The Chairman of the Kenya Correspondents Association (KCA) has appealed to media owners to ensure they pay well their correspondents to promote dignity and capacity to do their work.
Mr William Oloo Janak made the call on Monday following a meeting at a Kericho hotel with journalists from Kericho County regarding challenges they faced in the field as they chase for news stories including risking their lives.
Janak called on Kenya media owners and employers to begin to take greater responsibility for the journalists they engage and stop the wanton exploitation and abuse of journalists as workers.
“One of the appeals we are making is for media houses to pay journalists. We are asking employers, we are asking people who have set up radio stations, any media house to ensure they treat the journalist as a crucial resource upon which they rely to deliver content to the public so if they do not treat the journalist well this is unfortunate and it is unacceptable and a violation of journalists’ labour rights,” said Janak.
The chair revealed that KCA worked with other media sector players to address issues journalists are grappling with emphasizing the need for them to lodge complaints against conduct and actions that infringe on their freedom.
He said the association is currently holding regional meetings across the country to meet journalists to get feedback regarding the challenges they are facing in their line of duty to seek engagements with the government and other media sector players with a view of addressing their issues constructively.
“We have gone round to different regions, Coast, Nyanza, Western, Central, Eastern and South Rift and we are still going around. We have met journalists in Kericho which is in the South Rift region and we have shared a lot of information and they have given us a lot of feedback regarding the challenges they face in the region. Challenges of security of journalists, challenges around their work places especially some of them who cover accidents, issues of salary delay and lack of payment, issues around the work environment which is not good, issue of gender mainstreaming and sexual harassment also regulatory issues that they grapple with and we have taken in a lot of suggestions including the need to engage different media houses including the ones in the region to discuss the plight journalists including the those who are not being treated well,” he observed.
The KCA chairman urged all journalists to stand firm in doing their work and to report the association and other journalists’ advocacy and human rights bodies to enable the media fraternity to mount a coordinated response on any harassment as they carried out their assignments.
Janak revealed that the association was in the process of conducting further trainings on key issues affecting journalists including advocacy for the betterment of their work environment.
The Kenya Correspondents Association is a national journalists’ organization with mandate that include enhancing the professional capacity of journalists through continuous skills development and training, advocacy for journalists’ rights and press freedom within the media industry.
By Sarah Njagi
