COVID-19, PRICELESS AGENDA SETTING, AND THE TOP NEWS PRIZE

Consumers of mainstream news products have greatly evolved. Their information intake does not just revolve around the output of established media channels. And that presents a major challenge to professionals trying to remain relevant in the news business, during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the top prize, good old news agenda setting remains priceless.

The coronavirus coverage in Kenya has involved a daily dose of what the country's health officials share, in terms of infections, recoveries and even deaths.

The shock value has since dissipated, and the audience hardly gets surprised by even new highs in the statistics, and their perceived significance can hardly be linked to a corresponding behavioural change.

News media managers therefore, have to re-examine how best to continue telling the Covid-19 stories in an impactful manner, that is both relevant and interesting.

Indeed, it would be foolhardy to send reporters to the government's press briefings, hoping they will come back with a good story, entirely based on what is said during the pressers.

Before leaving the newsroom, the reporters should already have their story, and attending the briefings should be an opportunity to enhance their predetermined content, or seek clarifications and official positions on the already identified issues.

In other words, the reality that press conferences are staged events should by now have firmly become self-evident.

Assignment editors:

- Don't send reporters to media briefings with questions to form the body of their story.

- Arm them with a story first, which will lead to probing questions.

FROM LEGACY JOURNALISM TO A JOURNALIST'S LEGACY

To be a media practitioner is now hardly an attractive career option. The market is flooded with all manner of talent, both raw and refined. The unbridled storytelling passion of yore has given way to vain quests for fame and fortune. Legacy journalism is constantly being devalued, and not many a journalist is adding value to their legacy.

Indeed, media managers, pacesetters and trendsetters ought to re-examine the kind of legacy they are leaving behind, as they exit the stage, or approach the final bend in their illustrious careers.

- Did you allow others to thrive, or were you the one ensuring others don't survive?

- Were you among those taking the credit first, and feeling threatened by fast-rising talent?

- Or did you unselfishly push others to excel, and did not discredit their achievements?

- Will you be remembered for being a firm but fair boss, or will memories of you be laced with newsroom affairs, and failure to affirm professionalism?

- What kind of role model have you been, or do you believe you have no modelling role?

It's never too late to change your present, so that in future, your history will be honourable.

VIEWER, VIEWS AND BALANCED VIEWPOINTS

We are currently living in very perilous times. The whole world appears to be confronted by a common enemy. And both local and international media have kept this story alive, adding to efforts to save lives, in light of the coronavirus pandemic.  It's refreshing to see TV news coverage incorporating a diverse pool of experts and commentators. The viewer expects balanced viewpoints.

In what seems like an eternity, the dominant opinion in TV news shows has been emanating from male voices, with token appearances of female representatives, every now and then.

An all women panel thus presents a powerful statement of the 'neglected' abilities, capacities and brilliance that reside in the female consciousness.

Indeed, male perceptions in any discourse are likely to only give us half the story, and it would need the input of women to complete the picture.

Which then raises another issue.

Is having an all female panel in TV news discussions equally a disservice to the viewer?

Will this also lead to a warped world-view?

The main aim, I guess, should be to have balanced views, irrespective of whether they are coming from male or female viewpoints.

JOURNALISM: THE (IN)SANITY OF BECOMING ONE WITH THE STORY

You are likely to start your journalism career with high energy, driven by mighty winds of ambition. Confidently balancing between serving public interest, and servicing self-interests of growth and success. Telling the story of other people grows on you. And you become a well-known story-teller. Then you and the story become one. The insanity around you, makes you question your own sanity.

How is it that a people can be so brutally uprooted, pain written all over their faces, and your work is just to report their plight?

Indeed, it becomes very difficult to tear away from the realities confronting you. The contradictions in life become more alive.

How other people's dreams can uplift you. And their nightmares won't leave you.

As our TV crew went about filming and filing stories about the desperation in northern Burkina Faso, I kept reflecting on the failures of humanity.

Seeing, especially children being exposed to so much suffering, makes you question the very meaning of life.

The shock...the horror...the trauma! If that's how I felt, what words would sufficiently describe the agony of those directly affected?

In a way, telling such stories could be the only way to mobilise assistance.

For me as a journalist, sanity prevails if there's a good ending.

But insanity is no longer far away, if all I do is help to tell a never-ending sad story.

THE DAY I MADE PRESIDENT MOI LAUGH

Kenya has been mourning the passing of the country's second president. Granted, the rule of the late Daniel arap Moi, was associated with a lot of political repression, brutality and suppressed civil liberties. Still, there are those who harbour memories of pleasant encounters. I cannot  forget the day I made the then president Moi laugh.

It was customary for educational institutions to be drafted into entertainment programs for the former Head of State.

Towards the end of my first university days, I happened to be part of a very  dynamic drama team, which specialised in delivering often unscripted,yet powerful, hilarious and poignant performances.

Such was the popularity of our group of 'legendary' thespians, that we easily landed an invite to perform for the president at his Kabarak home chapel, during one of the Christmas festivities.

Normally, it was the choir that would be chosen to belt out Christmas carols that were always a favourite with president Moi, but like I've said, it was hard to ignore the then thriving stage creatives.

Having us on board was obviously a big risk for our minders, but since the theme was going to be a Christian one,  there was some comfort that we wouldn't easily stray into dangerous territory.

And so for many evenings, we rehearsed the Christmas play, supervised by very senior university administrators,  including vice chancellors.

The 'notorious' drama team worked hard to perfect a skit based on an imaginary baby Jesus, being born in the streets of Nairobi, with all the attendant chaos of the late 1990s.

And on the day of the big performance, I was ready to deliver my role as a  tout for a public service mini-bus, popularly known as matatu in Kenya.

On spotting the couple cast as Joseph and a pregnant Mary, I loudly beckoned to them:

"Hamza...Buruburu...Kayole...Komarock....na Bethlehem!!!

I then grabbed their luggage as I ushered them into the improvised matatu prop. It was no more than a group of students strategically standing/bending in such a way as to represent a vehicular contraption.

Once Joseph and Mary were in, I took their luggage to the rear end of the makeshift matatu, lifted the hands of two actors outwards, to simulate the opening of the boot or trunk, then placed the bags inside, then simultaneously brought the two outstretched hands downwards, to close the boot.

It was then that our eyes met.

I panicked.

The dreaded president Moi was laughing at something that I had done!

I froze and couldn't recall what I was to do or say next.

Luckily, my scene naturally blended into the encounter between Joseph, Mary and the innkeeper.

But wait...Daniel  Toroitich arap Moi laughed...based entirely on something that I did?

Such was the power that he wielded, that even managing to elicit a direct reaction from him...counts as a big achievement for me.

Please allow me to hold onto this memory, as Kenya lays to rest its longest-serving president.

FACTS, FICTION AND FANTASY NEWS

The world of make belief works best in the movies business. Truth might sometimes be stranger than fiction, but facts remain the bedrock of true journalism. There is fantasy football, but there can never be fantasy news. That's why foolishly unbelievable newspaper accounts are so irksome.

It's almost impossible to explain why the editor elected to dwell in impossibilities, in crafting the article above.

Immediately after the headline, a reader encounters a strange bit of information stating:

Education ministry extends the deadline for Form One admission  to January 17.

Have you noted the absurdity yet?

I've given you a clue already. And it has all to do with the date of publication for this particular paper.

At the far-right corner...the date reads 19th January! And the deadline extension being suggested...up to 17th January.

The 'clueless' editor couldn't care less that the right information is well captured in the main article.

The reader would certainly care more if editorial judgement is not easily compromised.

OLD MEDIA ISSUES AND DICTATES OF A NEW DECADE

It's the beginning of a new decade. But old issues appear destined to remain on the Kenyan media landscape. It's been more than ten years and counting, since this platform started to highlight editorial missteps, misadventures, misinterpretations, misinformation, and the occasional media brilliance. 

However, of what value will continued critiquing of the same mistakes be?

Going forward, it should no longer be about pointing out media failures at the level of simple typographical errors, and reporting or contextual inaccuracies.

It may be a long shot, but one hopes media coverage of local and international issues will evolve into a more sophisticated venture, feeding on the latest newsroom innovations, and driven by the most modern technologies.

This, I strongly believe, will subsequently trigger a more rigorous, and elevated media criticism.

indeed, the weekly frequency of the posts here, has remarkably been consistent.

But it may now be prudent to reduce the output, so as to allow the focus to be on weightier issues, whose merit should be pegged on significant value addition, and not mere media criticism.

Let the new chapter begin!

POSTSCRIPT: 
In the beginning of the last decade, there were very few Kenyan platforms, solely dedicated to media criticism. It was easy to push out very exclusive content. And in those days, posting screenshots of editorial blunders was still a novelty in this part of the world. But at the onset of the 2020 decade, virtually anyone with a smartphone, Internet connectivity and either of the abundant social media accounts, can be an effective media critic. An error in the traditional, digital or even alternative media, can't go undetected for long. This platform therefore, feels a little less obligated to keep the media in check, and grateful to have played a role in inspiring the culture of media scrutiny in Kenya.