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Kenya: Intensify Campaign for Press Freedom
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The Nation (Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
3 May 2008
Posted to the web 2 May 2008
Once again, the World Press Freedom Day is with us today. The day provides an important opportunity for media practitioners to take stock of their operations and critically examine their performance.
At the core is the role of media in society. Free and vibrant Press is a mark of civil liberties. No society can stake claim to individual liberties and freedoms when it lacks a free Press. All the international conventions and protocols recognise this.
Specifically, Article 19 of the Declaration of Human Rights expressly states that "everyone has a right to freedom of opinion and expression " Governments, Kenya included, uphold this principle in their national constitutions.
Free Press enables individuals to get accurate and timely information, and in turn, make informed decisions and effectively participate in socio-economic and political affairs of their society. But Press freedom can never be taken for granted. Many governments have pieces of legislation that stifle free flow of information or make it difficult for journalists to operate.
For Kenya, this year's World Press Freedom Day comes against a backdrop of tough challenges. For example, access to official information remains a journalist's nightmare as the law of secrecy remains in the statutes. Only last year, the journalists had to organise a protest march to stop the Government from including a retrogressive clause in a Media Bill that was under discussion in Parliament.
In recent time, the Kenyan Press has been the subject of serious discussion in the wake of its coverage of the campaigns ahead of last year's General Election and the subsequent violence that arose over disputed presidential vote tally.
The Press has been accused of complicity, insensitivity, partisanship, negativity, corruption, lack of professionalism and other ills. Some of the accusations may be misplaced, but they are not without basis.
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The media, like others in society, have their failings. And this is the moment for the media to look inwards and find out why there are complaints about their operations. World Press Freedom Day should, therefore, provide a chance for media practitioners to evaluate themselves, the relationships with clients and re-commit themselves to the credo of their trade - truth, accuracy, balance, fairness and timeliness.
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