Opinion: Beware of Social Media warriors waging war on truth

The media is under assault. No, not from the overbearing Government that professes to uphold freedom of the press and blackmails it though advertisement. No, media is at war with the widespread proliferation of fake news.

What makes media, media is truth. Now when that truth is being subverted as we have constantly seen, we should worry.

On any given day, conventional media is grinding against a barrage of lies, innuendo and scandal churned out on social media by faceless fellows.

And there are tonnes of information to sift through. The tragedy is their stranglehold on the news is getting tighter. Did President Uhuru Kenyatta, for example, graduate from the prestigious Amherst College or was his sojourn through the institution just that, a sojourn?Two weeks ago, mainstream media was duped into believing a Twitter handle created in the name of Amherst was real. SMS alerts were sent and for a moment, even we (The Standard) believed the lie.One characteristic of social media is that it pushes the envelope each day. Not a bad thing if it encourages debate on topical issues. Social media is not entirely bad. It is the method that is wrong.

When Churchill Ndambuki of the Churchil Show fame was “killed” by social media, we all wondered where the line had been crossed. Obviously, it is easy to conclude that for those in the Social Media sphere, the end always justifies the means. Yet that is what could be its undoing.

The thing is, gutter press made famous in the 18th century has migrated online. The guerrilla tactics deployed then are handy for the merchants of the lies and slander online. Because they couldn’t beat them (mainstream media) most of the gutter joined them. A few fell by the wayside.

A few of my friends in the media believe that print media, that has been around for close to 400 years, is on its deathbed.

Many of us, I included, are print diehards. We have an enduring belief in the sense of touch. Touching is believing. And we know that print is here to stay. The business model will obviously have to change but then the printed paper will most probably outlive us.

The point is that social media and all its convenience in anonymity, speed and freedom is slowly submerging in our society a culture of anything goes that is undermining the unalloyed truth as we have known it to be.

Mr Walter Lipmann, the venerable former New York Times editor, said news and truth are two different things— news brings to light the hidden facts, whereas truth signalises an event.

Journalists hold in their hand a power so immense it could elevate men from obscurity to national prominence; a power when used creatively and appropriately awakens society to assess critical issues and provide alternatives and solutions.

That power is being threatened by a cabal of bloggers masquerading as journalists. Though the contest is far from won, the bruises are cause for worry. There is certainly a sense of shift in power.

The guy sipping coffee at a downtown coffee shop with barely any leg room can Tweet about what you did last Christmas and within the snap of a finger, the whole world is invited into your private world.

And he doesn’t have to confirm anything. Neither does his audience of voyeurs. Indeed, most social media content is kept afloat by a sea of smut masquerading as truth.

No doubt, mainstream media have at times failed the expectation of the readers. But should the treatment be worse than the disease?

A single-minded, indefatigable media is important for any democracy to flourish, more so in Kenya where the ruling elite are wont to ride roughshod on everyone. Abdicating that role to social media warriors is out of question. As Paula Hooke, a communications experts says: “Bloggers and citizen journalists just simply do not work as a replacement for varnished reporters because they can’t go cover city hall and so on...”

“For all the willy charms of the digital world and its tweets, feeds, blogs and apps, there is nothing like the pleasure created by ink and paper,” said Marcus Webb and Rob Orchard, editorial directors of UK’s Slow Journalism Company. I couldn’t agree more.

Mr Kipkemboi is Op/ed Editor, The Standard