[kictanet] how positive can foreign media be?

Tue Mar 12 00:21:34 EAT 2013

Brian,

Then I think you (deliberately?) overlooked my point. If there is only one
yardstick for all media, it's meaningless - just as much as, obviously, not
all Kenyans are tribal murderers. If that's what you think, we don't need
to have this debate.

Aside from that, I'm not really sure I qualify as 'foreign media'. I write
a column for a local paper, and my publishing company is incorporated in
Kenya. I write very little for international media, and the bulk of work I
write for foreign clients is never openly published.

It's not always that black and white (pun kinda not intended, but left in
there).

Andrea

On 11 March 2013 23:47, Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
>>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> 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,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> kictanet mailing list
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>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
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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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> Unsubscribe or change your options at
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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.
>

-- 
Andrea Bohnstedt <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/andreabohnstedt>
Publisher

www.ratio-magazine.com
www.africa-assets.com
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