The emergence of digital platforms and the rise of citizen journalism, which in many instances has failed to subscribe to the tenets of good coverage, places a huge responsibility on the traditional media to upscale how they disseminate information to promote the truth.
Social media platforms are already awash with fake news and propaganda on the ongoing campaigns, which is exacerbated by the country's lack of the capacity to check, monitor, and punish those using these rapidly evolving platforms.
Assessments of the mainstream media’s coverage of the 2017 General Election can best be described as a mixed bag.
Traditionally, media has been central in shaping good governance world over, which explains the reason why dictatorial regimes that stifle democracy do not allow the free press to flourish.
How Kenya's mainstream media covers this year’s electioneering process, which has earnestly taken shape, is critical, especially in the presidential election that is expected to be tightly contested.
The emergence of digital platforms and the rise of citizen journalism, which in many instances has failed to subscribe to the tenets of good coverage, places a huge responsibility on the traditional media to upscale how they disseminate information to promote the truth.
Social media platforms are already awash with fake news and propaganda on the ongoing campaigns, which is exacerbated by the country's lack of the capacity to check, monitor, and punish those using these rapidly evolving platforms.
Assessments of the mainstream media’s coverage of the 2017 General Election can best be described as a mixed bag. While media played a very important role, it was blamed in some instances for not being factual, unbiased, and lacking objective coverage.
These affected more vernacular radio stations that were accused of parochialism with some taking and promoting extremely partisan politics aligned more to local audiences than to national interests. In the 2007 elections, the media was accused of fuelling post-election violence that arose.
Given these past experiences, the media should emphasise messages of peace throughout the electioneering period. It should show restraint and self-censorship in terms of the information and images it presents.
Journalists must play a critical role in negotiating political and electoral discourse, and adhere to the principles of truth and accuracy, independence, fairness, and impartiality. Journalists must not blur the lines between personal and professional conduct.
In addition, while media houses endeavour to call on experts and analysts, they must be careful to identify those fully qualified to objectively tackle the debates at hand.
One big gap is that mainstream media don’t feature women frequently. Men-only panels dominate television broadcasts and fewer women are used as news sources. Women politicians also receive significantly less coverage – and far more critical coverage – than their male counterparts.
Also, media houses should improve in live coverage, immediacy, and updates on the campaigns, as well as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s preparations.
Attempts should also be made to encourage issue-based debating platforms and to give different contestants opportunities to argue their positions and engage with the electorate.
Media houses should deploy more resources than ever before to cover campaigns in various parts of the country, and to fact-check.
Journalists should also be broad in covering all issues that relate to the elections. For example, they should be keen to inquire about issues such as campaign financing, the use of State resources for campaigns, and the conduct of party primaries.
But when all is said and done, the mainstream media continues to play a critical role in educating and informing the populace. The increased number of media outlets, especially local language radio and television stations, has ensured broader access to election information.
