A LOOSE EDITORIAL GUIDE ON HOW TO LOSE WITHOUT SENSE OF LOSS

For some Kenyan newsrooms, one of those bad days in the office is gradually becoming like any other day, where editorial mishaps neither elicit shame nor the need to shape up. Mistakes and apologies follow in quick succession for weighty matters. But typos appear to be too lightweight. This is the loose editorial guide on how to lose without sense of loss.

But the eyesores that are typos, amount to a visual assault on the audience, especially where the intended meaning is shoved out of the window.

In the above example, what is the viewer supposed to make of the lower third tag:

Herders express fear for lose of livestock

I know it can happen to the best of editors, (and S is a good neighbour of E on the keyboard).

But the acceptable practice is to rectify on air errors as soon as they are spotted, however minor. The fact that this one lingered till the end of the story points to other deficient gate keeping abilities.

And the next sentencing of semantics reads:

Projcet is a collaboration between Kenya, USA and UK

I sret ym scae!

IGNORANCE, EGG ON TV PRESENTER'S FACE AND A RARE ON AIR DRESS DOWN

The TV presenter introduces an international football match. After the clip runs, he is left with egg on his face. One of the countries he had previously said was featuring, is the wrong one. Does he simply apologise for the ignorance? In a rare on air dress down, he scolds his own TV station's sports department.

Calling them out by name at first, he chides them for not knowing the difference between Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo. Their capitals may be on opposite shores of the same river, but they remain two distinct Congos.

The common practise in local channels, is for news presenters to go through their scripts, before heading to the studio. Script...not video clips!

So, one might clean up the Intro and polish the language, but if the clip played afterwards is contrary to what was introduced, then clearly the blame should lie elsewhere, right?

What is remarkable then, is the decision by the news presenter to give a 'live' lecture to his colleagues in the sports department, to up their game.

If he had just given the usual apology, then perhaps a viewer somewhere would have been left marveling at the ignorance of the TV presenter....instead of the actual culprits.

Broadcasting involves teamwork, but on this occasion, there was no need to take embarrassment for the team.

The sports department should get their facts on football. Collective responsibility my foot!

VANITY OF TEARS OVER TEAR-GASSED CHILDREN

There's safety in numbers. So the group of school children, flanked by teachers, parents and activists marched majestically to reclaim their playground. But when innocence encountered violence, a little girl suddenly was alone. She did not cry out to her teachers, or the activists. All she wanted was her mummy. That's the vanity of tears over tear-gassed children.

Had there not been earlier signs of potential trouble, given the heavy deployment of police officers and a canine unit in the disputed piece of land?

Given the checkered history of Kenyan anti-riot agents, was there no sufficient indication from the onset that the safety of the children was already compromised...

...even as some of them were misled into taunting the security officers?

Supposing by some stroke of diabolical ill-luck, the police fired live bullets on the children and we were talking of fatalities?

(To draw a picture-perfect analogy with the 1976 Soweto shootings, as highlighted in the local media).

What angle would the press have taken?

Police brutality, suicidal activism, or state cannibalism?

Would journalists even have remembered the issue of land grabbing?

Sure. Even children have a right to demonstrate and uphold their freedom to express anger over supposed corrupt dealings.

But 'strangely' no Kenyan TV station found it necessary to invite some of the affected kids to their studios, as part of the panel of analysts.

Yet the children were on the front-line, courageously defending their right to occupy their playground.

That little children were tear-gassed is despicable and should be condemned by all.

It's equally disturbing that children could have been put in grave danger, to score activism points in the process of highlighting a societal ill.

Let the media not lose focus on the key underlying issues.

Expose the vultures that gobble up public land. Expose the vultures that prey on children's vulnerabilities!

REMEMBERING A REDEFINED ANCHOR AND FORGETTING THE NEWS WAS LATE

Five minutes past the hour, the TV station was still airing commercials. At this time, major electronic media in Kenya have a news bulletin. Could this channel be breaking from tradition? 10 minutes past the hour, the station switches to news. So fine is the redefined anchor, hardly anyone notices the news was late.

Widely acclaimed locally for presenting news in Kiswahili, the anchor effortlessly executes a flawless delivery of the news in English, much to the amusement of her adoring (male) fans.

But in the lead up to the anchor's saving grace, there was probably a mini, if not a fully-fledged editorial crisis at the TV station, (insert my fertile imagination here).

There's only seconds to one o'clock and still no sign of the designated English News Presenter. The reasons could range from a serious personal emergency, technical hitches in the news studio, a gap in the duty roster, traffic, standoff in the newsroom (it can happen), and so on.

The transmission crew is directed to keep commercials running to buy some time. But when adverts start being repeated, there's need to change tact. Should the newscast be cancelled and a programme put on air? 

Hold on. There's a Kiswahili news presenter in the newsroom, (already assigned a story for both English and Kiswahili bulletins). Indeed, there's nothing wrong with the way she does her English stories.

This proves to be a master stroke by the station managers. The Kiswahili news anchor wows the audience and the social media is awash with her new found 'prowess' in the Queen's language.

Does anyone still remember the news was delayed for a whole 10 minutes? 

Moreover, it should be pleasing to the now bilingual news presenter, that viewers were saying more about her ambidextrous linguistic capabilities, as opposed to merely being platitudinous about her 'fabulous' fashion sense.

Let's show some gratitude for this kind of, 'bring it on' attitude!

TWO TV STATIONS, ONE PERSON, TWO NAMES

Getting the name of  a news source right. That ranks among the most basic of requirements for a news crew. A quick phone call or online cross-checking should clear any doubts. And yet one still comes across two TV stations, one person, but with two names being broadcast.

Granted, getting the proper name of a married woman can be a challenge, in this age of hyphenated appendages.

Again, a news organisation might have its own house style defining how to title news sources, which could restrict reporters to using only two names.

So, there's a slight chance media houses could name the same person differently, especially a married, female news source.

But that could be understandable, if all the individual elements of the collective name are displayed correctly.

In the example above, 'Jane' is awfully out of line, (even if a missing letter 't' could have made all the difference).

The acceptable possible combinations, it seems are: Janet Muthoni, Janet Ouko, Janet Muthoni-Ouko, Janet, or Muthoni-Ouko.

And to clear any lingering doubts, one ought to just have let the fingers either dial the numbers, or take a little walk on the keyboard, to the Elimu Yetu Coalition website.

Beginning the year with regular exercise, is not a bad idea after all!