Media should stop moaning about outbursts and unearth more theft

Trade CS Moses Kuria. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard] Few can dispute the contribution Kenyan media houses have made towards nation-building in the past 60 years. Through informing, educating, prompting and provoking the general public and successive governments, they courageously and at great risk have played a significant role in the entrenchment of democratic values. Those of us old enough to have observed this progression in challenging times can recall how editors, journalists and cartoonists gradually began to take risks while speaking truth to power in a cautious yet incisive manner. Together, they paved the way for what we currently possess, a fairly free press and an informed public. Most of these gains were earned through the print media. The later licensing of TV channels and multiple independent radio stations, was a direct result of the slogging and provocation of daily newspapers and weekly magazines. Kenyans owe these pioneers an enormous debt but the way to repay is to maintain their high standards and exhibit the same boldness and integrity in reporting that they then displayed. Yet, most would agree that the print media have lost their shine in the past few decades. Partly of course, this is due to emergence of alternative sources of information and in particular social media, which is the main source of information, entertainment and news for those under 45. But time has shown that despite their many benefits, most social media platforms give you bitsy news and rarely provide reliable content. Yet those who still buy a daily newspaper do it out of a sense of habit rather than expectation or enthusiasm. Newspapers often appear like old news rather than a new bulletin. Yet, there still is a gap and an opportunity for the print media to regain ground and become a primary source for investigative journalism if the current journalists are willing to grasp it. This was most evident in the reaction by Trade CS Moses Kuria to recent investigations that revealed waste and corruption in the Kenya Kwanza government. His crude, offensive, arrogant and primitive comments on the Sh6 billion edible oil scandal story drew many to the source of the story to discover what infuriated this government so much. Editors know too if the story is well researched and concerns the public interest, people will respond accordingly. This type of journalism will restore trust and respect for the printed word. However, the response to Kuria's outrageous outburst by the media fraternity was perhaps over the top, also, and much too defensive. Media houses should not depict themselves in such a self-righteous or holier than thou manner. They should not display the same arrogance they are so critical of among their detractors. Everyone knows freedom of expression is guaranteed in the Constitution through Article 34 and the public want to know what is really happening to their hard-earned taxes. It would have been wiser for the media houses to ignore the CS's rants and ridicule and avoid being dragged into an unnecessary war of works with a government which revels in such battles. Instead, they should have quietly and professionally proceeded to reveal more details and evidence in the edible oil scam to a public that wants the whole truth, even to the point of naming the individuals involved. The EACC too should not have just defended the media house but launched their own investigation. Indeed, a weakness in media investigations is that they often keep a story in the news for a couple of days, then drop it before all angles have been covered. We are yet to discover who exactly was behind the Northlands invasion. There are major questions arising about NHIF, Covid billions and the mosquito nets scandal all in the Ministry of Health that media houses need to address comprehensively even if it results in threats, boycotts and loss of business. The public have a right to know and media houses have a moral responsibility to investigate and report. If the print media are to regain and retain their position of respect and trust, they must stop moaning and get on with the job that they are called to.

Media should stop moaning about outbursts and unearth more theft

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Media should stop moaning about outbursts and unearth more theft

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