In the last decade, the state has increased pressure on the media, which has always laboured to define its societal role and hold the government accountable.
Criticism of the press, whether outright threats, harassment of journalists or the recent remarks by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua that ‘the media needs to be gagged,’ imply a desire to silence dissenting opinions.
Gachagua’s views signify a concerning shift towards curtailing media freedom and suggest a desire to control the narrative. As a result, some journalists have become fearful, hesitating to cover what they deem delicate subjects.
Demas Kiprono, an immediate former member of the Media Complaints Commission and a freedom of expression expert, says newsrooms err on the side of caution.
"Editorial boards and senior management in media houses are self-censoring to varying extents to maintain or attract government favours,” he said.
Media houses face constant pressure from authorities, including defamation lawsuits, like the recent case of the junior editor at Tuko, which awarded monetary and punitive damages to complainants.
The government has also revived the tactic of filing criminal libel cases against journalists who adversely mention those in authority in investigative stories about corruption.
Citizen TV journalist Purity Mwambia and her crew were forced to escape Kenya in 2021 after covering a story on police renting out their guns to criminals. Arshad Sharif, a Pakistani investigative journalist, was killed in a police shootout in Kenya in October 2022 under disputed circumstances.
Advocate Oduor Ibrahim, Head of the Media Legal Support Unit at the Kenya Union of Journalists, says, "We are aware of at least five cases where investigative journalists have been targeted, tortured or deliberately injured by state agents and law enforcement."
Ibrahim said county executives have also contributed to the complex environment for journalists by allowing some of their supporters to attack journalists with impunity.
The media in Kenya right now is facing an existential crisis. Newspaper circulation has shrunk in a big way, as have TV and radio audiences
HOSTILITY TO MEDIA
Independent journalist Macharia Gaitho, formerly the managing editor of Nation Media Group, said the primary revenue sources for media are rapidly shrinking as governments, corporations and other big advertisers cut spending by moving to what they see as more cost-effective online platforms.
“The media in Kenya right now is facing an existential crisis. Newspaper circulation has shrunk in a big way, as have TV and radio audiences,” he said.
He said consumers have abandoned ‘legacy media’ in droves as alternate channels built on digital platforms begin to dominate.
“There are fears within the industry that the ‘media is dying’, but that is not necessarily true," Macharia said.
“There are still enormous audiences for news, information and entertainment. Still, a significant shift to new web-based and social media platforms has disrupted the orthodox content production and dissemination methods."
Macharia faulted the attitude of the William Ruto-led government towards the media.
“The Kenyan government is not amenable to media reporting that contradicts their views on their operations,” he said. The Kenya Kwanza government, he said, like its predecessor, the Jubilee administration, is, “hostile to a media that holds it to account or generally does not do its bidding”.
“It has followed Jubilee's footsteps in using denial or restriction of government advertising as a way of blackmailing the media into compliance," Macharia said.
“It is also openly exploring revising media laws and regulations to dilute the constitutional and statute-law provisions that underpin media freedom, particularly the self-regulatory mechanism."
Catherine Gicheru, ICFJ Knight Fellow and founder-director of Africa Women Journalism Project, says the media is haemorrhaging talent, and the remaining staff face worsened welfare with delayed salaries.
“With a mix of print, broadcast and digital outlets, the media landscape in Kenya reflects diverse perspectives. However, financial constraints, particularly in legacy print media due to the collapse of the ad-driven model, have led to staff purges,” she said.
“In Kenya, state capture has strained the quality of journalists' work. The concerns over editorial independence, self-censorship and the chilling effect on investigative reporting are palpable.
“The pressures from political entities have also created challenges in media organisations' ability to present unbiased and comprehensive news coverage.”
Media critics, in a report on sustainable funding, argue that diversification of ownership is key to reducing government capture, and show that the economic and legal pressures media companies face undermine their long-term viability, hurting the quality of journalism in Kenya.
The report found that “the leading advertiser in Kenya is the government, which utilises its advertising budget to reward media outlets supporting the government’s agenda and propaganda, and punish those that do not”.
The then Trade (now Public Service) CS Moses Kuria once openly said government ministries should not advertise with certain sections of the media due to their reporting. The Deputy President backed his statements in his subsequent speeches. And rather than rein them in, President William Ruto said someone must defend him from “rogue media”.
Gicheru said media concentration among political elites raises concerns about media capture, prioritising owners' interests over accountability. The dominance of a few 'major players' persists in legacy media.
Kiprono, the former complaints commissioner, points to a trend that he says shows the government "allergic to mainstream media criticism". "During the cost-of-living protests, media practitioners were targeted and assaulted, and the Communications Authority of Kenya warned six TV stations that they faced sanctions for covering the anti-government protests live," he said.
For Gicheru, the pattern is not always predictable: “The Kenyan government exhibits mixed openness to contradictory reporting. While press freedom is upheld in some instances, media outlets have faced challenges when expressing views contrary to the government's stance.”
Editorial boards and senior management in media houses are self-censoring to varying extents to maintain or attract government favours
Prof George Nyabuga of Aga Khan University released a report in October 2023, ‘Media under Pressure’. It notes that the 2010 Kenyan Constitution is recognised as one of Africa's most progressive in terms of press freedom protections.
"While Kenya’s constitution theoretically guarantees freedom of the press, putting this freedom into practice has encountered substantial hurdles," the report states.
"First, concerns persist about restrictive media laws, especially those that grant authorities broad powers to regulate the media.”
Additionally, the report found journalists often face threats, physical assaults and harassment, mainly when covering sensitive political matters, including election campaigns, corruption or human rights abuses.
IMPACT OF ADVERTISING
The report shows how financial challenges have become an endemic issue for numerous media outlets, profoundly affecting their ability to uphold journalistic standards and independence.
Macharia said major corporate advertisers have not shied away from using the power of their advertising shilling to force the media to give them positive coverage or ‘kill’ unfavourable stories.
Gicheru said it is incredibly challenging for journalists to expose high-level corruption involving government officials: “Dealing with state-sponsored pushbacks is difficult, and online attacks may escalate to offline threats,” she said.
She suggests that the dominance of particular interests among media owners has sometimes led to biased coverage, limited diversity of views and challenges in holding power to account.
"Media organisations grapple with the delicate balance of sustaining revenue through ads, while preserving editorial independence. Unfortunately, there are times when commercial interests overshadow public interests,” Gicheru said.
Macharia said such pressure flies against the code regulating media practice, particularly regarding principles insulating editorial operations from commercial departments and other extraneous pressures. They also compromise journalism's independence and quality, he said.
Ibrahim said cronyism, which is the hallmark of state capture, has been unleashed on journalists, who are targeted to be corrupted. “It is also important to note that some commercial interests in the media opt to go to bed with the government and stay silent in exchange for commercial favours,” he adds.
THE LAW AND MEDIA
Kenya has about 17 laws that touch on or affect the media somehow, making it challenging for journalists and editors to navigate.
“The Constitution guarantees media freedom. Further, the Media Council Act seeks to establish the governance of the media sector independently and vibrantly," Ibrahim said.
"However, whatever progressive benefits are enshrined in these provisions are significantly watered down by other retrogressive laws, such as the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act provisions, which reintroduce criminal defamation."
He said the penal code and the Official Secrets Act have different provisions with anti-media clauses.
Kiprono termed the media environment in Kenya "complicated" . "As much as the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, the right to information, and a free press, media freedom in Kenya is threatened by the dwindling commercial viability of legacy media business models, attacks against journalists by the police and government suppression of advertising revenue.”
Efforts to reach the government for comment before going to press were unsuccessful.
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