ELECTION PETITION AND PARTITIONED MEDIA COVERAGE

Kenyans are awaiting the verdict from the Supreme Court, after a marathon of court hearings. There are two main political sides in the presidential election petition. It thus looks mighty suspicious, when a section of the press chooses to give prominence to one side, without openly having declared any allegiance, beforehand.

The placing of the story above could easily create the impression that the selected party is the one that matters the most.

The content for the other side in this dispute can only be accessed by turning the page, in this particular publication.

And whereas the headline of the 'preferred' article has proper attribution, the other one is kept vague, almost as if it's taboo to make a direct reference to the petitioning side.

Notice too, the picture selection in one story depicts a lawyer engrossed in arguing the case, wheres in the other, we see senior opposition politicians concentrating more on their phones.

Gladly though, this apparent bias was note elevateldy reversed in the rival daily, as is 'normally' the case.

Articles of both sides in this dispute are placed next each other, (try and ignore which side comes first).

The treatment of this important story by the press perhaps would potentially affect how a particular media outlet is treated by the side that emerges victorious.

My lords and ladyships, it is my humble submission though, that it's in the public's interest for the press to accord balanced coverage in this electoral dispute.

NEWS SLANT, SKEWED OBJECTIVITY AND PRETENTIOUS PRESS NEUTRALITY

Biases in media coverage can be subtle. They can also be very blatant. During this electioneering period in Kenya, the press is trying to project some semblance of balance, in the coverage of various political camps. But such pretentious neutrality becomes evident, once in a while. The news slant translates to skewed objectivity.

Notice how similar disruptions in two campaign rallies were accorded different headlines in the two leading dailies in Kenya.

Each paper appears keen to limit embarrassing it's 'preferred' presidential candidate.

In other words, one paper gets to be nice to the political establishment, and very liberal in giving prominence to negative aspects of the opposition.

And the other dishes the reverse treatment across the political divide.

So, it's like the country's main dailies have entered an election coverage pact, either between themselves, or with their political affiliates.

It will be interesting to find out if the dividends of this arrangement are political or purely commercial!

POLITICIANS, MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND NEUTERED NEUTRALITY

It has been argued before that news coverage neutrality is likely to be neutered, where media ownership is linked to politicians. Editorial independence and putting public interest first comes a distant second to proprietary interests. And this is coming to the fore as Kenya navigates through an electioneering period. 

The bias can be oh so subtle. But the media owner's influence can also be elaborately projected.

In this newspaper front page, there is an obvious attempt to offer a balanced coverage of the ruling and opposition coalitions.

What is not so evident, is the calculated placement of the articles.

The splash has a prominent person/party of immense interest (from the paper's perspective), and an accompanying big image to underscore the 'special' treatment.

A pseudo-sidebar story, is then thrown on the periphery of the front page, where chances of eyeballs landing are deliberately diminished

But directly below it comes the clever stuff.

What comes to mind when the averagely educated person comes across the acronym NASA?

Something to do with space exploration right?

In what could either be a mockery of Kenya's main opposition outfit, or a crafty political masterstroke, what is placed in close proximity to the NASA article is a strategic deviation to:

"Seven new planets with water discovered"

Yes. Astronomy.

If you think this is a mere coincidence, enjoy your flight of fancy!

HOWLER OF A TV NEWS CRAWLER AND A MALICIOUS JUBILEE LINK

For over 60 minutes, the prime time news dragged on. And as is characteristic of Kenyan TV broadcasting stations, the newscast is laden with all manner of stories, analysis, and the now customary studio discussion. But something so obviously wrong kept scrolling across the screen throughout the bulletin.  The Jubilee link could be malicious, in this howler of a TV news crawler.

No need far any accuracy tutorial. This was a total editorial fail.

And one that is potentially costly...if the aggrieved party seeks legal redress.

The information in the ticker suggests a rather curious political affiliation for the former Vice President of Kenya.

Hopefully at no risk of being enjoined in any ensuing lawsuit, let me enlighten you on the full text of this messed up ticker, which ingloriously states:

"Kalonzo: If I don't get nominated for Jubilee Muthama will be to blame"

The channel might have some association with Jubilee, but again, hopefully, not to the extent of involuntarily co-opting major figures in the opposition, into that side of the country's political divide.

I don't want to ask if the TV station knows something, we don't know!!

PROMINENCE, DIVISIVE POLITICS AND A DIVIDED PRESS

Divisive politics is generally frowned upon by the Kenyan media. It does,  however, appear like the press has divided political loyalty. And if one cuts through the pretentious projection of editorial neutrality, a disturbing underlying political bias is likely to be encountered. That's how angling of a story and apportioning of prominence can be so divisive.

One paper decides to scream out an admonishment by the government directed at the opposition, in the context of a 'snubbed' invitation to a national day celebration.

Granted, an invitation to the ceremony was not honoured.

And probably, some people can impute this to be disrespectful to the Head of State.

Another paper though, provides a different perspective, that prominently explains the absence of the opposition, in the national day event.

It's as if Paper 2 is deliberately trying to undo any potential political damage emanating from what Paper 1 has published.

Or Paper 1 is deliberately trying to downplay the point being amplified by Paper 2.

Yet somehow, readers are supposed to rise above divisive politics, because a divided press says so!

FROM JET SETTING TO AGENDA SETTING: HOW TO NEUTER KENYAN MEDIA

Agenda setting is an often forgotten role of the media in Kenya. The bigger emphasis is mostly on entertaining news, at times cleverly disguised as being educative or informative. The watchdog role shines through once in a while, but has not been proved to be immune from external or even internal interference. Local journalist thus delight in having a news agenda pre-set for them.

This probably explains the spectacle that was witnessed, during the coverage of the return of Kenya's former Prime minister, after his sojourn in America.

The local press was awash with details of the 'highly anticipated' return, prior to and after the event.

And right on cue, what the former premier spoke about has continued to dominate the local news agenda, days later.

Is there not the slightest of chance that the local media, in it's seldomly donned agenda setting garb, could have picked up on the need for national dialogue, or must this only have originated from the political sphere?

If indeed there is need for such dialogue across the political divide, it's Kenyans who will continue to suffer from the political posturing that has since ensued, which represents another missed opportunity for the press to drive the national agenda.

But the real tragedy for local journalists, is being caught up in the whole hero-worshipping of politicians malaise.

The first paragraph in the article above states that:

"...a group of journalists also eagerly awaited Kenya's leader of official Opposition to say a few wise words."

Eagerly...Wise words! Has there been an empirical study that solidly established that this politician always speaks wise words, before a newspaper editor hazards such a 'highly educated' guess?

Wisen up scribes. Don't ascribe what's not. Just describe what is.