the nature of dancehall feuds and their media coverage.