The Kenyan parliament is in its characteristic unpopular
fashion again, this time choosing to aim jabs at the media. The so- called ‘Draconian Media Bill 2013’ was passed by
parliament towards the end of last month and is currently waiting presidential
assenting. The media has of course reacted bitterly and is now marshalling all
efforts to convince the President not to assent it in what seems to be the very
last kicks of a dying media.
The Media has been on the front-line spearheading the
patriotic chants that have characterized the Jubilee regime. From the infamous
‘accept and move on’ call to the most
recent (and more appropriate) ‘#WeAreOne’;
the calls for blind patriotism have been overwhelming. Just a while ago,
they were invited over to State house for tea in an event that saw a full house
attendance! Which independent Media does that? Just how do you take ‘tea’ from
someone who you are supposed to keep on their toes? Interestingly, there has
been very little public outrage on the Bill contrary to expectations of many.
The Media and the current government are so intertwined that it would not be
surprising if anyone thought all Media houses are government- owned.
Growing up I admired Catherine Kasavuli then of KTN and swore
that I would be like her someday. I also remember telling my dad I would
someday become the first female Political Editor for ‘The Nation’, just because of the sheer authoritative reporting
they used to do then. Fast forward now and things have totally changed. There
is nothing encouraging about our Media or the kind of stories they do.
Journalism is now about pure aesthetics and how many advertisers they can get while
paying little attention to content. Even the so- called ‘investigative stories’
are so highly dramatized that one wonders if the target audience is pre-school
kids in dire need of entertainment.
News on telly is utterly boring, shoddily done and awfully
predictable. What happened to news being about ‘a man biting a dog’ and not the other way round d? Why on earth do
Kenyan TV’s fragment one news item into several of them just to pass time? I
honestly do not understand why several T.V stations and local newspapers have
been using evidence currently being given by the ‘shrubbing’ witnesses at the
I.C.C as their headline stories every day? Do not even get me started on the
annoying rhetoric ‘opinion poll’ questions that we keep on being bombarded with
every day during prime time news? Anything from a toilet being opened gets our
telly’s doing a live coverage. Is it so dry out there for our Journalists to
get news or is it just a case of a dying profession?
Many people have been touting Kenyan Media as being one of
the ‘most progressive’, in Africa, that is. The reality however tells a
different story. In most countries, the national broadcaster is ‘the voice and
face of the country’; a heritage to be treasured. A glance at the UK’s BBC
tells this story better than any other newscaster. Most of their programs are
self developed and are syndicated on several other TV stations worldwide. Does
anyone see K.B.C come up with something like ‘Top Gear’? I bet I’ll be chilling with my grandchildren by the time
such a miracle happens! Still in the UK, newspapers are known to print stories
that put politicians and public servants on the edge. The importance attached
to news gathering there is untold of in our country. A lot of resources are
dedicated to it and the result is news worth every penny spent on the
newspaper.
Many people would rather happily watch Cartoon Network than
watch national news. The Media is now the ‘voice of the government’ rather than
stick to its primary role of speaking for ‘the voiceless’ that is, the normal
citizen. Why haven’t journalists taken time to investigate allegations of
witness bribery and even killings in the ongoing ICC cases? Who are they so afraid of that any narratives
about the ICC cases only border on how to save the country’s sovereignty? Why
hasn’t anyone taken their time to give us a comprehensive scoop about the
entire list of suspects of the P.E.V in Rtd Justice Waki’s report? Surely where
there is smoke there must be a fire. And why is the President featured on news
on a daily basis? Does anyone smell them ‘Moi days’ back with us albeit in a
‘digitalized’ form?
Why didn’t anyone
investigate the claims of rigging in the last general elections? What of the
grave accusations against the Chief Justice, Supreme Court and JSC
Commissioners? Don’t we have a right to such news? Why hasn’t anyone questioned
the President about many failed election promises especially on cutting
government spending, reducing tax burden on mwananchi
and the promises of equity and inclusivity of all regions in the government?
Why does it seem perfectly normal to have two tribes monopolize public
appointments? The government has adopted the ‘kusema na kulenga’ policy and no one is raising their eyebrows. Have public servants become like Caesar’s
wife, beyond reproach? If we are made to pay taxes, don’t we have a right to
get value for our money?
Remember how local Media handled the infamous Westgate terror
attack with kid gloves? Isn’t it a shame that most of them had to use early pictures
of the attack from international Media like Reuters when all of them are in
fact located within Nairobi? Remember the infamous ‘Daily Nation’ cover page
photo? Just where did CNN get their intensive coverage of the story that our
Media couldn’t reach? The much we got were patriotic chants and drama. Why is
there a consistent anthem of ‘patriotism’ in the Media? Who is very concerned
about getting Kenyans to sing praises to the government than ask tough
questions? Is there a big brother lingering around Media Houses that they have
become the lead choir for the government rather than do their job
independently?
Personally I think that the only newspaper that still got
balls is ‘The Star’ perhaps owing to
the fact that it is a newcomer and is yet to get distracted with things like
‘tradition’ that seems to be part of what is making most Newspapers too
cowardly to do any serious reporting. We need new blood in the form of new Media
houses that will begin nurturing the Journalism dream afresh.
Meanwhile I am waiting
to see the kind of pressure Media houses will put on the President not to
assent to the draconian Media Bill. Will they return the ‘tea’ he served them
the other day? Talk of not biting the hand that feeds you! We can only pray
that the Media falls out with the government further so that we can get some
serious scoop from them and not PR press releases disguised as news. As for the
Media Bill, it is quite depressing to have government seek to gag the Media but
as the Swahilis put it; ‘msiba wa kujitakia
hauna pole’.
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