As we mark the 2021 International Day to End Impunity Against Journalists with the theme '#KeepTruthAlive', we must remind ourselves of the teething problems in the media sector including the rising trend in press freedom violations witnessed in 2020 and continued in 2021.
Multiple reports released by various bodies point to an industry and profession in dire need, largely because of the business operating environment, predatory behaviour by big technology companies, changes in revenue flows, shrinking democratic space and the ravages of Covid-19.
The theme shines the spotlight on local journalists working on corruption and politics in non-conflict situations, who represented 93 per cent of journalists who have died in the past decade.
That Kenya’s press freedom situation while on paper is impressive and shows an industry in rapid growth—more than 200 radio stations, nearly 130 TV stations, 1,000 blogs and 100 print publications—the situation of journalists is moving in the opposite direction. The 2021 World Press Freedom Index shows the country dropping.
We note that the already bad working conditions and safety situation of journalists in Kenya has been made worse by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, as seen in mass sackings, non-payment of salaries and wages and harassment of journalists.
It's also the period that with the 2022 general election in sight, a lot of pressure is anticipated to be heaped on the media, players demanding both accountability and responsible work, but more on wanting favourable coverage amidst increasing cases of misinformation and brand destruction.
Journalists, and media practitioners are exposed to the daily risks of infection as they seek and report on events and facts about the Covid-19 while cases of mental stress have been reported to be having a toll on their health.
A study by the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media Communications jointly with the DW Akademie released in March 2022 makes a number of critical observations. It observes that while the Kenya media has grown tremendously and has the managerial capacity to deal with the global challenges facing the industry, journalists are discredited, assaulted, harassed or intimidated in the line of work. It also observes that the country still maintains laws that are a hindrance to press freedom and access to information.
The report notes that while the growth of the economy has supported the development of a very vibrant media sector, unfortunately, the high level competition in the market for audiences has resulted in repeated downsizing and cost cutting in many media houses over the years, while media ownership is highly concentrated.
Additionally, the shrinking revenue for media houses and dependency on a few influential advertisers, including the government, compromises professionalism in the news production circle, especially from the economic and political establishments.
Suffice to note that the advertising revenue, on which the media entirely depends, is suffering from audience fragmentation occasioned by the growth of social media, international and native digital media platforms that are poorly regulated by the existing copyright laws.
The report notes that Kenyan media produces highly professional content, as journalists in the country are highly qualified and educated. Legacy media to deal with the emerging trends are slowly becoming information curators instead of news providers and some are diversifying into non news business such as courier, gaming, and advertising agencies.
A number are trying news on demand investments, monetising their digital content and above all trying joint productions to minimise operation costs.
The study also established that among other factors that threaten media sustainability and viability is a legal regime with hefty fines of up to approximately $200,000 for individual media houses and approximately $5,000 for individual journalists, that are very difficult to honour, through the Kenya Information Amendment Act.
In trying to avoid falling victim to such severe penalties, media institutions and individual journalists have been forced to seriously self-censor or completely drop stories deemed politically sensitive altogether.
Constant threats of lawsuits hang over several media houses daily, with the establishments being slapped with huge fines in defamation suits. In one case a petitioner was awarded Sh20 million, which a lawyer laments “the law’s diversion from compensating aggrieved parties to enriching them".
Challenges faced by local/county-based journalists differ many times with those based in urban centres where majority of media outlets are based. This often frustrates the industry's approach to issues, including rivalry between journalists working for major media outlets against freelancers and those working for community or local-based outlets.
In addition, there is a worrying trend where journalists who have been victims of violations resort to withdrawal or abandon the cases without professional guidance on the issue of conflict resolution.
We must work to make the environment conducive for free, viable and independent media in Kenya through considering such things as tax rebates on media equipment and regulating the cost of content dissemination through the registered content couriers.
We could also support media to protect their content against theft, establishment of a media fund and enhancing professional self-regulation, including creation of public editors in media outlets.
Hopefully, the recently appointed taskforce of media policy will address some of these challenges and provide some stepping ground to improve the situation.
