It was another day of protests on Thursday August 8, 2024, as demonstrators battled security agents in the now common scenes in the streets of Nairobi.
Dubbed ‘Nane Nane’, the Gen Zs who are still not satisfied that President William Ruto has met their governance demands poured into the streets to register their displeasure. Thankfully, there were no deaths recorded even though several people were injured.
As is expected, the media was there to cover the unfolding scenes. But were they really?
Citizen TV carried a story in its 9pm bulletin that showed police officers targeting journalists who were on duty. A female journalist was injured by a baton-wielding officer while another was seen receiving a high kick.
Several questions beg answers in these scenes. What would make an officer hit a branded journalist doing their job? Could it be that the journalist was interfering with the officer’s work even as she tried to do hers? Well, only the affected journalist or officer can testify to what really transpired. And what did the reporter who was kicked do to earn the wrath of the officer?
Citizen TV carried the story on the attacks on journalists for two consecutive days, repeating the response of the acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli with no fresh information. A journalist who was interviewed confessed that some of his colleagues confronted the security agents to ask why they were teargassing them. This may have led to the attacks.
It would appear that a certain crop of journalists is going into the field to cover the protests with a set mind. Could their objective be to depict the officers as the aggressors and scribes as the victims? If this is true, it is unfortunate.
Perhaps these media professionals have forgotten how to conduct themselves in conflict situations. Instead of keeping to their lane they cross others’ boundaries, all in the name of getting a story or a picture.
But it would be important to remind them of the rules that govern reporting conflict situations. The first is to be safe and not to put oneself in harm’s way unnecessarily. We’ve said it before here that when going for a potentially dangerous assignment, use common sense. You want to remain alive to report another day. The oft repeated advice that no story is worth dying for should always be kept in mind.
Refresher courses to retool the media practitioners are necessary so they can sustainably and resiliently carry out their mandate. Police officers have a job to do just as journalists. No one group should therefore interfere with the other. Journalists should always be self-aware and have a clear understanding of their assignment, the environment, and all the actors involved. Let them do what they know best, and that is to report the news instead of wanting to be the news makers.
