President William Ruto’s visit to former President Uhuru Kenyatta was news every media house wanted to break.
Not necessarily because it was a ‘man bite dog’ situation, but because of its ‘timeliness’ as an ‘unexpected’ political event.
To an ordinary Kenyan, news that President Ruto had travelled from State House to Ichaweri village, Gatundu South in Kiambu County, to meet his former boss carried a lot of weight, and at some point would have sounded like a hoax.
Kenyans know only too well how the two faired during their last term in office, and how politically they parted ways before and during the 2022 campaigns, up to power handover.
Hence, when The Standard in its early news breaking splash, ended up with a mixed date in the intro, that the meeting happened on Monday, December 12 instead of Monday, December 9, readers were confused as to whether the news was true or a hoax.
After the catchy headline – ‘Ruto visits former President Kenyatta in Gatundu family home’ written by Stephanie Wangari – the intro went, “President William Ruto visited his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, at his family home in Gatundu on Monday, December 12”.
Although this was later corrected after several hours of being online, two factors led to confusion in this story’s earlier intro.
The fact that Jamhuri Day was due the same week on Thursday was quite confusing.
So, the reader was left wondering whether the two politicians met that Monday, or would be meeting as we celebrated Jamhuri Day.
Two, more confusion was due to the fact that the online date line, next to the author’s byline, clearly indicated Monday, December 9 as the date of publishing the story.
Looking at these contradictions, in disbelieve the reader easily could have dismissed the breaking news as a hoax, as usually happens every April 1.
For one catching up with breaking news while in the field, the only saviour was counter-checking with other news’ channels.
Alas! It was no hoax. Several other media houses and channels had broken the news and one now could sigh, trust it. The two old buddies had actually met, political differences, or none.
Journalists in their trade know that, for news to qualify as authentic, it entails accuracy and with it, stating facts correctly.
The error in The Standard intro was avoidable, had the news editor cross-checked facts where the writer might have missed it, avoiding skepticism.
The nature of the news was ‘a rarity’ too. Any news editor would have predicted an element of disbelieve in the reader’s mind, prompted by the past and current political events, particularly following the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua as Deputy President.
Knowing the news would influence the people’s perception, Nation preferred to capture the reader’s attention by intoning its intro with a political reality in its headline: ‘Ruto and Uhuru secret meeting catches many, including local security bosses, by surprise’.
The Nation further put more impact on the unprecedented occasion with this intro: “In an unexpected twist that has left political circles buzzing, President William Ruto paid a surprise visit to his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday, at his Ichaweri home in Gatundu South, Kiambu.”
Generally, different angles taken by different newsrooms collectively led to the question: What next for Kenyans after the political bigwigs’ meeting?
What next for the country and its diverse communities; their daily hussle and their economy? Kenyans need journalists speeding up this critical debate, as here, the rubber meets the road.
