MEDIA COUNCIL OF KENYA
The Coverage of the ICC Status Conferences by Kenyan Newspapers June 2012
Monitoring Report
Published by: Media Council of Kenya P.O. Box 43132 00100 Nairobi, Kenya Ground Floor, British American Insurance Centre Mara/Ragati Road Junction, Upper Hill Tel: +254 (020) 2737058, 2716265, 2716266 Mobile: +254 727 735252 Email: info@mediacouncil.or.ke Website: www.mediacouncil.or.ke Š Media Council of Kenya, 2012
MEDIA COUNCIL OF KENYA
The Coverage of the ICC Status Conferences by Kenyan Newspapers June 2012 Monitoring Report Media Council of Kenya
Table of Content Acknowledgements iv 1. Introduction 1 2. Scope 1 3. Focus 2 4. Adherence to the Code of Conduct
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5. Conclusion 4
Acknowledgements The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) wishes to to acknowledge the work of the MCK monitoring team: Immaculate Mwende Abraham Kisang Allennita Gakii Njeri Munyiri Ahmed Kassim We also want to thank Isabel Rodde, Technical Adviser GIZ and the German Development Cooperation GIZ / Civil Peace Service for the supervision and support of this project.
1. Introduction
From June 9 to 13, 2012, the Media Council of Kenya monitored the coverage of the ICC status conferences by Kenya daily newspapers. All articles in the Daily Nation, The Standard, The People and The Star which mentioned the term “ICC” were analyzed. The status conferences were held on June 11 and 12 in The Hague to discuss the trial dates and procedures for Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta, former Civil Service Head Francis Muthaura, Eldoret North MP William Ruto and radio journalist Joshua arap Sang at the International Criminal Court. The four are accused of crimes against humanity committed during the post-election violence in 2007/2008.
2. Scope
The ICC status conferences were covered in a total of 31 articles which were published between June 9 and June 13. The Daily Nation published 11 articles, The Standard 8 and The Star and The People each six. Three quarters of all articles were accompanied by photos. 87% were news reports and 13% opinion pieces, with the majority of opinion pieces being published by the Daily Nation. Article Format Format News Source
DN
Count % within /Article/Source
STAR
Count % within /Article/Source
STD
Count % within /Article/Source
TPN
Count % within /Article/Source
Total
Count % within /Article/Source
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THE COVERAGE OF THE ICC STATUS CONFERENCES BY KENYAN NEWSPAPERS
Total
Opinion 8
3
11
72,7%
27,3%
100,0%
6
0
6
100,0%
,0%
100,0%
7
1
8
87,5%
12,5%
100,0%
6
0
6
100,0%
,0%
100,0%
27
4
31
87,1%
12,9%
100,0%
THE COVERAGE OF THE ICC STATUS CONFERENCES BY KENYAN NEWSPAPERS
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All papers gave prior notice of the conferences on the weekend before, with some of them providing extensive background coverage. The reporting on the status conferences themselves might have been more elaborate, if the fatal helicopter crash had not happened on June 10, thus dominating the news coverage on the following days1. However, both the first conference, dealing with the case of Ruto and Sang, and the second conference concentrating on Kenyatta and Muthaura were covered by five articles each. Daily Nation, The Standard and The Star additionally covered the farewell press conference by chief prosecutor Luis Moreno- Ocampo which was held on June 12. Article Date
09.06.2012
6
19,4
Cumulative Percent 19,4 19,4
10.06.2012
7
22,6
22,6
41,9
11.06.2012
2
6,5
6,5
48,4
12.06.2012
5
16,1
16,1
64,5 100,0
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
13.06.2012
11
35,5
35,5
Total
31
100,0
100,0
3. Focus
The pre-conference coverage in The Standard, The Star and The People provided information on the schedule and the purpose of the two status conferences. The Star and The People also reported on the dispute between the registrar of the ICC and the victim´s lawyer Sureta Chana over the funding of the victim representation activities.
opinion piece, advocate and law professor Kithure Kindiki discussed the importance of combining the ICC trials with local prosecutions in Kenya. In a commentary published in the Saturday Nation a day earlier, human rights advocate Maina Kiai had criticised the current cutback of expenses for PEV victims´ representation by the International Criminal Court. On June 12, all papers covered the first status conference on their front page, focusing on the fact that the trials might start only after the elections in March 2013. Both the prosecution and Ruto´s and Sang´s lawyers had requested this schedule, with the prosecution stating that they were still interviewing witnesses and would finalize the disclosure of evidence in the first quarter of 2013. While The Standard, The Star and the Daily Nation accurately indicated in their headlines that the March 2013 date was a likely option which still needed final confirmation2, The People splashed confidently “Uhuru, Ruto ICC trial to start after 2013 polls”. All papers mentioned the fact that the late Internal Security Minister George Saitoti had been listed to testify as a witness during the trials. On June 13, all papers covered the outcome of the second status conference, emphasizing the fact that Muthaura, unlike Ruto, Kenyatta and Sang, had requested a start of the trial as soon as possible. While The Standard and The Star covered the stories on page 1 (continued on the inside pages), the Daily Nation placed the report on page 4 and The People only on page 6. All papers except for The People covered the farewell press conference of ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. The Daily Nation featured Ocampo´s farewell message to the Kenyans prominently on page 2. All papers also reported the conviction of a post-election offender, who was sentenced to life in prison in the Nakuru High Court for killing his neighbour. The People splashed the story very prominently on the front page (“Man gets life term for poll violence”), expressing hope that the conviction could influence a possible transfer of the ICC cases to Kenya or Tanzania.
The Sunday Nation on June 10 allocated five pages to the ICC topic including two long commentaries. The paper gave extensive coverage to Uhuru Kenyatta´s political rally in Samburu County, during which he protested his innocence and blamed the 2007 violence on Kibaki and Raila as the former presidential candidates (Uhuru blames Kibaki and Raila for violence, p.1). Another article discussed at length the impact of the status conferences on the upcoming elections. Arguing that clashing trial dates might exclude Ruto and Kenyatta from the elections, the authors analyzed which politicians would benefit most from this scenario (Why ICC status conference will be of interest not just to the accused, p. 5). In his “Letter from New York” in the Sunday Nation, law dean and regular commentator Makau Mutua demanded that Ruto and Kenyatta drop their bid for the State House due to their indictments for serious crimes against humanity. In a second 1 See MCK Monitoring Report „Reporting Accidents and Tragedies: The Media Coverage of the Police
Helicopter Crash*
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THE COVERAGE OF THE ICC STATUS CONFERENCES BY KENYAN NEWSPAPERS
2 The Standard, Why Uhuru, Ruto may just make it to the ballot, p.1; The Star, Ruto, sang hague trial may start in March 2013, p.1; Daily nation, Ruto bid gets boost as Ocampo pushes for delayed trials, p.1
THE COVERAGE OF THE ICC STATUS CONFERENCES BY KENYAN NEWSPAPERS
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4. Adherence to the Code of Conduct / Quality of Coverage
All articles were classified as not containing any breaches of the Code of Conduct. The majority of articles provided comprehensive reporting on the court proceedings and covered the arguments of the prosecution and defence as well as the statements of the judges. There were some articles, however, which neglected the standpoints of the victims´ representatives. 15% of all news reports were based on only one source and one viewpoint. However, these were the stories which reported on the farewell press conference of chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. Viewpoints in News Reports Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
>3
11
40,7
40,7
40,7
1
4
14,8
14,8
55,6
2
4
14,8
14,8
70,4
3
8
29,6
29,6
100,0
Total
27
100,0
100,0
5. Conclusion
Kenyan daily newspapers published comprehensive pre-conference coverage at the weekend prior to the ICC hearings. Especially the Daily Nation provided extensive background information including several opinion pieces highlighting the situation of post-election victims and the importance of transitional justice mechanisms in Kenya. The coverage of the status conferences themselves was limited due to the fatal helicopter crash which dominated the news coverage on June 11 and 12. However, all newspapers reported on the outcome of both status conferences in an accurate and balanced way, covering the arguments of the prosecution and defence as well as the statements of the judges. Some articles, however, neglected the standpoints of the victims´ representatives, a tendency which could already be observed during the confirmation of charges hearings in September 2011.
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THE COVERAGE OF THE ICC STATUS CONFERENCES BY KENYAN NEWSPAPERS
MEDIA COUNCIL OF KENYA
P.O. Box 43132 00100 Nairobi, Kenya T +254 (020) 2737058 M +254 727 735252 E info@mediacouncil.or.ke W http://www.mediacouncil.or.ke
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THE COVERAGE OF THE ICC STATUS CONFERENCES BY KENYAN NEWSPAPERS