Journalism is about integrity

When a mad man dances naked in the marketplace in broad daylight, it is his relatives who suffer the shame. Not him. You know Donald Trump. The less said about him the better. So, let’s just say that when Trump opens his mouth and words like s*#thole spit out, or when he fires out a tweet, all those millions of decent Americans who believe in the inherent dignity and brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity cringe.

It’s the same with our community of scribes. When one of us goes and rolls in the mud, all of us  scribes suffer the shame. As watchdogs of society, ours is a high calling. As the Good Book says — Ok, the Good Book doesn’t have very good things to say about scribes, so let’s put it aside. Over a week ago in the wee hours of January 12, a journalist working for Radio Citizen in Malindi was physically assaulted by police, the Start reported.

The journalist, whom the Star identified as Zomolo Wanje, reportedly showed up at Malindi Police Station at about 1:00 am to inquire why his brother was arrested. Wanje said a “rogue” cop zemanded to know why he was at the station at such late hour. Before the good man could even answer, the cop reportedly whacked him in the face and summarily threw him in a cell for eight hours, while his brother was released! It is difficult to say exactly what transpired here. Media reports only have Wanje’s account of the incident – which, by the way, is a lapse in good reporting; a news story running with a single source, much less the subject, is hoplessly lame.
Anyhow, back to our story about night journalits and rogue cops. Of course, the Kenya Police Service may have an awful lot of rogue cops. But why would a cop pounce on a man for walking into a station to request for information, whatever the hour?
The alleged assault should be swiftly investigatigated. On the other hand, if Wanje wondered into a police station in the dead of night wearing the badge of “journalist” –and we’re not saying he did – he would be abusing our trade and profession. Here is the common-sense rule: when you’re out on your own night business that has nothing to do with journalism, you’re not a journalist. And media should not scream that a journalist – implicitly in the line of duty – was assaulted. Both bring shame to all of us. Journalism is about integrity. We can’t stand atop a moral pedestal pontificating to others while we ourselves are naked.

See you Monday!