KTN’s Hot Topics show last Friday morning ran into unintended ugly consequences, thanks to a lewd headline on The Nairobian, a gossip newspaper that the show host and her guests reviewed on air.
“I never chewed Apostle Ng’ang’a wife – Bishop,” said the headline. The show host read it out loud, understandably cringing on “chewed.”
Then “chewed” got written on the Standard Group’s web page, all in uppercase, together with other hot topics of the day: “I Never Chewed Apostle Ng’ang’a Wife-Bishop”, “Lamu Senator & Sonko’s Daughter Attacked.”
By Sunday, thankfully, somebody had caught the huge error and replaced “chewed” with “touched.”
But the damage was already done. Google had already spread the “chewed” version all over the internet, practically to anyone running a search for “N’gang’a”, “Lamu” or “Sonko’s Daughter.” It came to us Friday evening via Google News Alerts for “Lamu.”
We don’t think that the Standard’s mainstream outlets wanted Google engine catching and broadcasting the lewd headline that originated from The Nairobian.
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The recent behaviour of Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, among other senior state officers, in full glare of the media demonstrates that Chapter Six of the Constitution, the chapter on integrity, is now a doormat.
Once upon a time, a whole deputy chief justice, Nancy Baraza – she of the “You-should-know-people” fame – was thrown out of office for allegedly pinching the nose of a security guard at the Village Market. That was back in early 2012 during President Kibaki’s last term, the good old times when Chapter Six was still fresh in our minds.
A year later at the start of President Kenyatta’s first term, Nairobi’s first governor Evans Kidero slapped his county’s first Woman Representative Rachel Shebesh on camera. Nothing happened to Kidero.
Fast forward to the present day. It’s June 1, Madaraka Day. Governor Sonko, suited up as commander-in-chief of Kanjos, gets up to address Nairobi citizens from Pumwani grounds. And, according to the Nation, Sonko publicly insults Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, who had complained about project delays and that the governor did not answer her calls:
“I will pick your calls when I am free,” Sonko lashed out, according to the Nation, June 5. “I am not your husband that I should be picking your calls the time you want!”
Passaris, an elected legislator, walked out. The Federation of Women Lawyers on Sunday called for Sonko’s arrest for contravening Chapter Six and engaging in hate speech, according to the Nation.
Who thinks Governor Sonko will be held to account like Deputy Chief Justice Baraza was, anyone?
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A curious headline doing the rounds last Thursday and Friday said: “President Uhuru bans single-use plastics in protected areas.”
What the heck is single-use plastics? A reader would hope for quick clarification. The Star and the Nation got it right.
While other media outlets wrote full stories about this announcement by the President in Vancouver, Canada, without explaining what “single-use plastics” means, the Star in its June 6 issue helpfully explained in the fifth paragraph:
“In effect, this means Kenyans going to the beach or national parks are banned from carrying water bottles, plastic plates, plastic cups as well as plastic spoons and forks.”
This is the nut graph, the paragraph that tells the reader why what they’re reading is important. It should come much sooner, preferably by the third paragraph.
The Nation did it in the second paragraph with this sentence:
“Visitors to national parks, beaches, forests and conservation areas will not be allowed to carry disposable plates, cups, straws, spoons, forks and water bottles, which are considered major environmental pollutants.
Without this explanatory paragraph, the average reader would not know what the heck single-use plastics means.
