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Not so long ago, we had some of the most combative and prolific writers. Journalists who were incorruptible, criticized the government without fear or favour. I loved Claycourt until he turned to doing social op ed (Respect to Rasnah Warah. She knows how to gloss over issues at present though like a carousel. Mondays are not complete without her op ed). Then opinion eds were written and editors wouldn't rewrite the script to suit their paymasters. Social responsibility theory argued that the press should provide a forum for diverse voices, even if the voices differed from the newspaper’s own views. Media houses were not held hostage by the fact that they would not get revenue resulting from advertising in the event they wrote commentaries or insightful articles that criticized the government of the day. This was done constructively and with the ideal objectivity. What happened to providing accurate, balanced, and unbiased news without fear or favour? Ideally we need journalists who will see the bigger picture and come together to form a richer cross-cultural approach in addressing the question that begs .
Newspapers have to write that which will result in sales. Yes, top of the topics that lead to high sales are about politicians. Raila this, Uhuru that, Cord, Jubilee and Ruto among other hot topics are hot trending topics that capture the imagination of many a Kenyan reader. I have tersely perused on Ubuntuism thanks to Wikipedia. Sometimes we need more than just personality based news. Rarely a week passes without a political figure making headlines in all the local newspapers availed to Kenyans.
The aims of journalism include: to disseminate information; to interpret events; to act as watchdog on power; to advocate for reform or to advocate for certain causes; to educate and empower the public as citizens and to guide public opinion; and to serve (or propagandize for) the party or the state. This is according to Steven Ward. When people complain that the comments they post are deleted, it portrays the media houses as biased. Certainly, freedom of expression is aright enshrined in the constitution. Deleting comments only aids in people clogging their thoughts with worse sentiments and they will be like a time bomb waiting to explode. Only time will tell.
Kenya should have been the aisle of peace. At present, we are classified on the same class with countries such as Somalia, Iraq and a host of insecure countries all over the world. We are the laugh of Africa. From a peaceful country to a volatile nation. We are fraught as we feign ignorance of the fact that we are indeed not entirely secure from impending tribal conflicts. The media rarely mentions this. We may not be like those countries but we pretend too much. We are divided along tribal lines. Editors know this and use it to sell newspapers. Politicians have capitalized on this and since they are like the untouchables, they preach hatred at the behest of unity.
Kenyan journalists need a a clear, vigorous form of objectivity to guide their practice. Some images that are published are not only horrific, gruesome and offensive, they are indeed a clear lack of dignity to those who undergo them (especially the deceased). Yet they make it to the newspapers. One wonders where journalism ethics went to. Without a thoughtful form of objectivity, we risk losing the much needed ethical-retrain in today's news media. Of course we have those stubborn misconceptions that have deep historical roots which need to be averted through progressive and philosophically sophisticated notions of objectivity.
Ethnic hatred, social injustice, terrorism and insecurity in general are no longer approached from the due diligence they deserve. They have been used as a propaganda machinery to blackmail those in the opposition. This is non-appropriate irresponsible and non-objective. Tet this is the kind of reporting availed to us by the media. As such we fail to address the root causes and try play the blame game cat and mouse game. What happened to activist journalism and investigative journalism. Since we are politically divided, holding institutions accountable has become fraught.
That the media houses have put us in the dark in a number of occasions when we require answers is not in doubt. We are forced to abide by the ever irritating phrase of, "Accept and move on." We move on but there lies some unease. How long shall we move on. We are humans and the faster we address our predicaments, the better. We have a situation where leading questions are asked in unscientific opinion polls conducted by the media houses. How are they verified? In my opine, opinion polls are just that, opinion polls. Elections have shown us that indeed we need not to rely on opinion polls that hardly even 70% accurate. How can a sample of 2500 people be used to determine the magnitude of the perception of 40 million Kenyans. That is a fallacy.
The media fraternity needs to deeply reflect on the Kenyan question. Shall we continue selling newspapers just because politicians said this or that when we know they are the reason why the country is sometimes in a perilous situation. Journalism should not be about demagoguery and writing piece to entertain the readers. Since journalism is an effective propaganda tool, it may falter when it fails to question the powers that be. Information and communication are the gems essential in the current modern dispensation
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SITUONANE.
[Photo Source: Google Images]
Newspapers have to write that which will result in sales. Yes, top of the topics that lead to high sales are about politicians. Raila this, Uhuru that, Cord, Jubilee and Ruto among other hot topics are hot trending topics that capture the imagination of many a Kenyan reader. I have tersely perused on Ubuntuism thanks to Wikipedia. Sometimes we need more than just personality based news. Rarely a week passes without a political figure making headlines in all the local newspapers availed to Kenyans.
The aims of journalism include: to disseminate information; to interpret events; to act as watchdog on power; to advocate for reform or to advocate for certain causes; to educate and empower the public as citizens and to guide public opinion; and to serve (or propagandize for) the party or the state. This is according to Steven Ward. When people complain that the comments they post are deleted, it portrays the media houses as biased. Certainly, freedom of expression is aright enshrined in the constitution. Deleting comments only aids in people clogging their thoughts with worse sentiments and they will be like a time bomb waiting to explode. Only time will tell.
Kenya should have been the aisle of peace. At present, we are classified on the same class with countries such as Somalia, Iraq and a host of insecure countries all over the world. We are the laugh of Africa. From a peaceful country to a volatile nation. We are fraught as we feign ignorance of the fact that we are indeed not entirely secure from impending tribal conflicts. The media rarely mentions this. We may not be like those countries but we pretend too much. We are divided along tribal lines. Editors know this and use it to sell newspapers. Politicians have capitalized on this and since they are like the untouchables, they preach hatred at the behest of unity.
Kenyan journalists need a a clear, vigorous form of objectivity to guide their practice. Some images that are published are not only horrific, gruesome and offensive, they are indeed a clear lack of dignity to those who undergo them (especially the deceased). Yet they make it to the newspapers. One wonders where journalism ethics went to. Without a thoughtful form of objectivity, we risk losing the much needed ethical-retrain in today's news media. Of course we have those stubborn misconceptions that have deep historical roots which need to be averted through progressive and philosophically sophisticated notions of objectivity.
Ethnic hatred, social injustice, terrorism and insecurity in general are no longer approached from the due diligence they deserve. They have been used as a propaganda machinery to blackmail those in the opposition. This is non-appropriate irresponsible and non-objective. Tet this is the kind of reporting availed to us by the media. As such we fail to address the root causes and try play the blame game cat and mouse game. What happened to activist journalism and investigative journalism. Since we are politically divided, holding institutions accountable has become fraught.
That the media houses have put us in the dark in a number of occasions when we require answers is not in doubt. We are forced to abide by the ever irritating phrase of, "Accept and move on." We move on but there lies some unease. How long shall we move on. We are humans and the faster we address our predicaments, the better. We have a situation where leading questions are asked in unscientific opinion polls conducted by the media houses. How are they verified? In my opine, opinion polls are just that, opinion polls. Elections have shown us that indeed we need not to rely on opinion polls that hardly even 70% accurate. How can a sample of 2500 people be used to determine the magnitude of the perception of 40 million Kenyans. That is a fallacy.
The media fraternity needs to deeply reflect on the Kenyan question. Shall we continue selling newspapers just because politicians said this or that when we know they are the reason why the country is sometimes in a perilous situation. Journalism should not be about demagoguery and writing piece to entertain the readers. Since journalism is an effective propaganda tool, it may falter when it fails to question the powers that be. Information and communication are the gems essential in the current modern dispensation
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[Photo Source: Google Images]
