Discursive Representations of ‘Development Aid’ in the British and Ethiopian Print Media

This study was aimed at investigating how ‘development aid’ is represented in British and Ethiopian newspapers. To this end, the Daily Mail, the Times, the Guardian, the Reporter, Addis Fortune and Addis Standard newspapers were selected as a case from the British and Ethiopian print media. The most relevant theoretical framework to the topic, the discourse theory has been employed as a theoretical framework. Qualitative data gathering techniques of case study and review of documents were employed to undertake the study. Using a purposive sampling technique, 18 newspaper articles were selected for analysis. The data set of news articles (n = 6) was analyzed using Carvalho’s approach for analyzing media texts. The study found that ‘development aid’ has been represented in numerous ways in the print media. The British print media represents ‘development aid’ as an unnecessary waste of money with no tangible benefits for Britain. In contrast, the Ethiopian print media represents ‘development aid’ as a means to solve the problems of ‘poor’ countries. The study also found that newspapers not only provide a platform for these representations but also contribute to shaping public understanding on the issue. The study has revealed that there is a partnership between newspapers and powerful actors such as politicians and media proprietors that resulted in influence on how the print media represents development issues. The study revealed that the views of politicians, media figures, and other powerful social actors have largely been (re) presented in the print media. The study has concluded that reporting of the investigated newspapers was influenced by official sources, media proprietors’ interest, and self-censorship. This paper discusses the representational dynamics of these findings and argues that the print media representations appear to detach donor country citizens from ‘development’, representing it as a problem of ‘poor countries’