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Wednesday 27 April 2011

STORIES ABOUT PRISONERS ON TV: SO WHAT AND FOR WHAT?



Criminals behind bars. Convicted and serving jail terms, some still professing their innocence, while others showing remorse for their heinous crimes. Such stories about prisoners are now being showcased in local TV channels. For what and so what?

KTN's Case File is an outstanding attempt at demystifying Kenya's penal system and what drives human beings to fall foul of the laws of the land.


It refreshingly seeks to reconstruct past crimes, carefully piecing together details prior to, during and after the crime is committed. The other amazing thing consequently is that a substantial part of every Case File is shot on location, outside the prison walls.

But one failing in my opinion stands tall. And it has to do with the fact that the traditional 5Ws and an H are no longer the holy grail of journalism, in the absence of another increasingly important question that needs to always be answered: SO WHAT?

Why dedicate so much resources in highlighting the not so rosy past of men or women behind bars? And even where the audience get to empathize with cases where there could have been a miscarriage of justice, one still is often left asking: SO WHAT?

Moreover, you hardly get to hear the take of an expert like a social psychologist well versed in aspects of criminality, being incorporated into the segment, and clearly, the reporter cannot be taken to be a credible authority on the matters being dealt with.

Lock Down: Women Behind Bars

Citizen TV's Lock Down series suffers from the same shortcomings. The lingering question almost always remains: SO WHAT?


Other than brilliantly capturing those turning points that made women and men take the law into their own hands resulting into their incarceration, and laying bare their emotional turmoil, mental and possibly physical distress, what is the one goal the producer hopes to achieve?

Are the various cases being subjected to a retrial in the court of public opinion or is getting inside the heavily fortified correctional facilities a means to no certain end?

There is a slight chance that crime could even end up being glamourized to the point of inspiring, especially those with an impressionable mind or devilish intentions or lose integrity, into deciding on a career move centered on criminality.

And it has not been lost to many people that Case File and Lock Down bear a striking resemblance that has set off debates as to who was copying who, between KTN and Citizen. But on this one, I fully concur with Robert Niles, when he states:
"No one outside of the field of journalism cares if you consider your reporting more original or more worthy than others' collection of information. They only care if your reporting delivers them more value than what those others offer. And the readers will make that decision for themselves, thank you very much."     
More value to the audience, for me, translates to answering the magical query: SO WHAT?

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

My thoughts exactly Gach.

Anonymous said...

i think other wise, these series are both informative and interesting, Keep on doing the good work

Anonymous said...

case files..during tha first episode,thea r tha ones whu showd us our lng lost aunt....y dnt u talk bout thoz too many soaps ntv keepz premeiring

Anonymous said...

Am nt a jounalist bt i believe the experience expresd by these prisoners brings some reality 2 the society and thus shaping behavior change.you media houses and jnlsts,just be creative and stop cold war.

Anonymous said...

So what?!!!

Anonymous said...

I disagree with u....the SO WHAT for me as the viewer has been to show me how easy it is to get lo led up for wrong life choices or uncontrolled emotions.in this society where we often wake up to stories of rapes,murders,robbery and drugs,these stories are sobering wake up calls

Anonymous said...

what about ntv's long soap operas?who likes them anyway?i'd rather watch case files which emphasizes on behaviour change than waste my time watching soap operas too.besides, prisoners are people too.

Anonymous said...

acha war wewe...even if there's no social psychologist & other professionals it just makes many in society value their freedom and show us the consequences of crimes....i never miss em...maybe u should come up with yours. I applaud em!!!

Anonymous said...

It doesn't matter what u think.I LOVE THE STORIES and i believe they are informative.

Anonymous said...

The stories helps us understand the importance of freedom and avoid taking law in our hands. i would like to view more n more of this. infact, its like am in a law class; let them even bring juveniles.

Anonymous said...

Shida yako ni nini? Kama hutaki kuona hiyo, tafuta ingine. Ama Tengeneza movie yako utuletee. These guys are trying to leta more local content yenye ita make an impact kwa society. wewe nawe na ujeuri wako unatafuta kuwa kosoa.

Anonymous said...

i think albert is jealous...journalism is not always about perfection, as the quote goes "In the real world, the right thing never happens in the right place and the right time. It is the job of journalists and historians to make it appear that it has"...so Albert, id suggest you ask your bosses to go and camp somwhere in one of the kenyan borders and come up with a winning story and stop whining!

Anonymous said...

I have not watched KTN since 2008 because
I believe they fanned the PEV(futile I know but am principled that way) so I wouldn't know about their version. I do however agree with you about Citizen TVs version. The 'so what?' does hang in the air. I actually thought these shows were building towards pardon for the highlighted cases after evaluation of their transformation while in prison. Then I came to realise that after the tasteless, sleezy and immoral(IMO) ADs on Liliam Muli's switch to Citizen TV they needed to justify themselves, by framing her 'sexiness' against the depressing prison background. What am I saying in so many words? That while the individuals featured had captivating stories to tell, the series fails to provide the 'Aha!' moment...

Anonymous said...

I believe no one forces pple to watch these case files and lock downs...so if one is watching, then that means he/she is intrested...I do love watching them..they are a real wake up call for many pple....yes...many! This is juz cheap propaganda for those who have run out of ideas and only show crap wazungu soaps...KTN...Citizen...thumbs up and continue doing the good work!
Patriku

Anonymous said...

CRAP, WHY ARE U JEALOUS? THESE STORIES ARE VERY IMPORTANT FOR OUR TODAY'S SOCIETY AND A LESSON TO ALL OF US INCLUDING YOU. KTN & CITIZEN TV KEEP IT UP YOU ARE DOING A GOOD JOB.

Anonymous said...

NTV and ALBERT GACHIRI,JIPENI SHUGHULI,use this time and space to make yourself useful to the nation.Ala!!

Anonymous said...

The kenyan media never handles the "so what" part of any issue so this is not new. However am dissapointed that u cant see that n more so that u can b this shallow when it comes to matters of prison. U r suggestin we 4get about those people, let them come back into the society and have them killed like it has happened severally.

You are saying that those useless soaps with nothing kenyan on them are better than understanding my fellow neighbor..... USELESS!!!!

Anonymous said...

just shut this blog..makes me sick!

Anonymous said...

I have an an opportunity to work on several assignments with albert gachiri who now doubles up as a dry cleaner or tv stories. i appreciate his level of intelligence, but that intelligence is only good for newspapers review and nothing more.
the so what factor gachiri wants the stories aired to answer is not only far fetched but malicious too.
i dont know which school of journalism gachiri went to, but the one that i attended, the basics of 5w and h have since evolved to something else.
it is unbecoming for a journalist of his kind to try and be-little the kind of effort the two series have put into making sure that stories about prisoners behind bars are told.
lets take for instance case files, i totally agree it is a series about stories touching on inmates but this is the first time in a very long time that inmates are confessing on camera that they have committed wanting crimes, they have since reformed and they are seeking integration with a society that has generally shunned them.
if i may ask, does anyone here remember albert gachiri for any outstanding story?....i guess only one...maybe that gives him reason to judge..i ask so what? for what?

Albert Gachiri said...

Now how about that!! Being insulted in my own blog!! Don't you just love freedom of expression? How I wish all the remarks being made were confined to the subject matter, instead of taking a very unwarranted personal attack route. As a media critic, I attempt to distinguish between what interests the public and what is in the public interest. So yes, these stories about inmates could be interesting to many people but is there an underlying public interest they intend to serve? But, and very importantly, I don't have the last word here. I do have my numerous failings, or like it has been pointed out here, there's probably only one outstanding story that I ever did. But that is honestly inconsequential for now. What is more important is that the wisdom of the crowd prevails. It's not and has never been my intention to belittle anybody or even deride any exhibited effort in the world of journalism. And if that perception has been created, then I sincerely apologize.

Anonymous said...

the comment by Albert Gachiri on 29 April 2011 16:38:And if that perception has been created, then I sincerely apologize" now that is media professionalism".i like that.