[kictanet] 3 Media houses protest Majanja's Digital Migration Ruling

[Dennis Kioko]

The interesting issue here is that in 2013, an "independent" Kenya media is
totally unable to accurately report on its own issues. Yes, there may be
issues such as the prominence of a group of Chinese Investors in setting up
Signet, PAG and StarTimes, and as Christopher has pointed out, the
government has tried to meet broadcasters halfway. All these received
minimal coverage, with the media believing ignoring the whole issue would
make it go away.

Rather than factual reporting and having a sense of direction, the media,
of all institutions, has opted for lies, court cases and childish boycotts.

It is no wonder that majority of the population barley understands digital
migration and the circus behind it. Clearly, the issue here is not the
migration.

This is the same media that we expect to counter balance the government and
to be the societal watchman.

It is also of no surprise that the government is able to pass harmful laws
and seems to get away with anything. The president even feels comfortable
that he does not read newspapers.

Let us all hope that digital migration will actually result in actual media
houses and save the industry from such shame and clulessness.

On Thursday, 26 December 2013, Ali Hussein wrote:

> @Wambua
>
> Thanks for that information. If that is the case then the media houses are
> definitely not acting in good faith. I suspect though that there may be an
> issue of who controls what..which in my opinion is shortsighted. I stand
> corrected in my assertions then.
>
> @ICT Researcher, what in your view is my stand? I'm simply making my
> personal assertions on this issue. We can of course agree to disagree.
>
> Ali Hussein
>
> +254 0770 906375 / 0713 601113
>
> "I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction. The world will
> have a generation of idiots".  ~ Albert Einstein
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Dec 26, 2013, at 1:03 PM, "Wambua, Christopher" <Wambua at cck.go.ke>
> wrote:
>
>  Ali,
>
>  I know that the government has on a number of occasions offered to
> offload some shares in Signet to interested media houses.
>
>  Instead of taking up the offer, the media houses have instead persisted
> in their clamour to be issued with the third signal distribution licence.
>
>  Is this insistence in the interest of optimal use of frequency spectrum
> resources?
>
> Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.
>    *From: *Ali Hussein
> *Sent: *Thursday, 26 December 2013 12:29 PM
> *To: *ICT Researcher
> *Cc: *Consumer and Public Affairs; kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> *Subject: *Re: [kictanet] 3 Media houses protest Majanja's Digital
> Migration Ruling
>
>  @ Ohaga, ICT Researcher
>
>  Lest we forget
>
>  1.
> http://www.cio.co.ke/news/main-stories/cck-caught-in-surprise-cabinet-secretary-directive-to-issue-3rd-digital-tv-signal-licence#
>
>  2.
> http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/KBC-set-for-split-as-State-registers-Signet-subsidiary--/-/539550/1384608/-/m5c6khz/-/index.html
>
>  The issue guys isn't whether the media houses are right or wrong.
> Digital Migration is a foregone conclusion. The issues is how we make
> policy in this country on ICT issues. And this is not a reference to the
> current administration. This is a blanket discussion on the last 15 years
> to date.
>
>  Admittedly good things have happened and that is why this country has
> progressed to where we are. There is a lot to celebrate but there is also a
> lot to be done.
>
>  The digital migration ought from the onset (and I say this with a
> straight face and no shame at all) to have been skewed towards local media
> houses as a matter of course. In fact the first CIO article I mentioned
> above (see the link) seemed to have alluded to the fact that the ministry
> had realized its error and decided to award a 3rd digital license to local
> media houses...then poof! Something happened again and the decision was
> rescinded.
>
>  Ohaga, forgive me for being underwhelmed by the Government's awarding a
> digital platform license to KBC. No one on this list can deny the fact that
> KBC is a shadow of itself (if ever it was a whole being). Even its mandate
> of being the Government's mouthpiece is not being fulfilled. So why waste
> such a strategically important asset to it?
>
>  The second article in the business daily alludes to the fact that the AG
> registered Signet as a separate entity from KBC. That is as it should be. I
> wonder where that process is at...in fact I will be daring enough to say
> that Signet
>
>

-- 
with Regards:

blog.denniskioko.com <http://www.denniskioko.com/>
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