Kenyan media practitioners alarmed at government ‘militarising information’
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) – Kenyan media practitioners, gathered Thursday for the annual 2019 Media Summit, have decried the tendency of governments, political parties and corporate entities to “militarise information”, using the services of sophisticated propaganda companies to fight the free press.
“The militarization of the information has affected the operations of the media,” said John Githongo, a prominent Kenyan journalist and a renowned anti-corruption crusader who once fled to exile after whistle blowing on high-level corruption amongst cabinet ministers in the Kenyan government.
During the Media Council of Kenya’s Annual Summit, Githongo, who addressed a panel discussion on the role of the media in enforcing public accountability and governance, said the governments around the world were increasingly investing in the media and using information as a tool to dominate.
In Kenya, The National Alliance (TNA) and the Jubilee Coalition, which won the 2013 and the disputed 2017 Presidential elections, was accused of using the services of data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica, a British firm which “militarized” information from Facebook users.
The firm used tactics, including “Fake News” and other divisive tactics, including branding opponents of President Uhuru Kenyatta in unspeakable political terminology, using social media and the smart phones to help the Jubilee Coalition candidate to win the elections in a second round Presidential election.
The British firm was reported widely in the United Kingdom media bragging about its psychological manipulation and other techniques to help President Kenyatta win the two controversial elections.
Githongo said the work of Cambridge Analytica was not reported in the Kenyan media during the 2017 Presidential elections although the social media users widely reported about its activities.
He said it was regrettable that the work of the media influencer not reported then although the mainstream media was reporting them two years after the elections.
The media’s operations have been affected through the sacking of top editors and the independence of media institutions also compromised partly because some of the politicians involved in the campaigns owned the media institutions.
The panelists contributing to the debate said the accountability of the media required a thorough review of the media’s corporate structure and the ownership of the respective media institutions.
“There are different phases in Kenya’s history where the media have done well, especially in helping to push through political reforms,” said Linus Kaikai, an executive editor, currently working for the Royal Media Services, which owns several local radio and television stations, including the leading Television station, Citizen TV.
“The media have not maintained its pro-reform agenda and has lost the momentum it had in the 1990s when it championed the multiparty reforms and negatively branded those against political reforms,” Kaikai said, citing the work of editors who managed to stay above the political storm.
The discussions in the Kenyan media recently have also been dominated by the inclusion of the Government Advertising Agency, which has been accused of trying to stifle the media freedom.
“There are interesting and disturbing trends in the media development scene,” said Githongo. “The governments around the world are now back in media ownership.”
Githongo noted the Chinese expenditure of US$6.9 billion in the media and British Broadcasting Corporation building its second largest bureau around the world in Kenya, which also suggests the government officials around the world are struggling to own the political narrative.
-0- PANA AO/VAO 8Aug2019
