Communicating Strategically about What? Europe and China in the Kenyan Media

European actors are increasingly relying on strategic communication tools in their external relations, especially in key partner countries like Kenya. Based on a large-scale media screening and interviews with media experts, this paper examines which issues related to the EU/Europe and China have received the most media coverage in Kenya over the past decade (2013–2023). The paper finds, among other things, that European actors involved in communication efforts increasingly need to communicate about the EU’s role in global affairs and the impact of European decisions, products, and standards on African markets, without resorting to a “West versus China” framing. The research data here includes the embeddings for the articles as well as scripts to understand the topic modelling and the process. For legal reasons (copyrighted data) we cannot share the original research data. European actors are increasingly relying on strategic communication tools in their external relations, especially in key partner countries like Kenya. Based on a large-scale media screening and interviews with media experts, this paper examines which issues related to the EU/Europe and China have received the most media coverage in Kenya over the past decade (2013–2023). The paper finds, among other things, that European actors involved in communication efforts increasingly need to communicate about the EU’s role in global affairs and the impact of European decisions, products, and standards on African markets, without resorting to a “West versus China” framing. The research data here includes the embeddings for the articles as well as scripts to understand the topic modelling and the process. For legal reasons (copyrighted data) we cannot share the original research data.