Exploring Mass Media

Factors that have led to Growth of Media in Kenya

ByHenry Neondo Jane Gakaria

Carolyne MweberiJeremiah NgandaFebruary 3, 2016

Structure

1. History2. Government-media Relations3. Print4. Broadcast/Social Media5. Education and training6. Journalist associations/Unions 7. Population and Economic growth

Introduction This paper looks at the

historical and social cultural context that has guided media development in Kenya, a country in East Africa with a population of about 40 million.

Colonial Past

Kenya was colonised by the British who came into the country in the late 19th Century

Modern media in Kenya was started by the Missionaries and the British settlers. Media provided a channel for social communication among the settlers in Kenya from different parts of the country -Abuoga, John B. and Absalom A. Mutere (1988).

Objectives of these early papers

1. Provide information for the missionaries and settlers of news that came from home (England).

2. Used as a “device to maintain the status quo" by legitimizing the rights of the colonial masters to rule Kenya (Abuoga, 1988).

PastThe early examples of media published in

Kenya included the Taveta Chronicle which was published by Rev. Robert Stegal of the Church Missionary Society in 1895---precursor to the Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Kenya.

It was circulated among Europeans and interested persons in England. In 1899-The Leader of the British East Africa Company and Uganda Mail -published in Mombasa.

Enter Africans Before independence

• The Africans also ventured into the media ownership & basically used the media as tools for putting across their demands for freedom, justice and equality (Chepkurui, 2012).

• Asians too owned media and used it to reinforce their second class status.

• After the Second World War in particular, many aspiring political leaders used the indigenous press to build and cement political organizations. (DE Beer, 1995).

After Independence

G.B.N. Ayittey (1992, 1999) notes that many African governments engineered systematic schemes that decimated the media industry on attaining independence. They advanced such reasoning as national cohesion among others

Government-Media Relations

Like other African countries, Kenya has travelled the tortured path –at times bullying media, but at the same time managing to maintain vibrant media outlets.

Relations between the mass media and the Kenyan government always alternate from being cordial, tense and at times acrimonious.

Several attempts by the politicians to control the media outlets has remained controversial. The government has several tried to enact controversial Media laws to regulate the media against irresponsible reporting.

Under Kenyatta (1963 to 1978)Less stringent control of the media, at least from

the President himself. But those around the President frequently called

newsrooms ostensibly on behalf of the President to demand the spiking of a story (Ochieng, 1992)

Under Moi (1978-2002)The press in Kenya under Moi was very different.His government bought the Nairobi Times and

christened it Kenya Times, managed by the Kenya Times Media Trust (KTMT).

The StandardIt is the oldest mass circulating newspaper in Kenya

having been founded in 1902 by a Parsee migrant, A. M. Jeevanjee.

Standard catered for migrant civil servants and business community that had settled in Mombasa from India.

But two years later, Jeevanjee sold his interests to the partnership of Mayer and Anderson who renamed it East African Standard marking the beginnings of the European press and grew to be largest in the East Africa (Hachten).

In the hands of Mayer and Anderson, it was a typical European people's paper concerned with the happenings in Britain and urging subservience to the settlers, a tune that for a long time remained the tone of other settler controlled media including Mombasa Mail and Nairobi News (Abuoga & Mutere, 1988; Maloba, 1992).

Over the years the Standard changed hands until Lonrho acquired it in 1967 (Faringer 35).

The Daily NationThe Nation is today’s Kenya's most widely

circulated newspaper, according to Lukalo and Wanyeki.

It was first registered in 1959 by Michael Curtis and Charles Hayes (Ainslie 104) both newspapermen in London and Nairobi, respectively.

The spiritual leader of the Ismaili community Aga Khan purchased the Nation a year later. The paper was the first to adopt a policy of Africanization (Hachten; Abuoga & Mutere; Faringer).

Kiswahili papers/Alternative Press

Besides the English language Standard published the BarazaNation also publishes Taifa Leo Kenya Times published Kenya Leo

Side by side with these there is also growth of what has now come to be known as alternative press a.k.a Gutter Press. They are unregulated and have no known addresses.

Broadcast/Social media

The first radio station to play in Kenya was in 1928 and basically played the role of ensuring subservience. This was later followed by Television stations from one to many today. In addition there are also broadcast social media such as youtube, vimeos etc.

• The Kenya Institute of Mass Communication for a long time was the main training institution for Kenyan journalists. It offered nine to 12 month courses in print and electronic media leading to certificates and diplomas in journalism

• in the last couple of years, an increase in the number of universities have started departments of communication and journalism education.

Education and training

Besides the School of Journalism at the University of Nairobi that has been in existence for the last two decades, other public universities such as Kenyatta, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Moi, and Maseno train journalists.

The same is true for private universities. Private universities such as Daystar University, which began in the late 1970s, and United States International University and the Nazarene University, Kenya Methodist University, Riara University etc have joined to expand training opportunities.

Journalists Associations and UnionsMost reporters in Kenya are members of the

Kenya Union of Journalists. The union has occasionally succeeded in negotiating better terms for its members.

There are several other organizations in the country that seek to bring journalists with common interests together.

They include:a) the Kenya Education Writers' Association, b) the Kenya Professional Journalists'

Association,

c) The Association of Media Women in Kenya, d) the Network for the Defense of Independent Media

in Africa, e) The Media Institute,f) The Association of Food and Agriculture Journalists, g) The Media Development Association, h) The Media for Environement, Science, Health and

Agriculturei) The Kenya Science and Environment Journalists

Associationj) The Kenya Correspondents' Association andk) Foreign Correspondence's Association. However,

their effectiveness remains in question.

Economic Growth

Increasing population and better economic performance has also expanded growth of the media through such enhanced readership as well as advertising revenues.

Thank youMerci

Asanteni