[kictanet] how positive can foreign media be?

Brian Munyao Longwe blongwe at gmail.com
Mon Mar 11 23:47:38 EAT 2013


Dear All,

First and foremost let me go on record here (I have already done so
elsewhere) and congratulate/thank the local media for their part in
ensuring a peaceful election.

As for the International media - I think that the tirade against them by
Kenyans is an indictment against the (foreign) fourth estate.

The local media already went through their indictment in 2008 - and this
time round voluntarily opted to adhere to a code of conduct and certain
protocols.

One example was not airing live any press statements by political parties
or aspirants and subjecting any such footage to strict vetting according to
the standards voluntarily adopted. The fact that international media aired
many of these press statements where their local counterparts did not is
(sufficient?) grounds for the sharp criticism launched against (all of)
them by Kenyans.

Andrea - by now you should know that being a member of the fourth estate
means that you are right in there with the good, the bad and the ugly and
it is only one measuring stick that is used for all of you, so if enough of
you fall short - that is the measure that will be used for all. Pole sana
for your feeling under attack, this is exactly how local media who did not
propagate hate speech in 2007/2008 felt.

Nevertheless, it is clear that the point that Kenyans made has sunk home
because there has been a clear change in the tone and language of pieces
coming from the foreign media.

Power to the people!

Best regards,

Brian

On Mon, Mar 11, 2013 at 10:47 PM, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:

> Andrea
>
> I know it may not be a popular thing to say right now but I agree with you
> entirely. Let's not throw the baby with the bath water.
>
> I personally was very disappointed with the lack of creativity and use of
> data to extrapolate, analyze and give intelligent synopsis of what was
> happening. I felt let down by the fact that the information was there but
> none of the mainstream local media used it to give us more than what the
> IEBC was giving us on their screen. I found it particularly dumbfounding
> when we started counting the votes again when we had reached almost
> 4million votes. That was an opportunity for a good narrative that Kenyans
> needed to hear. But no..we focused so much on the message of peace (not
> that I am against peace) that we forgot that the whole process had to be so
> much above board as to render anyone who questioned the results seem like a
> joke. Unfortunately we lost that opportunity.
>
> Now we have another opportunity to stress test our new constitution and
> institutions. This may be a silver lining that God has given us so let
> those who are dissatisfied with the results have their day in court without
> them being vilified as being unpatriotic.
>
> My pesa nane..
>
> Ali Hussein
>
> +254 773/713 601113
>
> "The future belongs to him who knows how to wait." - Russian Proverb
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Mar 11, 2013, at 9:52 PM, Andrea Bohnstedt <
> andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com> wrote:
>
> Maybe Kenya would have been important enough anyway to cover the
> elections? And I know of many Kenyans who also stocked up on food as well
> (when they haven't left the country) - you just needed to spend a bit of
> time in supermarket queues before the elections to see that it was a very
> solid mix of everyone who lives here.
>
> Any Kenyan would rightly take offense with being wholesale painted as
> tribal murderers based on 1,500 people having died in 2007/early 08. But
> what you do is turn around and do exactly the same thing to 'foreign
> media'.
>
> Yes, there were completely idiotic, wrong, stereotypical articles, and
> they should be ridiculed every single one. But there were also many
> competent, insightful, sober pieces. And there are many members of the
> international who don't just swoop in for elections, but actually live
> here. Maybe we can judge them one by one rather than condemning all of them
> wholesale?
>
> In this forum, it will probably be a tricky argument to make that some of
> the international media actually still (soberly, factually) reported where
> the local media just shut up. So I won't make it.
>
> And in the meantime, I hope that everyone who's so irritated with the
> international media will apply the same amount of scrutiny and criticism to
> the local media and the corruption inside that system.
>
>
>
>
>
> On 11 March 2013 20:18, Warigia Bowman <warigia at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Personally, I am feeling very angry at the foreign media. Thanks Evans
>> for this shocking ridiculousness. we need to expose them!
>>
>> I wrote this yesterday.
>>
>>
>> http://digitaldemocracykenya.blogspot.com/2013/03/feeling-frustrated-with-change-in-press.html
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 11, 2013 at 5:30 AM, Evans Ikua <ikua.evans at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>  Wow, this is a gem from Time:
>>>
>>>
>>> "At this election, with a new 2010 constitution, and a new electoral
>>> body with a new — though not glitch-free — electronic voting system,
>>> Kenyans’ determination to hold a peaceful election has been palpable. *The
>>> popular mood has also been notably anti-Western. Foreign diplomats have
>>> been warned of blood-curdling revenge should they interfere in the poll*.
>>> *Foreign journalists have been publicly ridiculed and denounced as
>>> prejudiced if they predicted chaos and disaster.* And a central message
>>> of most candidates’ campaigns was strident, patriotic self-determination."
>>>
>>> Read more:
>>> http://world.time.com/2013/03/09/kenyas-election-what-uhuru-kenyattas-victory-means-for-africa/#ixzz2NE3fBw4v
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> *----------------------------------------------------
>>> Kind Regards,
>>> Evans Ikua,*
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dr. Warigia Bowman
>> Assistant Professor
>> Clinton School of Public Service
>> University of Arkansas
>> wbowman at clintonschool.uasys.edu
>> http://democratizingegypt.blogspot.com
>> -------------------------------------------------
>> View my research on my SSRN Author page:
>> http://ssrn.com/author=1479660
>> --------------------------------------------------
>>
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>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
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>
>
>
> --
> Andrea Bohnstedt <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/andreabohnstedt>
> Publisher
>
> www.ratio-magazine.com
> www.africa-assets.com
>
>
>
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>
>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
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> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
>
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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