The State of the Media
The Parliamentary Service Commission Bill 2015 is yet another attempt by the August House at legislative subjudication.
The most disappointing part is the media coverage though by both The Star, Kenya and The Standard Media Group. Their selling point is the proposal that MP's wives should qualify for diplomatic passports.
The secondary sections also highlights, in passing, the fact that:
1. It establishes the Parliamentary Fund, where all money allocated to Parliament, including gifts, donations and grants, will be paid into. It also ensured autonomy over all the money it gets and it gets to keep all the unused money instead of handing it back to the Treasury as is the norm.
2. It seeks to curtail freedom of information if the request is “prejudicial to national security or the interests of Parliament.” It proposes a fine or imprisonment for anybody who leaks the confidential information which they will only be able to access after swearing to represent the confidentiality clauses.
3. They want to establish a parliamentary police unit and educational institution which will award them diplomas, certificates and degrees.
This takes me back to Orwellian 1984. It’s generally representative of the current state of the government but also predictably the state of the media. A media that’s as selective and as biased and as untrustworthy as the politicians that they cover and serve. It’s common knowledge that politicians pay reporters for coverage. If you have ever wondered why the same politicians are in the news everyday then you have an answer. If you wonder why development efforts are only seen on social media but the only thing we hear about in the press is about two-pence level arguments on non-issues then I do hope it’s a bit clearer now. The media is a voice and a force to reckon with proved by their agenda-setting prowess but they have a long-forgotten role of fighting for the oppressed.
I am a journalist by training and as I laughed about the oxymoron that is an honest lawyer, my dear aunty Wacuka reminded me that there’s no nobility in journalism anymore. The redefinition of journalism is necessary because avenues of self expression(and for some, self-depreciation) have voraciously broadened. Citizen journalism is now an accepted term and the lack of regulation will leave the profession haplessly lacking.
Media house ownership has enabled the suppression of free speech and in a fictional country called Keniyaa, the current president has been buying shares in media-houses, both national and vernacular and the 2nd president of that country-An ageing dictator who single-handedly brought Kenya to its needs while taking advantage of the fortitude of its citizens still owns a good portion of a major news house and a significant portion of the country,too. Two major media houses have over the past few months done a lot of restructuring(the polite word for mass terminations)and they reportedly had political hands behind it. One of the media-houses fired their CEO though he might have actually retired, as that was the official story. They also fired a lot of editors and writers who were seen to be anti-government in their work.
The lack of strict legislation on media ownership, the lack of an enforcing society which would regulate the journalists including ensuring that they actually studied journalism. The competing financial interests, the general rot in society, the lack of adherence to the journalistic code of conduct, the low standards set all lead the problem that we have in the journalism field. It’s become all about the sensationalised headline and our fortition in our choice of media and lack of critical thinking when it comes to our consumption value means that no-one will ever stand up and hold them responsible for their actions. I’m terribly sleepy so if these are patches of thought cobbled together, this is not an excuse, it’s just a reason 😁I have been too lazy to blog so a friend,Mary and I made an agreement that we would have one post every week by Friday midnight or we would owe each other money. She's 45 mins away from paying me. I really need the money so please pray for me. Thank you.
The most disappointing part is the media coverage though by both The Star, Kenya and The Standard Media Group. Their selling point is the proposal that MP's wives should qualify for diplomatic passports.
The secondary sections also highlights, in passing, the fact that:
1. It establishes the Parliamentary Fund, where all money allocated to Parliament, including gifts, donations and grants, will be paid into. It also ensured autonomy over all the money it gets and it gets to keep all the unused money instead of handing it back to the Treasury as is the norm.
2. It seeks to curtail freedom of information if the request is “prejudicial to national security or the interests of Parliament.” It proposes a fine or imprisonment for anybody who leaks the confidential information which they will only be able to access after swearing to represent the confidentiality clauses.
3. They want to establish a parliamentary police unit and educational institution which will award them diplomas, certificates and degrees.
This takes me back to Orwellian 1984. It’s generally representative of the current state of the government but also predictably the state of the media. A media that’s as selective and as biased and as untrustworthy as the politicians that they cover and serve. It’s common knowledge that politicians pay reporters for coverage. If you have ever wondered why the same politicians are in the news everyday then you have an answer. If you wonder why development efforts are only seen on social media but the only thing we hear about in the press is about two-pence level arguments on non-issues then I do hope it’s a bit clearer now. The media is a voice and a force to reckon with proved by their agenda-setting prowess but they have a long-forgotten role of fighting for the oppressed.
I am a journalist by training and as I laughed about the oxymoron that is an honest lawyer, my dear aunty Wacuka reminded me that there’s no nobility in journalism anymore. The redefinition of journalism is necessary because avenues of self expression(and for some, self-depreciation) have voraciously broadened. Citizen journalism is now an accepted term and the lack of regulation will leave the profession haplessly lacking.
Media house ownership has enabled the suppression of free speech and in a fictional country called Keniyaa, the current president has been buying shares in media-houses, both national and vernacular and the 2nd president of that country-An ageing dictator who single-handedly brought Kenya to its needs while taking advantage of the fortitude of its citizens still owns a good portion of a major news house and a significant portion of the country,too. Two major media houses have over the past few months done a lot of restructuring(the polite word for mass terminations)and they reportedly had political hands behind it. One of the media-houses fired their CEO though he might have actually retired, as that was the official story. They also fired a lot of editors and writers who were seen to be anti-government in their work.
The lack of strict legislation on media ownership, the lack of an enforcing society which would regulate the journalists including ensuring that they actually studied journalism. The competing financial interests, the general rot in society, the lack of adherence to the journalistic code of conduct, the low standards set all lead the problem that we have in the journalism field. It’s become all about the sensationalised headline and our fortition in our choice of media and lack of critical thinking when it comes to our consumption value means that no-one will ever stand up and hold them responsible for their actions. I’m terribly sleepy so if these are patches of thought cobbled together, this is not an excuse, it’s just a reason 😁I have been too lazy to blog so a friend,Mary and I made an agreement that we would have one post every week by Friday midnight or we would owe each other money. She's 45 mins away from paying me. I really need the money so please pray for me. Thank you.
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