Maseme Machuka
4 May 2008
Nairobi — The media were slow in responding to public issues on post-election crisis, a meeting of East Africa's top editors was told.
University of Nairobi lecturer, Mr Peter Oriare, called for a rethink in media operations.
"The media are weak. It should have done much to respond to public demands," he said.
Oriare said Kenyan media suffer systematic challenges that must be addressed.
He summed them as "behavioural, and structural that touch on journalists and media owners".
Responding, KTN Editorial Head, Ms Farida Karoney, urged the media to accept responsibility and take stock of where they went wrong.
She, at the same time, absolved the industry, saying the country was prone to socio-economic imbalances and injustices that had bubbled under the surface since independence.
"The events of the elections were just a trigger," she said.
At the same time, Karoney called on the media to set the agenda for political leaders to resolve the underlying issues. She recommended training for journalists on conflict coverage.
"Let us train our reporters in conflict reporting. They need to know how to react. Many are young and have never covered conflict," she told the forum.
Local FM stations were castigated for their 'freehand' editorial policy.
Information Permanent Secretary, Dr Bitange Ndemo, said the stations should develop stricter editorial policies to avoid being channels of hate publicity.
Participants at the forum held at Nairobi's Grand Regency Hotel heard that if not tamed, FM stations could 'ignite' a dangerous fire disastrous to the country.
Bitange termed as a misstep the 2002 move by the Government to liberalise the media.
He said there were no proper guidelines in the process.
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