The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has embarked on recalling old press cards to replace them with new ones with enhanced security features.
Speaking in Bungoma on Friday during an accreditation exercise, Western and Nyanza region MCK coordinator Evans Teddy said they recalled the old press cards to fight fraud in the media industry.
He added that the council realised that people had manipulated the cards, so they decided to create new ones with enhanced security features to differentiate between quacks and genuine journalists.
“Some people have invaded this noble industry spreading propaganda and stealing from people, I want to assure you that these cards with enhanced features will fight all that,” Teddy said.
Teddy noted that the new press card has a bar code that when scanned can display all the information in the council’s system.
“This card with a bar card is linked with the Media Council of Kenya system that can display all data information,” he said.
Teddy called on all accredited journalists to work with MCK to report quacks in the media industry.
“This card will flush out quacks from the profession to give genuine journalists a chance to do their work according to the media ethics,” he said.
He noted that on Friday, MCK officials visited Kibabii University and Kenya News Agency (KNA) offices in Bungoma to accredit media practitioners.
He called on media owners to ensure their journalists are accredited by the MCK.