Now that the dust has settled, shall we confront the Elephant in the room? Its name is media accountability.
People grumble every day everywhere about media failures. But this critical issue shot into the limelight on March 6, when Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot tweeted as follows:
“Pres WSR will succeed in crushing every cartel in the country save for two that are extremely powerful. 1 KE Banks. 2 KE Media. Both are very powerful, influential, and synergise so well to protect each other’s interest. For public good, a way must be found.”
That was chilling. Direct threat to the media invoking the name of the highest authority in the land. The reaction was fast and furious.
“It is dumbfounding that the senator sees the media as a cartel rather than a catalyst of Kenya’s democratic discourse without which many politicians of his ilk would never have emerged to become anything worth quoting,” Kenya Editors Guild fired back.
“If we are to take his comment seriously, the senator is saying that the President is keen to crush the media. We hope he is wrong and that President Ruto and his government have no such designs.”
KEG said, “All national leaders have a duty to promote rule of law and it is very concerning when a key leader in Parliament chooses the rule of the jungle on any matter. Mr Cheruiyot is reminded to approach the Media Complaints Commission with any competent claim, and cease and desist from undermining Kenya’s democracy.”
Senator Cheruiyot’s tweet was the top story that evening on NTV Tonight. “Kericho senator, who also doubles up as the Leader of Majority in the Senate, Aaron Cheruiyot, has trained his guns on the media and the banking sector in Kenya, labelling the two as cartels,” a visibly troubled Smriti Vidyarthi read out.
“Well, his statement comes in the wake of verbal attacks aimed at the media fraternity, spewed on numerous occasions by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. So, is the government hatching a plan to muzzle the media?”
Newspaper editors wrote angry headlines and editorials. “End attack on free media”, The Standard said in a Page 1 editorial on March 8. “We condemn the outrageous attacks on the media in the name of cracking down on cartels. The media are answerable to Kenyans and are not a cartel”.
“Attacks on the media undermine democracy,” the People Daily editorial stated. “The senator represents an overzealous cabal in government that considers independent, robust and critical media as an enemy and an obstacle to their agenda.”
Why is Senator Cheruiyot so hostile to the media? What is his complaint exactly? Does he have a point? Nobody knows. Because no one stopped to ask these questions. Partly because of the senator’s unacceptable choice of words. You see, when people exchange harsh words the truth of what’s the problem risks being entirely lost in the kerfuffle.
But also, partly because the media mostly doesn’t want to listen. It likes to talk. Somewhere down in PD’s editorial the editors wrote that, “There is no denying that like any institution, the Kenyan media is not without blemish. That’s why journalists operate under a professional and ethical code of conduct, which is enforced by their employers and the Media Council of Kenya.”
Well, on the day Cheruiyot fired from the hip – and continued to do so for several days after – Media Council of Kenya CEO David Omwoyo wrote arguably his sharpest criticism of the media since taking over at Britam Centre in 2017.
On February 11, the MCK requested media houses to provide photos and videos of the widely reported forced entry by security forces into the home of former Interior CS Fred Matiang’i in Karen.
“The request was an opportunity for the media to not only show its professionalism and responsibility in public interest matters but specifically to disprove the government agencies which had put the credibility of the media on the spot,” the CEO said.
“Unfortunately, despite the MCK media monitoring system capturing 26 news articles by mainstream media on the event, none showed either Dr Matiang’i himself or the alleged security officials. The media have failed to provide any photos or videos.”
MCK’s conclusion? “By failing to adhere to their own Code of Conduct and rejecting any form of peer review or established regulations and practice, the media becomes a threat to democracy and press freedom and instead become agents of impunity who are resisting any form of accountability,” Omwoyo protested.
While the story of Cheruiyot’s tweet received saturation coverage, Omwoyo’s statement on the media’s failure in a matter of such immense public interest was given a complete blackout. The legitimate concerns of the institution solely mandated by the Constitution to set and enforce media standards were totally ignored by the same media that preaches democracy, respect for the rule of law and institutions.
The media is accountable to the public, and the mechanism for that accountability is the Media Council of Kenya.
If the Fourth Estate openly defies the authority of a constitutionally mandated regulator, crying out ‘media freedom’ every time they are called to account, how do they expect the same regulator to defend them against attacks by powerful individuals, or even by dissatisfied citizens?
