JOURNALISM AT WAR - THE PERIL OF BEING A PROFESSIONAL MORE THAN A HUMAN BEING

War. Journalism. When the worlds represented by these two words collide, there's a very high chance of the humanity in journalists coming into conflict with their professional responsibilities. And this became evident, when the crew of a Kenyan TV station covering the war in Somalia, was caught in the crossfire.

Reporting of the war on Al Shabaab, being waged by the Kenya Defence Forces, has largely been consisting of the weekly military briefings, statements by the military's spokesman and almost daily print and broadcast stories filed by the various journalists on the war front.

The news items have markedly been devoid of any real combat action accounts, and at times even difficult to distinguish real facts from war propaganda. The Al Shabaab militia after all, has also been issuing its own favourable casualty figures.

But this routine was dramatically shattered, when the Citizen TV crew got the full brunt of the implications of reporting war, after Al Shabaab militants started firing at the convoy of Kenyan troops they were travelling with.

Such is the moment many people perhaps had been waiting for, since this incursion started last October. Real frontline action. And the experience was made even more alive, courtesy of the brave cameraman, who kept filming amid all the shooting. This is a major risk, even in terms of it later being a source of trauma. In her important publication, 'Reporting War,' Sharon Schmickle observes with relief that:

"A former sense of 'macho journalism' is giving way to a smarter approach that is grounded in scientific wisdom about trauma and its costs to people and job performance."

But the way the story was told in the subsequent evening news, however, was to me disappointing on two fronts. One, Citizen TV found it a tad too important to bask in the glory of being in possession of the exclusive dramatic footage, to the extent, I feel, of watering down the impact of the encounter.

Much as that story was visually thrilling and warranting some chest thumping by the channel, it provided a window into the dangerous world of the soldiers, fighting hard to safeguard Kenya's national security. And not forgetting the possible mental anguish of the journalist covering the same.

It would thus have been appropriate for the station not to appear too excited for getting this scoop, especially given the way their reporter on the ground appeared so shaken by the day's event, because this was in conflict with the 'celebratory' tone used in delivering the story.

Secondly, I think mixing the facts of the story and the personal experiences of the crew in the main story did not work well. Both perspectives are extremely important and this is why I expected two separate stories.

Proper context has to be provided, for viewers to appreciate why the reporter is more of a human being than a journalist, when he is recounting the frightening details of being caught up in enemy fire.

Otherwise, it would be very easy to ask, 'What does a journalist covering a war expect, if not to touch fear, taste blood, hear explosions, see dead bodies or smell death itself?' Maybe, but this does not mean the journalist has to always react with professional distance. Sharon Schmickle says:

"Allow yourself some normal response. Sure you are a brave correspondent, but you also are a human being with deep-seated emotions that may startle the journalist in you."

So let's applaud journalists covering war and lessen their peril by allowing them to once in a while keep aside their professional responsibilities and be human in reacting to the dangers they encounter.

THE 'MORAL CRIME' OF COVERING CRIME NEWS

A television news crew on a New Year's eve assignment, stumbles upon a gang of youths, daringly robbing people in the streets of Nairobi. The crew keeps the camera rolling and the next day, the story is in the main bulletins. Did the news crew commit any moral crime?



According to some people, it was unfair for the TV crew to have just continued to film, as people were being mugged openly. Here is a sample of some of the complaints about this particular story.

'Seriously, am a big fan of NTV but after watching that clip, I realised you are only after news and you do not care about the common guy that was being mugged! Your editorial team is heartless.'

'Shame on the media for enjoying the miseries of the common mwananchi.'

'NTV crew says you trailed the muggers for 30 minutes, why didn't you alert the Central Police and you have their hotline numbers? Only to show Kenyans you are working and can't help them. Shame on you.'

It is during the coverage of such stories that one gets to appreciate just how complex the work of a journalist is, how difficult it is to meet perceived expectations from the public, and how easy it is to be vulnerable to all manner of condemnations, for simply doing you job.

This is what one of the NTV crew members had to say about this particular story:

"We were actually on our way to film another story, when we noticed a gang robbing people in the streets. As we trailed them, we kept warning people to avoid going in the gang's direction and urged them to stop using their cell phones openly. But sadly, some ignored our advice. The gang was violent and we too had to think of our personal security and that of the filming equipment.  We did try to inform the police officers on patrol that we came across, but it seems like they were a bit overwhelmed because the gang kept changing their movement from street to street."

So there you have it. The team did it's best in having the welfare of those being attacked at heart, other than just focusing on the unfolding crime story.

This story, perhaps reflects the eternal predicament faced by journalists globally. Do you detach yourself from the suffering of the people you are doing a story about, or do you put your professional responsibility aside and be human first?

2011 BLOG ROLL: THE TOP TOPIC TREAT

2011 has been, to use a retired cliche, a very eventful year. Going through all the blog posts for this year, also has its own revelations, about what interests readers the most. There's no prize for guessing because the most popular topic is an obvious one. SEX.

And as we see off the year and prepare to usher 2012, here now is a run down of the most favourite posts of 2011, in descending order, based on page view counts.

• Sexual Healing On Kenyan TV: Connect And Get Cured?

• Uhuru Kenyatta's Utterances: Using Storify To Aggregate Feedback

• From Jamaica With Proud Shame: Dancehall Lesson For Kenyans

• The Don'ts And Dont's For Female Television Presenters

• Police Execution Or Crime Elimination?

• Of Sex Toys, Journalism And A Veiled Product Endorsement

• Does Failure To Mention Names Make Raila Odinga's 'Hate Speeches' Okay?

• Morbid Fascination With Deaths: Lessons For Kenyan Media From America

• The 'Now' Plague Afflicting Kenyan TV News Anchors

• Separating Dowry From Bride Price: Who Pays What?

• Preying Using Prayer: Away With Questionable Religious Shows On TV

• News Presentation 101: The NTV County Edition Way

Big revelation of the year for me: I need to cut down the number of full colons in my blog titles.

May 2012 grant you all your desired wishes.

CAN ATWOLI ATONE FOR MISFIRING STRIKE BY TRANSPORT UNIONS?

From the onset, calling for a country-wide strike with Christmas looming large, didn't sound like a bright idea. The country has been treated to a not so jolly ride of one strike after another and it seems apathy or fatigue has set in already. But Francis Atwoli  and a bunch of unions in Kenya's transport sector saw things differently.

Atwoli had a day before the intended industrial action, delivered an inspiring speech that was televised live, in which he did somewhat managed to pass out as a darling of the down-trodden.

But the the lukewarm reception of the strike call, and the reality of attempting to organise a 10-day general strike in the middle of what is probably the most profitable period for the public transport sector, finally yielded some common sense in COTU.

Here is a glimpse of how this matter was perceived by Kenyans on social media networks.

HELP! A REVISE EDITOR TO ARREST ERRORS WANTED

Revise Editor. Quality Controller. The importance of either of these titles or holders of these positions in a newsroom should never have to be justified. Automation or the loftiest of technological advancements just seem incapable of eliminating 'human errors' in finished news products.

With TV news, the level of alertness required from an editor is probably more taxing because, well, whatever is being processed, be it news highlights, lower-third story tags or titles, sometimes have to go straight on air.

And matters get complicated if it's one person doing this wonderful example of high pressure multi-tasking. The result: the hideous spelling mistakes you see in your evening TV bulletin, the humongous grammatical howlers or simply put, a very dedicated 'mission possible' to massacre the English language.

The solution: a revise editor or quality controller. A fresh or last set of eyeballs to go through the finished news product, especially its textual or graphical elements.

Call me a division of labour junkie but at times you really give your best to ensure the product is error free, only to be made aware of some very embarrassing albeit elementary mistakes, just when it's impractical to redeem your grammar soul.

Now here is the funny part though. Most local newspaper or magazine publishers I know of, do have somebody designated to do the work of a revise editor or quality controller. And yet grammatical or even factual errors do abound in finished products.

There is usually an elaborate chain of people, nay, 'journalistic 'experts or gatekeepers, strategically placed in the assembly line of a newspaper, from the reporters, to the news editors, from the sub editors to the managing editor. And oh yes, somewhere along the line is often a revise editor.

It thus beats me, why a newspaper story should pass all these checks and publishing pit-stops and still hit the newsstands, stating that Uganda is among the major East African cities, like Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

Neither is it that easy to comprehend why a 'famous' football team from Germany should be referred to as 'Hamburger!!' (Oh the horror, given it's the team I have been supporting for donkey years).

But then again, as a fellow error-prone journalist, I shouldn't be too quick to pass judgement.

ODE TO MEDIA INTERNS: AWAY WITH RECYCLING OLD FACES

There's something unnerving for many people, whenever they hear or see a new face reporting news on television. But for me, as long as the new talent has the broadcasting basics covered, it's quite refreshing to encounter a new personality delivering news. So hail media interns and down with recycling of old hands or is it faces?

Granted, the vast experience and professionalism possessed by veterans in the media industry, is a major asset. But it should always be remembered they too, have a shelf life that will one day approach the expiry date.

And this is the more the reason why media houses should invest in unearthing more journalists to keep the assembly line going, it being more expensive in terms of time, energy and finances spent on training, notwithstanding.

In actual fact, because of their deep knowledge of the industry and hands on experience in the news business, it is the veterans that might actually cost an arm and a leg to contract and maintain.

But this is not to say the budding journalists full of zeal and determination to succeed, but lacking a name or brand recognition, should be exploited by being overworked and underpaid.

Far from it. Prevailing market rates should ideally be reflected in any compensation packages, because it is quite diabolic and shameful for a self-respecting news establishment to take advantage of vulnerable interns, who are eternally grateful for having been given a chance, to the point of being blind and insensitive to their own welfare needs or fair rules of engagement.



And of what use is it for a media company to help nurture this fresh talent only to let it go, especially on the not so rare circumstances, where it could be letting something special slip away?

Not every intern can or should be absorbed into full time employment. But a professionally done assessment should be able to pinpoint the future gems, just by evaluating their growth potential.

Like the Jamaican crooner, Winston Hussey, musically observed:

"Long cut draw sweat. But short cut draw blood."

So enough with the musical chair business in the Kenyan media scene. Let's give deserving fresh talent a chance.

NEWSROOM NONSENSE: WHY CONFIRM THE OBVIOUS?

Confirmation. A very important piece of detail that every serious news establishment should try to get, before publishing or broadcasting, especially potentially controversial issues. Stories from the newsroom have an uncanny way of at times finding their way to courtrooms and confirming facts could be a legal lifesaver. But confirming the obvious is over-stretching it.

A television news item, for example, shows images (at times graphic ones) of a shootout between suspected criminals and the police. There are a couple of bodies, firearms and spent cartridges being alluded to or shown directly.

Then you hear the reporter saying something like, 'The police have confirmed the incident..."

Is it that the images just splashed and the reporter's account of the incident are not to be believed initially, or is it that for them to be believable, somebody in 'authority' has to confirm them first?

Using that annoying statement of 'Confirming the incident,' even for a print story, adds no value whatsoever in the overall reportage, not unless perhaps there was a denial of what is being reported, in the same story.

So if the Kenya police, for example, deny there was a grenade explosion  somewhere, in the on going war on Al Shabaab, and the reverse is true, it would be perfectly alright to mention the Kenya Defence Forces, as having confirmed the incident.

Why then confirm that which has not been denied in the first place, like what is witnessed in many a Kenyan news story? I just don't get it.

Perhaps it is a hangover from our political past, when information meant for public consumption, had to be dispensed with all protocol observed, lest one found oneself on the foul side of the dictatorial divide.