Audiences’ interpretation of editorial cartoons and cartoonist's intentions in the run-up to the 2013 general election in Kenya

This study sought to establish how editorial cartoons were interpreted ahead of the 2013 General Elections with regard to cartoonist intentions. The study was guided by the Social Action Theory of mass media effects with an objective of establishing the intentions of the cartoonist in constructing editorial cartoons. The data consisted of editorial cartoon strips. Six cartoon strips were sampled from the Daily Nation newspaper and the Standard newspaper in Kenya. In-depth Interviews were used to gain insight on the intentions of the cartoonists who constructed the cartoons while questionnaires were used to gather data from the sampled residents of Nakuru municipality. The study found out that an overwhelming number of people view cartoons and to a large extent they are able to interpret the cartoons in line with the cartoonist's intentions. However, there are instances, where the audience interpretation is not in line with cartoonist's intentions and this could present a conflict in the society. It was also established that the messages being passed by the cartoonists are subjective, largely representing the cartoonist's opinion or that of the media house.