The famous professor, Noam Chomsky, has written a number of books on the media. Such books as Necessary Illusions; Manufacturing Consent and Propaganda and the Public Mind: Conversations with Noam Chomsky make it clear that the media represents particular vested interests that are dominant in our national, regional and global societies.

The media is one of the exploitative, oppressive and manipulating complexes in the world and sits with industrial, military, and prison complexes that the world has come to know.

Closer to home the Daily Nation was founded in 1960. The paper took up two controversial positions that reflected the business and political acumen of its owners.

The paper supported the struggle for independence and also decided to support the nationalist movement as represented by Kenya African National Union (Kanu).

The East African Standard, then part and parcel of the imperialist agenda, on the other hand supported colonisation, white settler interests and decadent and oppressive colonial status quo.

THOSE OF US GROWING UP IN THE 1960s may recall how our parents and relatives would tell us which paper to buy. I grew up amidst furious debates about which paper to buy based on its political stance.

I grew up admiring the political position taken by the Daily Nation because I was aware of the colonial discrimination in education, health, housing and even toilets. So the Daily Nation supported Kenyatta and KANU while the East African Standard took up the political causes of Kenya African Democratic Union (Kadu) and its allies in the white settler political parties.

It would be interesting to pursue the trajectories of the positions taken by the two papers after independence and their role in supporting Kenyatta-Moi-Kanu dictatorships, Kibaki-Narc dictatorship and now Kibaki-Raila-PNU-ODM dictatorship.

It would be interesting to research the positions taken by the papers during the oppositional politics of Kenya People's Union, the Seven Bearded Sisters, the underground opposition of December Twelfth Movement and Mwakenya, the Ford movement and the NCEC movement.

A similar research on the activities of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation in both its radio and TV would unearth solid support for the status quo of the time.

What about now? What is the media up to? Let me dwell on one the issue of political leadership. The media seems determined to impose the current crop of leaders on us.

When you read stories in the newspapers or you watch TV or you tune in on the many radio stations we now have, there seems to be media consensus that we can only get leaders from the leadership that we now have. Recycling of leaders is the name of the game.

This state of affairs is not very different from some developed countries where the populace has a choice between two or more major parties. In the US it is either the Republicans or the Democrats. In the UK it is either the Tories or Labour. There are similar comparisons in the rest of the world on this specific point.

We have ourselves to blame for this state of affairs and may be the media can argue that it has not seen any alternative political leadership to promote. If this were the argument of the media clearly this would be a half-truth, a rationalisation for the status quo.

We are yet to see the media delve into investigative journalism and put into the public domain profiles of Kenyans who should be leaders. Are there no alternative leaders in the media itself that can be profiled as such?

The main reason perhaps why this approach is not taken up is that the media Kenya is now owned or controlled by the same political economic and political elites that dominate political parties. The elites deliberately engage in the propaganda that we do not have other leaders except the ones we see in the political parties.

Maybe it is about time to ask the major media outlets whether they support change and why they think change can only come from the current crop of political leaders.

If the media is for reforms why are the pro-reform Kenyans not popularised and glorified? Which media outlet has had the audacity of the Daily Nation in 1960 to state that it supports change and in the same breadth announces that the current leadership cannot mid-wife that change?

The consequences of taking such position may be dire politically, but they may ultimately be profitable.

The media needs to know change will surely come to Kenya and this is the time to invest in change.