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!

LEAVING BIRD IN LOCAL MEDIA HANDS & CHASING GLAMOROUS MONACO BIRDS

Kenyan media crews travelled thousands of kilometres to European shores, to cover the crowing of the World Male Athlete of the Year. But there was no reporter dispatched to the home of the eventual winner, who gave his acceptance speech from Kenya. In other words, the local media left the bird in hand in Kenya, and opted to chase many other glamorous birds in Monaco.

This editorial embarrassment went a notch higher, in one of the news reports sent from the venue, for a local broadcast.

There was no sense of shame in including a video conference clip of the winner in the story, given the irony of the TV channel not being able to get a reaction in its own neighbourhood.

You see, it was extremely likely that the World Athletics Awards will feature the Kenyan, and yet no effort seemed to have been made to cover this story from a local angle.

Granted. The awards ceremony could have been a live event, with a recorded insert of the winner giving his acceptance speech.

But there's hardly anything that could have prevented the local crews deployed to Monaco, from pre-taping or pre-interviewing the winner in anticipation, while still in Kenya.

Or is it a case of once beaten, forever shy of taking risks?

I do recall a nightmare scenario about 8 years ago, highlighted here, when one of the sports journalists dispatched to the recent awards ceremony, had an article published, proclaiming what he felt was a sure bet winner.

The only problem then, was that the organisers named somebody else, leading to one of the most glaring yet 'unreported' media contradictions.

One full blown article with the wrong 'winner' got copious prominence, while in the sports section of the same newspaper, another story by the same writer, got the facts right.

Yikes! Just don't do it.