MEDIA AND THE STATE

                               Perceived threats of the media over state

        

 When the 10^th parliament passed The Information Communication Bill 2013 a forthright ago, it was clearly seen by many critics as a move by the government to muzzle the ever increasing power of the media. Others viewed this as a tactical move by politicians to take away the democratic space that has been painfully fought for many years since the advent of multipartism in early 1990’s.

            However, irrespective of these opinions, the fact stands out that this bill that has been branded draconian with contagious clauses was hurriedly passed by a house shy of a quorum and its now resting on the hands of the head of state to either make it a law or take it back to the house. Whatever it comes out the whole thing emanated from what the government might have considered an embarrassment when the media openly ex very posed the security weakness and naivity in handling the Westgate mall attack on late September. At the very least the government looked unprepared to handle security emergencies; there was apparent lack of coordination among the various agencies that were involved. Most notably of all, Interior cabinet secretary Joseph Ole Lenku constantly fed the country with conflicting information regarding the number of the terrorist in the mall and the causalities.On the other hand hand army chief General Julius Karangi is alleged to have bullied his way in involving his men to take over the operation to the shock of the various police units that were already carrying out the operation. The media put all these flaws to the public, on the third day of the operation journalist were pushed as far as 300 meters from the mall for what the army considered “security purposes”. In the end the coup ended in a dramatic fashion n left the public with many questions than answers. Consequently the government felt that the media had pinned the too much to the wall.

            Another threat that the media posses over the state are its role in analysis and interpretation of issues. The most crucial role in any state is checking on the government, that is playing the watchdog role. In as much as some government officials might want to strike deals in the dark, establish unconstitutional policies or oppress the citizens among other things, the media cannot relent on such. With most of the state officials taking advantage of the large illiterate population, the media stands for them by explaining, interpreting and analyzing issues that no other institution would have played that role. Most of these government officials have found themselves on the receiving end with regards to issues of corruption, immorality and poor leadership. Nonetheless the press shapes these leaders keeps them on the check and helps to eliminate injustices and helps fight for the oppressed while at the same time trying to stand for the truth and honesty in reporting these issues.

                Even though Article 34 (1) a of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 clearly states that;”The state shall not exercise control over or interfere with any person engaged in broadcasting, the production or circulation of any publication or dissemination of information by any medium”, the press was hugely blamed for aggravating the post-election violence of 2007-08.Many government officials and politicians argued that were it not for the way the media handled the violence, the magnitude of the chaos might not have taken the lives of over 1300 Kenyans and rendered 650,000 homeless.Furthermore,it goes without mention that during that fateful period, most people restricted themselves to their homes catching the events of the elections on television or listening to radio.

The media might have therefore exposed the peaceful places to violence by showing disturbing pictures and sending alarming messages by most vernacular radio stations.In fact, Journalists Joshua Sang at that time a radio presenter at Kass Fm is accused of perpetrating violence by use of radio. He is currently facing the charges at The Hague based court ICC.The state at that time therefore felt that the media frustrated its efforts to quell the violence at a time the country needed it most.

            Emergence of large media industries is also viewed by many as a threat to the government.J.Baran,(2006) when writing on mass communication defined oligopoly-a concentration of media industries into a smaller number of companies and such has an enormous effect on mass communication. This is therefore a great concern to the state in the sense that such kind of media ownership is likely to rival government parastatals with the similar interests besides its impact in communicating to the masses. In some countries a media house is restricted on the number of audience it can concentrate into a niche. The state must therefore work out a plan to curb such continued trend of the media ownership. Already, a clause on such is contained on the bill that is awaiting the presidential assention.

            The nature of the press being a threat must therefore be explored and regulated. On the other hand the media, the public together with the state must strive to achieve a balance on how each must depend on the other.

By Korir.