[kictanet] Kenya: The Media is Not Innocent

Wed Feb 13 17:49:28 EAT 2008

hi all,
i like mungai's line of thought and i would like to
contribute an additional point.

for media houses to be transparent during elections
the media council should insist that each media house
state their position's publicly and declare the
parties/presidential candidates that they
support/endorse or if they intend to remain neutral
and independent.

this way the public will be making informed decision
when they tune/buy into a particular media.
Kanja 

--- Wainaina Mungai <wainaina at madeinkenya.org> wrote:

> Allow me to re-deflect the issue away from a
> specific media house 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, we must
> ensure that the media owners
> are not the 'final' editors.
> 
> 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.
> 
> 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.
> 
> 5. Kenya needs a Media Council "with teeth"...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 inwards and liberate the
> profession of journalism from the
> businessmen who own the media houses.
> 
> Wainaina
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 2/13/08, Wainaina Mungai
> <wainaina.mungai at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks Farida,
> >
> > We should not consider the presence of lessos in
> ballot boxes in Kajiado
> > or Kamukunji as evidence that your story was true.
> The pre-marking or
> > ballots and the lesso story are what would be
> considered mutually exclusive
> > events. The use of lessos as indicator of accuracy
> is at the very least
> > speculative. The fact that [it is possible] for an
> election to be stolen
> > does not mean that and election [will be] stolen.
> >
> > For KTN/Standard, the more direct issues as you
> vouch for the integrity of
> > your story would be:
> >
> > 1. Did you have [evidence] that the ballot boxes
> were stuffed with
> > pre-marked ballot papers? or were you speculating
> because someone came
> > forward as a "witness"?
> >
> >
> > 2. Do you believe that the killings of the
> Administration Police in Nyanza
> > were a direct result of the story you authorised?
> If so, what have you done
> > to at least console the families of the bereaved
> policemen?
> >
> >
> > 3. Did you have evidence that the Citi Hoppa buses
> that were carrying APs
> > to various parts of the country were meant to be
> used for a rigging mission?
> > and would you consider that your story was
> responsible for the burning of
> > Citi Hoppa buses?
> >
> >
> > Most voters know that ballot boxes are checked
> before the start of voting
> > and sealed infront of witnesses (agents, ECK
> officials etc).  It is
> > therefore unlikely that rigging would only take
> place is unless there is an
> > elaborate conspiracy involving [all]
> officials/agents at a polling station.
> >
> > Overall, the "vibes" KTN/Standard fraternity must
> contend with is not that
> > they are a model of "free press" but that it is
> biased against the
> > government or pro-ODM. The vibes stations such as
> Royal Media, Kameme and
> > KBC contend with is that they have given Kenyans
> reason to be seen as
> > pro-government/PNU. Those are the issues the press
> must address honestly and
> > not hide behind tags and clichés such as 'press
> freedom' and 'muzzling the
> > press'.
> >
> > NOTE: I work for a competing media house but that
> is not my motivation for
> > the issues i have raised on KTN/Standard. I
> respect journalists for the
> > effort that goes into writing even the simplest
> story. However, I am aware
> > that media houses and journalists have continued
> to allow their political
> > and other biases to influence the way they report
> stories.
> >
> > Wainaina
> >
> > On Feb 14, 2008 12:09 AM, Farida Karoney
> <fkaroney at ktnkenya.com> wrote:
> >
> > >  Wainaina
> > > I personally authorised the story you are
> blaming KTN for and can vouch
> > > for the integrity of that report  any time. If
> indeed you believe it is not
> > > possible to steal an election, how come that
> ballot boxes were found with
> > > lessos, and election materials in some polling
> stations?
> > >
> > > We cannot resolve explosive issues by hiding or
> supressing  the truth,
> > > and no one is trying to exonerate the press. Let
> us not pretend that we do
> > > not know why we are where we are, it is
> definately not because of KTN or the
> > > Standard Group.
> > >
> > > And it is certainly  not  an academic excercise,
> afterall most of us do
> > > not have another place to call home except
> Kenya. Believe me, any Country
> > > which calls itself democratic must be able to
> live with a free press, no
> > > matter how much of a nuisance it is.
> > >
> > > By all means industry players need mechanisms to
> promote responsible
> > > behaviour in the media but aggression against
> media houses in light of the
> > > current political crisis is in my opinion
> misplaced.
> > >
> > > regards
> > > Farida
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > >  *From:* Wainaina Mungai
> <wainaina.mungai at gmail.com>
> > > *To:* fkaroney at ktnkenya.com
> > > *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> > > *Sent:* Tuesday, February 12, 2008 9:53 PM
> > > *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Kenya: The Media is
> Not Innocent
> > >
> > > Like Dorcas, I am not surprised that the media
> has for the umpteenth
> > > time, failed to take responsibility for their
> role. Allow me to cut to the
> > > chase on how the media fueled the conflict.
> > >
> > > The issue of "self regulation" has come up as
> journalists remind us how
> > > effective they were during the election period.
> I would like to know what
> > > the Media Council would say about KTN/Standard
> Group having published and
> > > aired sensational stories of a very unlikely
> vote rigging two or so days
> > > before the election day. Editors must have known
> that it is no longer
> > > possible to stuff ballot boxes prior to the
> voting day and get away with it.
> > > That unsubstantiated story led to the death of
> five Administrative
> > > Policemen. How would KTN/Standard Group justify
> the deaths of the APs
> > > especially because the accuracy of that rigging
> story 
=== message truncated ===>
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