1. MEDIA COVERAGE OFMEDIA 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 White
University of the West Indies, Mona.

2. INTRODUCTION
DANCEHALL:
 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. LITERATURE REVIEW
Jamaican 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 Beyond
Barnett, 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.

6. 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?

7. METHODOLOGY
 Content Analysis – systematic objective and
quantitative descriptions of media content.
 Manifest/Latent Content (Pattern and Projective)
 Variables
 Inter-Coder Reliability

8. 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.

9. 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%

10. 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%

11. Frequency of The Coverage
x year
Year Number of Stories Percentage
1995 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%

12. 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%

13. Type of article
Type of Article Frequency Percentage
Opinion 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%

14. Byline Type
Type Frequency Percentage
None 201 32%
Contributed 115 18.3%
Byline 312 49.7%
Total 628 100%

15. Story appears to be
sensationalized
Sensationalized Frequency Percentage
Yes 161 27.7%
No 341 58.7%
Unsure 79 13.6%
Total 581 100%

16. Tone of stories
Tone Frequency Percentage
Positive 78 13.5%
Negative 101 17.5%
Both negative &
positive
85 14.7%
Neutral 313 54.2%
Total 577 100%

17. THE VISUAL ELEMENTS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE COVERAGE
Stories including a visual element
Story includes
picture(s)
Frequency Percentage
Yes 572 81.8%
No 127 18.2%
Total 699 100.0%

18. THE VISUAL ELEMENTS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE COVERAGE
Picture: single or montage?
Picture Frequency Percent
Single 518 94%
Montage 34 6%
Total 553 100%

19. THE VISUAL ELEMENTS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE COVERAGE
Photo Attribution
Attribution Frequency Percent
Contributed 37 12.5%
On file 175 58.9%
Taken by an identified
photographer
85 28.6%
Total 297 100%

20. 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.