Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

top
In Kenya, divisions come to the surface during periods of heightened tension such as elections. Photo/AFP

Kenya

Stay objective even on social media, journalists advised

In Kenya, a country with 42 different ethnic groups, divisions come to the surface during periods of heightened tension such as elections.

“The values that we have been socialised in from our young age supersedes the values of our profession, such that if you are socialised as an (ethnic) Luo and you know that Luos and Kikuyus are not good friends, you only hold back from expressing your hate while in the media house – but the moment you get out of that media house, then you go back to what you have known,” the Media Council’s Mwangi said.

Mutuma Rutere, the United Nations special rapporteur on racism, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance in Nairobi, noted the particular complexities of the Kenyan environment.

“The responsibility is much more in a country like Kenya which has such big divisions,” he said. “The March 4 General Election period and increased use of hate messages on social media mean that (education) on the role of journalists in a divided country like Kenya is needed.”

One television reporter told IWPR that deep-rooted ethnic affiliations were just as widespread among media professionals as among others.

“Lately, journalists are behaving worse than commoners on the streets,” she said. “Just listen to what some of them say when they are waiting for press conferences to start – ‘Kikuyus and Kalenjins stole our votes… (Presidential candidate) Raila (Odinga) is a spoiler… he is disturbing our government’. Some of them even tweet such hate and their bias on their official social media pages.”

Others say there is a common misperception that the usual professional standards do not apply to content posted on social media sites.

“One of the reasons why journalists use hate speech on social sites is because, like everyone else, journalists don’t see the social media as an extension of traditional media,” Rutere told IWPR.

“They see it as a sudden informal space that is available to them. The readiness and availability of social media space is also a challenge, including the informality of communication.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

The post-election violence of 2007-08 highlighted the role that conventional media can play in fanning conflict, subsequent legislation has attempted to prevent a repeat of that outburst.

These laws, which govern the use of hate speech as well as libel and defamation, apply equally to traditional media and online publications, blogs or posts on social media.

Experts say that unlike print and broadcast media, online outlets have remained largely unregulated. (See also Kenya: Too Little Action on Hate Speech?

“There is no proper attention on the social media forms. It is new media and no training has been done,” Rutere said. “There are no clear policies to guide individuals – especially journalists – on social media. Too much focus is on traditional media. The perceived anonymity of social media creates a feeling that rules that regulate traditional media do not apply online.”

About The Author

Pages: 1 2 3

Comments
Advertisement

More on Capital News