By Lucy Mwangi
When news anchor Terryanne Chebet departed Citizen TV in 2016, a lot of people thought her career as a journalist was over. She went ahead to reinvent herself online by working with notable brands, starting a reputable business, and building a strong personal brand for herself.
Similar trends can be seen with other journalists such as Johnson Mwakazi, who silently made his way into corporate and digital spaces, Asha Mwilu, Mac Otani, Mark Maasai, and Dennis Okari, who walked down similar paths. Their new endeavours indicate a telling trend: Kenyan newsrooms are bleeding talent as more and more promising and reputable journalists continue to leave for the growing influencer economy; clear evidence of the disruption digital spaces have caused traditional media.
At the core of this exodus lies a stark financial reality. Journalism, which has always been regarded as a prestigious profession and a stable job is struggling to withstand the digital disruption. In Nairobi, some media houses pay entry-level reporters an average of Sh 40,000 a month. Even the mid-career journalists in some of the leading media houses do not make it past Sh150,000.
One of the key notable gaps in the remuneration of journalists, according to Kenya Union of Journalists, is the lack of a standard pay structure for media workers. Media experts believe one giant step that would make a difference in the media, especially concerning the compensation of journalists, is introducing a national remuneration policy for the sector. While some media houses have remuneration policies, they differ according to the category of the journalist, that’s a writer, reporter, or news anchor.
In May 2025, the Media Council of Kenya conducted a survey on the status of of county-based journalist, which found that the majority of contracted journalists (62 per cent) lacked permanent employment terms. “There is a stark contrast in contractual security between employed and freelance journalists. While 75% of employed journalists have written contracts, 80% of freelancers operate without formal agreements. Furthermore, 71% of all contracted journalists lack permanent employment and 14% are engaged on short-term contracts lasting three to six months. These findings underscore the precarious nature of journalism jobs and the urgent need for labour protections and standardised contracting. Just over half (53%) of contracted journalists received paid leave while 47% did not, highlighting inconsistencies in employment benefits and enforcement of labor standards across the industry”
From these statistics, it is clear that financial security is now elusive, with the advertising revenues shrinking and becoming the order of the day. Benefits once taken for granted; housing allowances, foreign assignments, even proper medical cover – are being stripped away. In the meantime, workloads have expanded, and journalists are expected to churn out stories for print, television, and digital platforms.
In contrast, some influencers working in the digital space doing are quite well. Kenyan content creators like Elsa Majimbo, who rose to global stardom during the pandemic, and TikTok sensation Azziad Nasenya, have demonstrated the staggering earning potential of social media. A look at the market reveals that a mid-tier influencer with roughly 50,000 followers can charge between Sh20,000–50,000 for a single branded post. Rates for top-tier celebrities exceed Sh200,000 per campaign. Big influential YouTubers earn thousands of dollars each month from sponsorships, ads, and direct fan support. Unlike newsroom contracts, the influencer model offers creative autonomy, flexibility, and worldwide reach.
Investigative reporting, once the bedrock of Kenyan journalism, is increasingly under threat. Veteran journalists such as John-Allan Namu, who left KTN to co-found Africa Uncensored, highlight both the possibilities and precarity of going independent. This kind of endeavours require great financial muscle. His platform produces hard-hitting investigations, surviving largely on grants and donor funding, underscoring how fragile investigative journalism has become outside the traditional newsroom.
This shift is also transforming the way public conversations are shaped. Larry Madowo’s rise from NTV to CNN shows that journalists with strong personal brands can succeed on the global stage, but such opportunities are rare. Increasingly, narratives are shaped by influencers whose content reaches more people than a prime-time bulletin. While this democratisation of voices is exciting, it also raises concerns about accountability and impartiality. Who regulates influencers when they blur facts with entertainment or when brand sponsorships influence their messaging?
The future of Kenyan journalism hangs in the balance. Newrooms must urgently rethink their models, embracing subscriptions, membership-driven content, and aggressive digital monetisation. Policy interventions, such as tax incentives for independent media, could also provide a lifeline. Most importantly, media houses need to invest in talent retention, offering not just better pay but creative freedom to compete with the lure of influencer culture.
For now, however, the talent war is being won by influencers. From the foregoing, one can easily conclude that, without immediate reforms, the most influential individuals in public discourse will eventually be chosen not by journalistic ethics but by follower accounts and brand endorsements.
Lucy works at the Media Councils of Kenya based at the Media Monitoring and Research Department
