Kenyan media: The fourth estate or the fifth column?

Kenyan media: The fourth estate or the fifth column?

By Pauline Muindi

One evening, a boy was sitting beside the fireplace with his grandfather. The old man was telling his grandson about the war that he was waging within himself. He said ‘It is between two lions, my son. One lion is evil and the other is good.”

The lad thought about it for a moment and then asked, “Grandfather, which lion will win this war?”

The old man looked at the smoldering embers, turned to his grandson and simply replied, “The one I feed.”

The same can be said of the media, it is the media companies we feed that become the big players in the industry. The media has been described as the watchdog of the society; the fourth estate of governance. These terms are connotative of a media that is always in the interest of its audience. In the Kenyan scenario, as much as the media would have us think otherwise, sadly, this is not the case.

 An important question for every Kenyan is; who really owns the media in Kenya?  It is a sad fact that Kenyan media outlets are owned and controlled by an elite minority. Apart from the public broadcaster, there are few main media companies owning a myriad of media outlets. The few media companies include: Nation Media Group, Standard Group, Royal Media Services and Radio Africa.

During and soon after the colonial era, the Kenyan media was monopolized by the government. After we had achieved independence, however, private investors slowly rose from the woodwork. It is very important to point out that the private media companies were also closely affiliated with political leaders and the wealthy minority in Kenya. These new players in the industry quickly rose to become formidable forces in the country. This has made it hard and almost impossible for small entrepreneurs to flourish.  Faced by the dog-eat-dog competition from the big players, new and innovative small players have had to close shop or content themselves with few audiences.

The industry’s big players have invested in various outlets. For instance, according to http://www.nationmedia.com/brands.html, Nation Media Group boasts ownership of 6 newspapers, 3 radio stations and 3 TV stations not to mention the variety of online outlets. The other big players are also busy establishing new media outlets. A case in point is Royal Media Services which claims ownership of 12 radio stations.

 Recently, we have seen the sudden spurt in establishment of vernacular FM radio stations. One might be fooled into thinking that we have diversity in our media because of the new crop of vernacular FM radio stations. But think again, who owns these new FM stations? And how are the media owners affiliated to the government? It is no secret that some of the country’s political leaders are actually big players in the ownership of media in Kenya.

In such a system, news media are turned into a business and even worse, a political tool. Critics have argued that the big players limit the range of information and opinions, thus driving out alternative views. The public’s right to be informed by a variety of voices is restricted. It does make economic sense to have only one reporter in the field, reporting for the conglomeration of print and broadcast outlets. This means that one copy, brought in by this reporter, is translated and customized for whichever outlet it will be aired in. However it actually restricts the diversity of stories that the audience gets from the media.  Therefore, in this country, there are voices we never get to hear, stories that are never told and authority that we are denied the opportunity to challenge.

Just ask yourself, whose voices are heard in the media? The stories that dominate our media are in the interest of the elite minority while the majority is left out. A case in point is the Kirima saga, a family dispute that was forced down our throats by the press for over a fortnight. Honestly, I found the saga’s prominence in our media an insult to journalism. It begs the question: in whose interest was this story aired? Clearly, it was not of any interest to the audience.

And the lack of diversity does not touch on the news section only. In Kenyan media, the audience is fed on titillating junk content which adds little or no value to their lives. Until recently, the commercial TV stations in the country aired over 70% foreign content. It may be argued that the audience gets what they demand from the media. This argument is largely believable but exonerates the media from responsibility as the watchdog of society. 

Let’s face it, the Kenyan media is enslaved to profit making, not their responsibility as societal watchdogs. The media cares not for the public’s right to be informed from different viewpoints. However as the audience, we are not entirely free of blame. We should demand better in terms of content and variety. Remember, it is the lion you feed which becomes strong. Vesting media power in few hands is not a good deal for us. It is actually bad for economy as it pushes small players out of business. In a country in which the gap between the rich and the poor is quickly turning into an unbridgeable chasm, every small business should be encouraged and supported.