Members of the media in West Pokot County have been urged to maintain high levels of professionalism in the course of executing their duties of informing the public.
During a Media Information Literacy (MIL) Forum held at a Kapenguria Hotel, Media Council of Kenya (MCK) officials called on the writers in the county to uphold their professional standards through being objective and remaining accountable whatever they do their stories.
MCK Senior Research Planning and Strategy Officer Jacob Nyongesa pinpointed that the media industry was undergoing sporadic transformations because of the changing technologies hence the need for caution when sourcing for information that seems to receive publicity from sometimes doubtful platforms.
Nyongesa appealed to reporters to stick to their gatekeeping roles instead of being used as conduits to pass information that lacks credibility and objectivity.
“The biggest challenge when practising in the current media industry is that there is a lot of information bombardment. Unless one is very careful, they might fall into the bandwagon of reporting what some people publicize for the sake of winning viewership to earn money. We have a lot of gutter press on various online platforms,” warned the MCK Senior researcher.
The writers were challenged to retool their investigative skills together with seeking guidance from experts when reporting on sensitive or thematic issues.
MCK Regional Coordinator Joseph Mecha underscored the value of remaining professional across all media platforms reiterating that the consequences of hate speech, propaganda and defamation are very expensive hence journalists should work their best to ensure they avoid them both online and offline.
Mecha observed that the society holds journalists with high esteem hence anything they channel out both on social media and any other platforms attracts a lot of following.
“Whatever that journalists report is always treated with utmost certainty therefore one will always be held individually responsible for what they pass to members of the public,” said the coordinator challenging media owners to invest in retooling of their staff for enhanced professional standards.
David Krop from World Vision Kenya (WVK) asked journalists to help in safeguarding children’s welfare through responsible reporting on children’s matters.
Krop underscored the value of seeking the parental consent before reporting on matters regarding children.
“We now have a moral dilemma because some people go posting children’s pictures on social media without following the due process. Such a practice may have a lifelong effect on the children in future,” he argued.
At the same time Krop urged reporters to consider keep close tabs with the cultural orientations of the community they are reporting about children matters.
The reporters in the region were challenged to form a working association so that they can seek partnerships with organisations that support media advocacy programmes.
“Other journalists have been receiving grants from the MCK to undertake various media activities. It is easier to lobby as a group rather than individuals but we are impressed some of you have been winning awards under the Annual Journalism Excellence Awards (AJEA) which is commendable,” said Nyongesa.
The participants hailed the move by MCK to hold the forum in the region asking that the council may consider having more of such forums to be hosted in other areas so that reporters can have much exposure.
“Some of us we spend almost the whole year within the county. We need such forums held elsewhere made open to us to participate so as to share experiences,” said the reporters.
By Richard Muhambe
