Journalism in Africa: Rwandan journalists protest new law; Kenya’s media voted most trustworthy institution

Rwanda

Rwandan journalists have officially petitioned their upper parliament to shoot down a stringent media law that would force journalists to reveal their sources.

The proposed law would criminalize any story on cabinet proceedings, internal memos and documents in public institutions.

Under the legislation, anyone starting a newspaper would be required to pay $20,000 (£12,500) and 10 times more to begin a radio or TV station.

Speaking to Journalism.co.uk, Gasper Safari, president of the Rwanda Journalists Association, said the new laws were a death sentence to investigative journalism.

“How will investigative journalism survive? It is a rope and we are just being asked to practice journalism and the hangman will pull the rug under your feet,” he said.

Safari explained how his organisation had initially written a protest letter to the lower house of parliament, but it was ignored.

“We will explore other methods in dealing with the upper house. People cannot be allowed to shout they support press freedom while deep down they do not support the existence of the media,” he said.

Kenya

The media is the most trusted institution in Kenya – and the country’s electoral commission (ECK) the least, according to a recent survey by Gallup International affiliates Steadman Research.

The quarterly poll found that 80 per cent of Kenyans trusted the media – exactly the same number that found the ECK the most dishonest.

Fortunes for the media and the ECK have been on a downward trend since the violence surrounding last year’s disputed presidential election, but the media has regained some ground in the last two months after two major commissions backed by both the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) returned a not guilty verdict on most of the media.

“Kenyans are saying that their last hope is with the media, their trust for institutions is at an all time low, but they have their thumbs up for journalists,” Tom Wolf, a lead researcher at Steadman, told a press conference in Nairobi.

The media was placed ahead of Kenya’s President, Prime Minister and parliament by the survey.

“We are not very happy to be ahead of all other institutions. It means we have a duty to assist them in getting to the highest level of trust, but our work is easier since we have the trust of our readers and viewers,” said Martin Gitau, general secretary of the Journalist Association of Kenya (JAK).

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Journalism in Africa: Vice president urges local journalists to formalise union

Kenyan vice president Kalonzo Musyoka has urged local journalists to set up a professional body, to manage training and advance the practice of reporting in the country.

Speaking at at an evening cocktail party hosted by journalists in the capital Nairobi last week, Musyoka argued that formalizing the existing Journalist Association of Kenya (JAK) would be a great step towards opening up opportunities for journalists.

The vice president said such an association could be handed powers to develop a modern code of conduct for journalists and provide mentors for new journalists.

Musyoka suggested that a formalised JAK could also run a database of freelance and international correspondents working in the country. Unless changes are made, he added, Kenya’s fast-growing public relations industry will overshadow the journalism sector.

“Many journalists just get into the media and do not know their way. We need a professional association that can identify people and guide them along. A professional body will help journalists in Kenya get international exchanges, scholarships and open up the profession to better standards,” argued Musyoka.

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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.

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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.

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