A Critical analysis of the Front page stories of Ethiopian newspapers

The front page is the prime page to place the prioritized information. It is also a way of attracting readers. In cognizance of the importance of studying this prized page and the need for study on front-page issue coverage since the researcher found no prior study conducted on the same topic on the Ethiopian newspapers, this study was conducted on three Ethiopian newspapers: Addis Zemen, The Reporter, and Addis Admass. The objective of the study was to assess the front-page issue coverage; identify newsmakers and indicate news values employed on the front page of the sample newspapers from 10 December to 8 March 2021. To achieve these objectives, the researcher incorporated quantitative content analysis with interviews with the editors of the newspapers. By using multistage sampling, the study newspapers and the study period were decided. The researcher analyzed 122 stories and 107 news pictures that appeared on the front page of 42 newspaper editions. The study by incorporating the data from the content analysis and the interviews, found that the newspapers covered crucial occasional issues, however, in terms of actors/newsmakers, government officials dominate the front page, followed by the experts and professionals,Therefore, in this case, the sample newspapers failed to entertain multiple voices. Regarding the news values, timeliness was used chiefly in all three newspapers, followed by conflict, impact, and relevance. The researcher concluded the issues that were perceived important by the sample newspapers were the government, administration and politics; social and legal issues, and business, and finance issues