Journalism in Africa: Kenyan news organisations cleared of fuelling post-election violence

A report from Africa’s Independent Review Commission (IREC), which was set up to investigate last year’s disputed presidential elections in Kenya, has cleared the country’s media of professional malpractice in its coverage of the election results, and blamed the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) and politicians of delaying results at grassroots level.

The commission, which has trashed claims of rigging and alteration of presidential results at the National Tally Centre - the main complaint of the opposition, also dismissed concerns over the media’s role in the post-election violence raised by international observers, including the European Union, as overly reliant on hearsay.

IREC - headed by retired South African Judge Johann Kriegler - recommended that the media should be fed results electronically to increase speed and that a secure line of transmitting results from village polling stations to the headquarters be developed with an access password for all media houses.

“The media was under pressure to relay results, politicians and the electoral commission of Kenya delayed the numbers, the media had no choice but to report what they had, you cannot blame the beast if you have not fed it,” reads the report.

However, the report did find fault with vernacular media stations for fuelling tension after the announcement of the election results and called for a review of employment policies in media houses. “Only professionals should be employed,” it said.

“How can you blame the media when politicians forced their way into the press centre and took over the role of the ECK at a time when there was[sic] information gaps?” asked the 117-page report.

Within the next 15 days another report on the media’s handling of the elections is expected to be presented to President Mwai Kibaki and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who was chief mediator in the post-election crisis.

The report is expected to name, shame and recommend crucial steps that politicians, the media and the ECK should take to avoid a repeat of such violence in future.

Tags: africa, Electoral Commission of Kenya, Johann Kriegler, Journalism in Africa, Kenya, Kofi Annan, Mwai Kibaki, National Tally Centre, Politics, United Nations, vernacular media stations

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Journalism in Africa: Computer Aid International launches technology award scheme for Kenyan journalists

Computer Aid International has launched an aggressive strategy aimed at phasing out notebooks for newsgathering in Kenya by launching an initiative that will see journalists in the region equipped with state of the art laptops and desktop computers.

In partnership with Computers for Schools Kenya (CFSK) and the Journalist Association of Kenya (JAK), the organization has set up an awards scheme for reporters, cartoonists, photographers, bloggers, editors and freelance contributors, who can win computers, internet connections, mobile phones and even digital cameras.

Entries to the awards will be open for the next three months and the winners announced in November.

The organization is also offering free computer training for journalists at their premises.

Tom Musili, CEO of the organization, told a press conference in Nairobi that information and communications technology (ICT) was the best option for development, and asked journalists to submit development-related stories to compete for the prizes.

“We will reward everyone who writes about ICT and development be it in sports, features, news, politics or cartoons,” said Musili.

Backing the scheme, JAK said it would stick to its mandate to ensure professionalism in the media through sourcing for scholarships and awards.

Tags: africa, Awards, Computer Aid International, Computers for Schools Kenya, Journalism in Africa, Journalist Association of Kenya, Kenya, Nairobi, Tom Musili

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Digital developments at CNN: Gustav raises traffic, as new international digital role is created

CNN’s web traffic did rather well out of Hurricane Gustav: a press release issued yesterday told us that breaking news channel CNN.com Live ‘more than doubled its highest day on record on Monday, by serving more than 1.7 million live video streams globally’.

That figure represents a 124 percent increase on their previous highest day - February 21 - when it streamed the debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

In other news, another release announced the appointment of CNN’s first vice president of international digital services: Nick Wrenn, current managing editor for Europe, Middle East & Africa. Although based in Atlanta, Wrenn will manage all of the digital content outside of the US in his new role, bringing together CNN.com/international and mobile with its broadband services.

Wrenn will report to Tony Maddox, executive vice president and managing director of CNN International.

“Our digital services are playing an increasingly important part in the growth of CNN International and this new position ensures that they will be leveraged and incorporated into our current business appropriately,” said Maddox in the statement.

Tags: africa, Atlanta, Barack Obama, broadband services, CNN, CNN International, Hillary Clinton, Hurricane Gustav, International Digital Services, Management Change, Middle East, Nick Wrenn, Tony Maddox, United States, web traffic

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Journalism in Africa: Kenyan radio stations criticised in human rights report

Dennis Itumbi reports from Kenya for Journalism.co.uk on developments in the country’s media:

Three independent Kenyan radio stations have been named and shamed for fueling the post-election violence in the country last year in a human rights report.

The preliminary report ‘A Human Rights Account of Kenya’s Post-2007 Election Violence’, compiled by the government-funded but independent Kenya National Human Rights Commission, claims individual journalists and the radio stations incited and urged listeners to arm themselves and attack members of rival communities.

KASS FM, which broadcasts in the Kalenjin area, was accused by the report of ‘being highly biased and using inflammatory language in its broadcasts and programming.’

The report quotes one of its top journalists telling his audience in Swahili (a widely spoken dialect in East Africa)’ tokeni vita imetokea’, which loosely translates to ‘leave your houses, war has begun’. According to further notes in the report, the journalist went on to urge youths to ‘arm themselves’.

A preacher at the station - identified only as Rev Kosgey - is also named in the report for organizing a meeting to evict members of President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe from the Rift Valley region long before the elections.

Other stations mentioned include Inooro, owned by Royal Media Services - a high-flying independent media company, which owns the bulk of vernacular stations in the country, and religious broadcaster Radio Injili, based in Eldoret. Inooro was particularly blamed for organising revenge attacks in Kenya’s central province.

The report argued that the ‘media failed in the announcement of results, since they aired reports without a background context and historical voting patterns’.

The report comes at a time when the Kenyan media is sharply in focus over its role in the 2007 elections.

The pressure is so high that a commission has been set up to investigate the media’s coverage of the disputed presidential election results.

Tags: africa, Dennis Itumbi, East Africa, Eldoret, Journalism in Africa, KASS FM, Kenya, media, Mwai Kibaki, Politics, Radio Injili, Rift Valley

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Journalism in Africa: Kenyan government seeks guidelines on anonymous sources

Dennis Itumbi reports for Journalism.co.uk from Nairobi on the media scene in Kenya:

The Kenyan government is urging the local press to develop a set of standardised rules for using anonymous sources.

Government spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua told a weekly press briefing that the state was concerned about ‘a new pattern of untrue stories that are on the increase and which solely depend on anonymous sources’.

Journalists at the televised briefing put the spokesman on the spot over the government’s reluctance to pass a proposed Freedom of Information bill and replace the current Official Secrets Act - a retrogressive set of laws that criminalise access and publication of basic information by branding all government documents confidential.

“You cannot accuse the media of being lazy and irresponsible, while they labour to get information that is hidden under the excuse of the Official Secrets Act. Kindly update us on how far the Freedom of Information bill has gone, given that it has been pending in parliament for the last nine years,” one journalist said.

“We agree that the time has come to free information, but the fact that we have not brought in the new law is no excuse to use sources who have little description or authenticity. We must stop that pattern for the sake of truth,” answered Mutua.

Last year Kenyan journalists took to the streets with their mouths gagged to protest against new laws by the government that would have seen the media forced to disclose their sources.

Tags: africa, Alfred Mutua, Dennis Itumbi, Journalism in Africa, Kenya, Kenyan Government, Secrets Act

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Google News launches for nine African countries

Further to its addition of a Turkish version, Google News has launched English-language editions in nine African countries.

Sites for Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe have been set up, according to the Google News Blog.

Google News now has 52 editions worldwide.

Tags: africa, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, google, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe

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Journalism in Africa: Kenya’s plans for industrial growth could boost media

Kenya’s plans for industrialization by the year 2030 will have a major impact on the country’s media, writes Dennis Itumbi for Journalism.co.uk.

Intervention in economic policies, the tourism sector, improvement of roads, commercialization of farming and affordable credit to farmers are among a raft of radical measures proposed in the VISION 2030 document, whose overall goal is to ‘turn Kenya into a globally competitive and prosperous Kenya’.

The most notable changes are the proposed end to the currently retrogressive Official Secrets Act, which makes it illegal for local journalists to access government documents, and the introduction of a Freedom of Information Act.

The laws are contained in a voluminous document that also proposes to place Kenya in the league of fast growing economies alongside Malasyia and Thailand within the next 22 years.

Other changes being proposed in the development blueprint include a review of the country’s Media Act, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Act and the law governing media regulator the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK).

Hannington Gaya, chairman of the Local Media Owners Association, has welcomed the move.

“One can only hope that this new document does not end up on a shelf like all others before it, since it has good intentions, and for the first time the role of the media in development is recognized,” he said.

“The Freedom of Information [Act] in particular is a welcome move,” said Gaya in a phone interview.

The changes to the Media Act could make it mandatory for both local and foreign journalists to undergo specialized training before being accredited to cover general elections – part of efforts to restore a balance to the country’s media after last year’s disputed presidential election resulted in countrywide violence.

Further changes to the CCK will introduce news ways of monitoring and regulating language on vernacular radio stations, which were blamed for fanning the violence.

Tags: africa, Communication Commission of Kenya, Dennis Itumbi, Hannington Gaya, Journalism in Africa, Kenya, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Media Act

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Journalism in Africa: Kenyan government relaxes communication laws

Dennis Itumbi reports for Journalism.co.uk from Nairobi on the media in Kenya:

The Kenyan Government has bowed to pressure from media owners and dropped plans to outlaw cross-media ownership and endorse the invasion of broadcasting stations.

New laws tabled in parliament by Samuel Poghisio, Kenya’s Information and Communications Minister, suggest the controversial clauses have been removed from the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill 2008.

The removed clauses made it illegal to own a broadcast station and newspaper at the same time.

However, the new bill emphasises the growth of local programming at local stations. ‘The Kenyan identity has to be maintained throughout the programming and enhanced quantity of such programmes should be aired,’ it states.

At one time former minister Raphael Tuju, who now chairs the Ethnic and Race Relations committee in the Office of the President, demanded that local stations’ output was at least 40 per cent local content - no station complied. However, stations have recently been increasing local production across the country.

The new bill strips the Minister for Internal Security of proposed powers to invade ‘rogue stations’ and seeks to elevate the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) into a fully fledged information and communications regulator. If passed, the bill would empower the CCK to license and regulate broadcasting services.

The new proposals sailed through the first reading in parliament on Monday.

Tags: africa, Communications Commission of Kenya, cross-media ownership, Dennis Itumbi, Journalism in Africa, Kenyan Government, Office of the President, Raphael Tuju, Samuel Poghisio

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Columbia Journalism Review: Egyptian bloggers are hungry for a ‘new’ media

“I want to learn how to be credible. I want people to believe me. I want to know how you journalists work. I want to report news. Facts. No ideology.” Full story...

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Journalism in Africa: Kenyan media accused of inciting post-election violence

Dennis Itumbi reports from Nairobi, Kenya, for Journalism.co.uk:

The Kenyan media is under pressure from the government over coverage of the fallout from the disputed general election results in the east African Country in December last year.

The country’s Independent Review Commission (IRC), which is tasked with investigating the post-election violence, has heard that the media’s live broadcasts were immature and used vernacular language to incite reactions from audiences when results went against their own political convictions.

“The media announced different results and did not provide guidance when disputes arose; the media failed the nation when it needed it most,” Moses Kuria, a political party activist, told the
commission.

Vernacular radio stations in particular were criticised for urging listeners to fight back for ‘their people’ during the January and February skirmishes that left over 1,000 people dead and hundreds of families displaced.

The same criticisms have been upheld by members of the Post-Election Violence Commission, chaired by Kenyan judge Philip Waki.

Representatives of the Journalist Association of Kenya (JAK) told the commission that journalists should be absolved from blame, as reporters were merely doing their job of relaying the events and were not involved in arming, funding or mobilizing any community.

“The media is a reflection of the society: reporters were not expected to act as state propaganda agencies and report all was well when churches were being burnt, families were being chased from their homes and politicians were inciting everyone,” explained Martin Gitau, JAK secretary general.

“Our role is to inform and educate. We stuck to our professional calling and where we went wrong we should be specifically blamed and investigated, not branded rotten when we were not.”

However, Gitau admitted that, ‘the use of live coverage was not done to professional standards because this was the first time the technology was being used to cover a general election at such a large scale.’

What role the media played in the post-election coverage will be publicly probed by the commission for the next two months at least.

Tags: africa, Dennis Itumbi, Independent Review Commission, Journalism in Africa, Journalist Association of Kenya, Kenya, Martin Gitau, Moses Kuria, Nairobi, Philip Waki, Post-Election Violence Commission

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