Let's celebrate the courage, professionalism of scribes

Yesterday was International Press Day. The power of a politically and financially independent media was celebrated in over 190 countries. The context for a vibrant media and search for truth has got more complicated with accelerated information digitisation and levels of disinformation and toxicity not seen in decades.

Two recent experiences inform my love of press freedoms, data and open societies. A few years back, I politely listened to a Tunisian former Tourism and Information minister describe how well the economy was growing prior to the revolution. I asked him, if the GDP was doing so well, why did the revolution happen? He responded sarcastically, “perhaps the street protesters did not bother to read our statistical reports?” The second memory is of a few weeks back, where I found myself trying to stop 50 MCAs as they shouted down a journalist off a podium. He had criticised Homa Bay County Assembly members for viciously beating journalist James Omoro for a story he was working on.