[kictanet] Kenya: The Media is Not Innocent

Wed Feb 13 14:55:06 EAT 2008

Allow me to re-deflect the issue away from a specific media house I
singled-out and state the following as a way forward:

1. Journalists must work with all Kenyans to make the press free from undue
influence from Media Owners. Press Freedom will not be achieved until we
liberate the journalists from the editorial biases of the media owners.

2. Editors must be held responsible when media houses publish/broadcast in
an unethical manner. For this to hold true, we must ensure that the media
owners are not the "final" editors. Owning a media house should not be a
licence to abuse the privilege.

3. Journalists/reporters have developed a culture of accepting inducements
in order to edit stories as requested. This must be treated as a crime due
to the privileges society accords the press. We should also lobby for media
owners to pay journalists well.

4. Media houses must employ and retrain qualified and ethical staff. There
must be standards that ensure professionalism. Engineers, Doctors and others
submit to standards that the media continues to dodge.  Media owners must be
required to report how they have invested in professional growth of their
employees.

5. Kenya needs a Media Council "with teeth"...one that will be a watchdog
that acts in the interest of the public...not as a affiliate lobby for Media
Owners.

The verdict should be a clear message to all of us in the media circles.
It's time to look inward and implement radical reforms in the way Media in
Kenya serves wananchi.

Wainaina

On Feb 13, 2008 2:23 PM, Dorcas Muthoni <dmuthoni at gmail.com> wrote:

> Colleague,
>
> Just like we have been trying to correct others, let the media be
> corrected where they are wrong.
>
> While we focus on where the media went wrong. This does not in any way say
> that others were not party to the problem.
>
> I look forward to seeing the said workshop report.
>
> On Feb 13, 2008 10:31 AM, Alex Gakuru <alex.gakuru at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > Dorcas you are right but I also agree with Kanja's
> > call that we be more thorough on this issue.
> > Otherwise, a superficial framing of this subject risks
> > just burying the causes deeper as we re-assume our
> > "traditional" respective points of views.
> >
> > I attended the meeting from where this thread was
> > reported. And, incidentally "summary impressions"
> > created by the mass media of quite detailed
> > deliberations was a subject with well researched
> > "backgrounders" urged. I hope the organisers could
> > share the entire workshop report when its ready.
> >
> > To the list perhaps also add;
> >
> > - What role did various opinion pollsters play? Did
> > they pour petrol all over Kenya then left? Motives...
> >
> > - What about new media? (email, attachments, internet,
> > blogs, sms...)
> >
> > - What mechanisms exist that integrate info-consumers
> > opinions? i.e. gauge media houses "one-wayness" vs.
> > audience/citizens participation in shaping unfolding
> > political subjects
> >
> > - Post crisis; what did various media not/do?
> > - What did we FAIL to do?-individually and
> > collectively
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Alex
> >
> > --- Kanja Waruru <kanjawaruru at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > > Please allow me to comment on this matter and
> > > apologize for dragging you back to an issue that had
> > > been posted and quickly dismissed.
> > >
> > > The media did not operate in isolation during and
> > > after the elections. And before we point fingers at
> > > the media and blame it for everything under the sun,
> > > perhaps we should first try to understand who the
> > > real
> > > players were in the elections and the general
> > > genesis
> > > of the crises. And in doing so we may need to ask
> > > ourselves these questions.
> > >
> > > What role did politicians play in this crises?
> > > What about the churches and mosques?
> > > What about the security forces?
> > > What about the Electoral Commission?
> > > And finally what role did the media play?
> > >
> > > My view is that we need to have a task force as
> > > suggested by the minister of information probably
> > > under the media council of Kenya to audit all these
> > > players, only then can we truly say who was innocent
> > > and who was guilty.
> > >
> > > But i would also like to bring in another issue.
> > > During the elections the media was exercising the
> > > self
> > > regulation rule and a lot of the stories that were
> > > filed during this period were censored because they
> > > were hate speeches and issues not fit for printing
> > > but
> > > we thought it would all die out after the elections
> > > and things would also get back to normal.
> > >
> > > Now on hindsight we ask ourselves should we have
> > > censored those stories or should we have reported
> > > them
> > > as presented?
> > >
> > > i will be happy to hear your views the above.
> > > cheers.
> > > Kanja
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- alice <alice at apc.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=41049
> > > >
> > > > KENYA:
> > > > The Media Is Not Innocent
> > > > Kwamboka Oyaro
> > > >
> > > > *NAIROBI, Feb 2 (IPS) - The media was partly
> > > blamed
> > > > for the Rwandan
> > > > genocide 14 years ago which left nearly one
> > > million
> > > > people dead in 100
> > > > days. "Kill the Inkotanyi [cockroaches]!" a local
> > > > radio station urged
> > > > its listeners at the time. *
> > > >
> > > > "30 Days in Words and Pictures: Media Response in
> > > > Kenya During the
> > > > Election Crisis" -- a workshop organised here last
> > > > week by
> > > > California-based media advocacy group Internews --
> > > > enabled media
> > > > professionals to conduct a "self-audit" of the
> > > role
> > > > local media played
> > > > in the post-election violence. The audit revealed
> > > > that media --
> > > > especially vernacular radio stations -- might be
> > > > partly to blame for the
> > > > on-going violence sparked off by the announcement
> > > of
> > > > Mwai Kibaki as
> > > > winner of the Dec. 27 elections.
> > > >
> > > > The violence has reportedly claimed over 1,000
> > > lives
> > > > and displaced some
> > > > 250,000 people since the December election.
> > > >
> > > > David Ochami, a commissioner with the Media
> > > Council
> > > > of Kenya, told IPS
> > > > that long before the elections were held,
> > > vernacular
> > > > radio stations had
> > > > ignited ethnic consciousness among the listeners
> > > > "making them support
> > > > leaders from their own tribe and harbour bad
> > > > feelings about people from
> > > > other communities."
> > > >
> > > > "The ethnic hate our radio station was propagating
> > > > about those from
> > > > outside the community was unbelievable. I can't
> > > > repeat any of those
> > > > expressions at this forum," said a journalist with
> > > a
> > > > vernacular radio
> > > > station. "The unfortunate thing is we let these
> > > > callers speak vile and
> > > > laughed about it."
> > > >
> > > > "We took sides in the issue and we became
> > > > subjective, forgetting our
> > > > professional tenet of objectivity and neutrality.
> > > In
> > > > fact, this
> > > > polarization was so bad in the newsrooms that some
> > > > broadcast journalists
> > > > refused to cover or read news that wasn't
> > > favourable
> > > > to the candidate or
> > > > party they supported," said a journalist.
> > > >
> > > > In fact, leading up to the elections the local
> > > media
> > > > conveyed
> > > > inflammatory campaign messages as advertisers'
> > > > announcements.
> > > >
> > > > "Both print and broadcast media put money ahead of
> > > > responsibility by
> > > > accepting and conveying paid-for hate material,"
> > > > Mildred Baraza, a
> > > > Nairobi- based journalist told IPS. "This could
> > > have
> > > > incited the
> > > > audience, and when they got a chance they avenged
> > > as
> > > > a result of the
> > > > pre-election messages," she said.
> > > >
> > > > Redemtor Atieno, another Nairobi-based journalist
> > > > who also helped to
> > > > organise the workshop, is confident that the
> > > media's
> > > > biased reporting
> > > > contributed to the mayhem in the country.
> > > >
> > > > "Professionalism was thrown to the dogs as tribe
> > > and
> > > > partisanship
> > > > carried the day. We failed our audience by
> > > conveying
> > > > interests of
> > > > politicians without questioning the impact of our
> > > > stories," Atieno told
> > > > IPS.
> > > >
> > > > Participants at the workshop also blamed media
> > > > owners for playing a
> > > > major role in encouraging the violence. "They had
> > > > vested interests in
> > > > either camp of the political divide," a reporter
> > > > with Kenya Broadcasting
> > > > Corporation (KBC) said, adding that he and his
> > > > colleagues wanted to tell
> > > > the real story but they couldn't because the
> > > stories
> > > > could portray the
> > > > government in a bad light.
> > > >
> > > > "We had beautiful clips and stories from the
> > > field,
> > > > but we went back to
> > > > the newsroom knowing that the story would never be
> > > > used," he said.
> > > >
> > > > Even privately owned media owners who backed
> > > > different political parties
> > > > had a hand in the stories that were carried. If it
> > > > was about the party
> > > > they supported, they exaggerated the story and
> > > > generally depicted the
> > > > opponents in negative ways.
> > > >
> > > > "The media organizations refrained from telling
> > > the
> > > > world the truth
> > > > about what was happening," Ochami told IPS. "There
> > > > has been a tendency
> > > > of portraying the Kenyan crisis as a problem
> > > between
> > > > two ethnic groups
> > > > -- where one [Kibaki's Kikuyu] is victimized by
> > > > another [opposition
> > > > leader Raila Odinga's Luo]. Any other story on the
> > > > contrary is
> > > > downplayed or ignored," Ochami explained.
> > >
> > === message truncated ===
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >  ____________________________________________________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> Muthoni
>
> My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/
> --------------------------------------------
> Mahatma Gandhi once said:-
>
> First they ignore you,
> Then they laugh at you,
> Then they fight you,
> AND THEN YOU WIN!!!
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