Kenya: Report paints bleak picture for media

A new report comissioned by FES, AWC and MDC says the media should not expect freedom to come easily and paints a gloomy picture of media reform, despite media freedom guarantees provided in thecountry's new Constitution, writes Dennis Itumbi for journalism.co.za.

The new constitution, ratified in a referendum in August 2010, guarantees media freedom and freedom of expression in Kenya. It also scraps the Official Secrets Act and suggests an ambitious Freedom of Expression law.

The study, commissioned by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and conducted by the African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWC) and the Media Diversity Centre (MDC), notes that the liberalisation of telecommunications in 1998 “led not only to slow growth but an uneven and haphazard growth in the sector.”

It notes that, ”there are at least 15 laws in place which restrict media operations in Kenya. They include The Defamation Act, Cap 36; The Penal Code, Cap 63; The Books and Newspapers Act, Cap 111; The Copyright Act, Cap 130.”

Other prohibitive laws according to the detailed report include, “The Preservation of Public Security Act, Cap 57; The Public Order Act, Cap 56; The Films and Stage Plays Act, Cap 222 (1962); The Chief’s Authority Act, Cap 128; The Official Secrets Act, Cap 187 of 1968; The Police Act, Cap 84; The Armed Forces Act, Cap 199; The Communication Commission of Kenya Act of 1998; The Kenya Broadcasting Act, Cap 221 of 1998; The ICT Act of 2007, and The Media Act, 2007.”

Most of these laws “undermine media freedom as they are largely retrogressive, punitive and repressive," according to the study.

The study also takes issue with the regulatory environment, noting that it is highly restrictive and uncoordinated. “Newspapers and magazines require registration under the Books and Newspapers Act. The office of the Attorney-General issues bonds to newspaper publishers and printers, while the Ministry of Information and Communications licenses broadcasters. “

The authors added that “the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) allocates frequencies and maintains a register of broadcasters. And the Media Council of Kenya is supposed to accredit journalists, monitor their conduct and handle complaints against media organizations and journalists. The Kenya Film Censorship Board regulates film content for broadcasting. There is also a new body called the Broadcast Content Advisory Council that came into existence this year.”

“The Books and Newspapers council requires publishers and printers to execute a bond of Sh1 million. It also requires publishers to deposit two copies of each publication with the Attorney General. The vendors must also display the bond as proof of registration of the publications.”

The report also points the finger at media houses and journalists, saying,  “Although media organizations have adopted the Code of Conduct for Journalists, they have not been keen to promote its use among their employees. Corruption among journalists and editors is rampant in Kenya. Some media houses disseminate content that borders on obscenity, pornography and vulgarity.”

The independence of Kenyan journalists is seriously in doubt, the study says. “They were politically co-opted during the 2005 referendum on the Proposed New Constitution. Their independence was equally in question in the 2007 elections and the violence that followed. There were editorial biases, largely by senior editors, in some newsrooms.”

There is also the problem of excessive commercialism. The media tends to give more priority to advertisements and materials that support commercial interests rather than news and content oriented towards development, the study says. “Newspaper design appears organized to shore up corporate interests rather than public interest – they have more space for advertisements and entertainment-oriented content than for anything else. Music dominates radio airtime while movies, soap operas and soft entertainment programmes take up more airtime than news on private television stations in Kenya. The focus on entertainment stems from its renown to bait, capture and deliver audiences to advertisers.”

Pay is also a problem. Salaries for journalists vary greatly from one media organization to the next. While the larger commercial organizations pay relatively well, the same is not true  for the rest of media.

“Stringers and correspondents, who make up 70 per cent of reporters in media organizations, receive considerably lower pay than staff reporters do,” the report notes.

This compromises quality of media products and opens the way for corrupt practices among journalists.

Inadequate training is often at the core of low professionalism in the media, the study says. The number of media training institutions is growing as the demand goes up due to the expansion of the media in Kenya. But the institutions do not have common standards. “The absence of a harmonized media curriculum, as well as the use of varied syllabi frustrates the achievement of common standards of training. Some of the training institutions have hardly any curricular or syllabi outlines or descriptions of the courses on offer.”

“There are less than 10 doctoral degree holders in journalism, media and communication studies in the country. Most of these teach outside the country where pay is more attractive,” the report reveals.

Universities, therefore, hire masters degree holders as lecturers for their journalism and communication programmes, including at the post-graduate level. In small schools and colleges, lecturers with more humble qualifications take classes merely to make money.”

The institutions have serious financial constraints as well and are poorly equipped, say the report. “Public universities and colleges as well as some private ones do not have new and relevant reference materials such as books, journals and online databases. Owing to lack of facilities and equipment, most universities and colleges put a lot of emphasis on theory rather than the practical aspects of journalism. Many journalism graduates in Kenya are unable to operate cameras, editing machines, tape recorders or to use online databases.”

Proper professional development in the has been hampered by weak media associations in Kenya.

There are several such associations representing the diverse interests of various segments of the media, but they are largely ineffective.

The Kenyan Union of Journalists has been rendered largely ineffective by power struggles, poor leadership and lack of accountability, the report says. (However Journalists last month elected new faces into KUJ and merged it with the Journalists Association of Kenya)

The rapid expansion of the media industry has bred intense competition for advertising and one of the consequences of this is the rising influence of advertisers on media output. Total ad spend now is about Sh20 billion annually.

“Advertisers have immense influence on media because advertising is the backbone of the media business.

The commercial media cannot survive without advertising.

“Unfortunately, politicians co-opted most the ethnic language radios to campaign for their political parties and themselves. This co-option took a tribal and regional twist and had a negative impact on the political environment. Generally, most ethnic radio stations perpetuated hate speech and incited ethnic communities against each other. As a result, they fanned the embers of the fires of the post election violence,” the report points out.

Further, the report notes, “ Public Relation companies have made a habit of letting media houses train future personnel for their firms and just wait for them to mature before enticing them with higher pay and better career growth opportunities.”

 

- March 7, 2011 by Dennis Itumbu

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Source: www.journalism.co.za/index.php (accessed on 07.03.11)