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.

OF DIFFERENT POINTS NOT BEING YIELDED FROM SAME FACTS

Towards the end of the year, news stories have a habit of making a disappearing act. This means newsrooms often struggle to get content to fill up their regular broadcasts or publications. What can work is preparing for this lean period in advance, and setting aside backup stories. What won't certainly work is repeating the same facts in the hope of making different points.

In the newspaper article above, there no additional value in repeating the bit of information, especially in such close proximity.

It could be that the editor wanted to emphasise the shocking details of the scandal being reported.

But re-stating the same facts more than twice, amounts to a needless over-emphasis.

And, using the same wording, would likely make a reader wonder why the paper wants this particular bit of information stressed, or whether there's a hidden motive.

Either that, or it's a case of an absent-minded editor, not minding about editorial responsibilities.

EXAM RESULTS, MAD NEWSROOM DASH, CRAZY LISTS & INSANE ANALYSIS

Immediately after the announcement of the results for national examinations in Kenya, a mad dash ensues in newsrooms. The obsession of the moment becomes compiling a list of the top performers, and rankings, using all manner of parameters. And things can get crazy. Like how insane is it for the press to throw in a non-existent score, in the analysis?

In the published set of scores above, there's one that really stands out, among the outstanding performances.

Funny thing is that there isn't much of a big difference between that particular score and the ones before it, or even after.

If the top score is an 'A' followed by 'A-' then why would the editor throw in an 'A+' right after a bunch of A minuses? And bearing the same aggregate points an 'A-' performance?

Admittedly, it's not easy to put together such rankings at such a short notice, given that the information is largely sourced by making own contacts with parents or guardians of the students, because the government does not supply the data.

But due diligence and attention to details should always remain a top journalistic priority.

For allowing this error to pass through the editorial gatekeeping, this amounts to an epic fail.

OF HEADLINES AND EDITING HEADING NOWHERE

Processing of raw information is a painstaking yet indispensable activity, if the desired end product is high quality journalism. But sometimes, there appears to be more editorial disengagement than a meaningful collaboration, during the editing process.  This could lead to headlines heading nowhere.

In the headline for the newspaper article above, something is clearly amiss.

The sub-editor/headline writer most probably realised the space was inadequate to add another word that would have made the topline more sensible.

In line with the practise of chopping the content from the end, in the belief that the most important details are given priority from the beginning, a la inverted pyramid, a critical word was sacrificed.

Space constraint...well taken care of...But what is the resultant headline sensible?

Unless the intention is to indicate there is nothing to hide and the said scholarships are publicly being awarded, then the sense is warped, if not lost altogether.

This headline definitely needs a hospital admission!

ASSETS, DOUBLE NEGATIVES AND MEDIA CONFUSION

Confusion is not something any media outlet would want to propagate. A lot of motivation for the practise of journalism, is anchored on a need to make sense out of an abundance of confusion, especially in the information age. And this is then translates into a noble public interest service. That's why its perplexing to see confusing double negatives, evading editorial gatekeeping.

In the article above, the intention appears to have been to indicate that not all the main subject's assets, had been disclosed.

What we get instead is:

"...there could be some assets that have not been undisclosed."

This has the opposite effect of suggesting the said 'some assets' have been disclosed, which obviously contradicts the import of asserting that 'court documents also make no mention of any bank accounts'.

Does that make any sense to you?

Certainly not to me!