On December 13, the Daily Nation DN2 magazine on page 4 had an article titled 'Journalism is more than just words' by Waga Odongo.
The bombastic article by Waga is very critical of Kenyan blogs and micro-blogs on Twitter. It derides the notion of 'citizen journalism' and asks wannabe journalists to leave the profession to trained experts. I am not sure what to make of the fact that there was no mention of the many fantastic Kenyan blogs and twitter accounts. Sheer bias or ill feeling toward a perceived threat?
That the Daily Nation has a website and a twitter account might suggest that even they are resigned to the fact that the world wide web and Internet have changed the way journalism is conducted; an Internet presence is very important as many find their news online!
The reduced costs of phones with a camera and that can connect to the Internet, reduced Internet costs and increased Internet speeds make it possible for anyone with such a device to report an incidence with amazing ease. This is citizen journalism and there is no way to stop citizens from reporting incidences and events. I obtain most of my news these days from Twitter. It is especially delightful to read the tweets of journalists before their editors and the owners of the media companies spin the news to their liking.
In a twitter conversation later that day, Waga admitted that the story that was printed in the Daily Nation and his original story differed; some sections were edited out. Two good blogs he mentioned did not make the editorial cut. This would not have been the case if he posted his story on his blog.
Trained journalists unfortunately do not have the last word in decided which stories make it to the press, the business owners of the media houses retain that control. It is naive to dismiss the role of independent 'citizen journalists'.
Just this past weekend a great story in the Daily Nation 'One reporter's New Year resolution not to accept gifts from news sources' by Peter Mwaura address the challenges journalists face to maintain their integrity.
The advantage trained journalists retain should be their ability to research, analyze and write well. Sadly there isn't enough of this is in the Kenyan media industry.
So the alternative Kenyan media, in blogs and tweets, will continue to grow in leaps and bounds!
The bombastic article by Waga is very critical of Kenyan blogs and micro-blogs on Twitter. It derides the notion of 'citizen journalism' and asks wannabe journalists to leave the profession to trained experts. I am not sure what to make of the fact that there was no mention of the many fantastic Kenyan blogs and twitter accounts. Sheer bias or ill feeling toward a perceived threat?
That the Daily Nation has a website and a twitter account might suggest that even they are resigned to the fact that the world wide web and Internet have changed the way journalism is conducted; an Internet presence is very important as many find their news online!
The reduced costs of phones with a camera and that can connect to the Internet, reduced Internet costs and increased Internet speeds make it possible for anyone with such a device to report an incidence with amazing ease. This is citizen journalism and there is no way to stop citizens from reporting incidences and events. I obtain most of my news these days from Twitter. It is especially delightful to read the tweets of journalists before their editors and the owners of the media companies spin the news to their liking.
In a twitter conversation later that day, Waga admitted that the story that was printed in the Daily Nation and his original story differed; some sections were edited out. Two good blogs he mentioned did not make the editorial cut. This would not have been the case if he posted his story on his blog.
Trained journalists unfortunately do not have the last word in decided which stories make it to the press, the business owners of the media houses retain that control. It is naive to dismiss the role of independent 'citizen journalists'.
Just this past weekend a great story in the Daily Nation 'One reporter's New Year resolution not to accept gifts from news sources' by Peter Mwaura address the challenges journalists face to maintain their integrity.
The advantage trained journalists retain should be their ability to research, analyze and write well. Sadly there isn't enough of this is in the Kenyan media industry.
So the alternative Kenyan media, in blogs and tweets, will continue to grow in leaps and bounds!
Nice, timely post. My primary source of news and analysis is no longer TV and print media. Its mostly twitter and blogs. Mischief and corruption of Kenya media owners and their editors is gradually being exposed.
ReplyDeleteMore Kenyans are picking up their phones, laptops, cameras, etc to report their first hand experiences and self analyses. Best part is they are using blogs and other social media tools to 'publish' themselves.