Assault on media stifles democracy, let’s stop it

"A free press is under attack by governments that want to avoid the truth," said US President Barack Obama when he addressed the World Press Freedom Day last year.

Indeed, journalists operate under very tough conditions. From repressive regimes, regulatory agencies that serve the interests of the government and hostile individuals, the work of journalist is made very hard. The World News Media Congress currently underway in Cartagena, Columbia, has decried the arrests, kidnappings and killing of at least 71 journalists while on duty in 2015.

In Kenya, the Government, particularly, has not been at ease with an increasingly assertive media and the enhanced free space. Government institutions like the regulatory Communications Authority of Kenya and Parliament seem determined to stifle media freedom through oppressive legislation such as the Security Laws that were passed in 2014.

Indeed, the tax-funded Parliament is determined to control what journalists report about it. In seeking to control what advertisement runs on the media space, Kenya Film Classification Board has like many other State institutions, overreached itself.

The contested Communications Act and the Media Council Act of 2013 were upheld by the High Court last month though their constitutionality had been challenged in court. Prohibitive fines of up to Sh500,000 for individual journalists and Sh20 million for media houses for journalistic infractions have the potential of gagging the press. That should not be allowed.

At all times, the media must be allowed to operate freely but fairly, guided by professional ethics. As a public watchdog, the media occupies a vital space in the democracy ecosystem. It should be protected at all costs.