Kenyan Bloggers and Election Coverage 2012-13
Last week I had an opportunity to attend an online Journalists and Blogger Training on Elections Coverage and Hate Speech organized by the MediaCouncil of Kenya(MCK) and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) at
KCB Conference facility in Karen.
The training brought together a number of media practitioners from
many of the local media fraternity and a number of bloggers (from BAKE) and
online journalists with intent to educate and
promote adherence to professional journalistic ethics ,code of conduct
and the Media Council of Kenya Guidelines for Election Coverage that were
adopted by various stakeholders in the industry.
The inclusion of new media practitioners to wit bloggers and online
journalists was a ready welcome and a departure from the traditional practice
of ignoring and or assuming the role of blogs and other new media platforms
that are increasingly shaping societal perceptions in this increasingly digital
society.
Amongst the highlights on various themes and subjects that were delved
on and that may be a subject of interests to many Kenyan bloggers included:
1. An Introduction to the
Media Council it role, ethics, accreditation process, mandate & recent
successes. This was developed by the Councils programmes Manager Victor Bwire who
clearly articulated the concerns mostly of traditional journalists whom the
vast majority operate in lackluster environment and clearly need the
intervention of the Council to be able to continue to effectively fulfill l
their roles.
2. Commissioner Milly Lwanga
of the NCIC thereafter proceeded to highlight features of the National Cohesion
and Integration Act of 2008, the mandate of the Commission and salient
provisions in the Act. She also focused on online Media and National Cohesion
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| Media Council of Kenya Chairman Levi Obonyo on New Media |
3. Churchill Otieno of Nation
Media Group focused on Media Convergence and adherence to the Journalistic
Principles .He emphasized on the need to adhere to same standards of this
across all platforms. For bloggers a pointer I found useful and would like to
share is the need for cultural competency i.e. understand the social and
cultural make up/background before you post .In many instances many bloggers
put up material with little or no regard to the perception of their target
audience. It is this unhealthy practice that partly contributed to the chaos
that was witnessed during the last general elections. For Traditional
Journalist a burning question was left, Is Journalism the possession of a
skill set or is it values? I believe this is a ready and ripe question that
must also be addressed by new media practitioners/citizen journalists.
4. A Highlight of the
Conference was a presentation by Mr. Jackson Cheboi of the NCIC Legal
Department and Mr. Stanley Cheruiyot of the Criminal Investigations Department
on Freedom of Expression Versus Hate Speech. This was a simply moving and
insightful session. The Kenyan Constitution guarantees greater freedoms and
human rights enjoyment than many other constitutions in the world however these
rights come with responsibilities that encompass our lives both online and
offline. Bloggers and other tweeps who abuse the online freedom best be
warned. The Kenyan Government knows who you are, where you are from and
what your activities are…so better be careful. They are tech savvy ,have the
apparatus and are constantly monitoring the digital space for those who
believe that they are invincible online, best be warned .It was also
somehow assuring to note that some of the people who have been arrested for
breaching the Communications Act were actually issued with several warnings to
desist before action was taken. It would be fool hardy to think that any
Government in this present day and age does not monitor what its Citizens do
online…the SOPA act in the USA testifies
to this. However a field that readily needs to develop is the curtailing of the
use of surveillance to silence or interfere with the right to a measure of
privacy and freedom of expression especially in despotic regimes or by persons
of similar leanings.
5. Professor Levi Obonyo the Chairman
of Media Council of Kenya shared his steady grasp on Citizen Journalism,
evolving issues and how to verify information provided by online sources. The
Need to attribute sources, verify the veracity and truthfulness of the source
was discussed at length.
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| Joe Kadhi's Discourse |
6. Finally, a highlight and
exponentially educative session was by veteran journalist and USIU Lecturer Joe Kadhi who tried to capture the spirit, meaning, intent and purposes of adhering
to the Journalistic Code of Conduct when
breaking News Online. Whereas it’s impossible and possibly boring to
regurgitate all that he said , interesting tips he gave are:
I. Sources: Always identify
your sources, a story is as good as its source, a vague source begets a vague
story
II. Make sure your posts are
accurate, publish nothing negative without first giving the person the right of
reply and make sure you publish the reply.
III. Watch out on your personal
activity, for traditional journalists these impacts on the media house they are
publish on.
IV. With Respect to Tweets and
other online platforms clear the same as soon as they are received. In essence
content curate…(just a side note all the media houses seem to have negated on
this just look at the hateful comments that fly left right center after every political
piece on the websites)remember you are responsible for all content on your page
including comments
V. Acceptance of Gifts and
Junkets from particular political actors obscures objectivity.
VI. The 5W’s and H of a story: What,
Who, When, Where, Why and How?
After the training participants were enlightened as the brief synopsis
herein has highlighted. The pictures testify that delving on such issues will
greatly enhance the greater use of the digital space in a responsible,
peaceable and fulfilling way.
