Reign in on rogue editors, Atwoli calls on Media Council

COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli during the interview with the Standard at the COTU headquarters, Nairobi. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli is calling on the Media Council of Kenya to reign in on what he termed as 'rogue' newspaper editors who continue blackmailing organisations through misleading stories.

Atwoli who took to X, formerly Twitter, was reacting to a story published by The Daily Nation on Monday, September 18, 2023, titled 'Death of Trade Unions'.

"As COTU (K) we are calling upon the Media Council of Kenya and the Kenya Editor Guild to reign in on the rogue senior newspaper editors who continue blackmailing organizations and individuals through misleading stories that sell terror and fear when their demands are not met," Atwoli tweeted.

According to Atwoli, the story is misleading and called on the media regulator and the Editors Guild to take action against the few senior editors in newsrooms while terming the published story as irresponsible journalism.

"COTU shall continue representing the interest of Kenyan Workers and not of a few senior editors in newsrooms. We are the second largest trade union in Africa and we continue representing workers locally and internationally. We firmly believe in the principles of social dialogue, bipartism, and peaceful conflict resolution,' the statement read in part.

In its publication, the Daily Nation stated that trade unions have lost their spark and are a pale shadow of their pioneers

"The 2023 Labour Day celebrations recorded the lowest turnout in history with many workers remaining indoors, a sign of a vote of no confidence in the current unions," the article stated.