BSERVER Watching the Watchdog Debunking Fake News
Taming Hate Speech
JANUARY- MARCH 2015
A Publication of the Media Council of Kenya
The Media Observer
Issue 4, 29 January 2018
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Fake news is a double-edged sword Whereas the term fake news is new – Donald Trump should
claim intellectual property rights – what it describes has always been with us. Pope Francis said last week that fake news is as old as creation. In Judeo-Christian mythology, a snake hissed fake news to the primordial couple, Adam and Eve. They would be as knowledgeable as God if they ate the forbidden fruit. You might know the rest of that story. Other creation myths may not have a similar story, but it is certain that people have concocted fake tales for as long as we have been around on this planet. In the colonial period, African nationalists started their own newspapers to counter the fake news spread by the settler press about the natives.
But a few weeks later, Igathe resigned without fanfare and flatly contradicted his former boss by stating on Twitter that he had failed to earn the trust of the governor. The bad blood between Igathe and Sonko has been the subject of extensive media coverage. And on 17 December 2017, The Standard carried a story headlined, “Anxiety and fear as Matiang’i set to release KCSE results this week.” Quoting confidential sources, the paper reported that Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i was set to release Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education results before Christmas. The Kenya National Examination Council dismissed The Standard story as fake news.
After independence, dictatorial states kept the media on a tight leash to check any opposition. Or state agents planted fake news in supposedly independent newspapers.
“The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) wishes to state categorically that the reports are totally incorrect.”
Kingpins of the so-called gutter press, on the other hand, have made a living spreading scurrilous tales about public figures, etcetera.
Matiang’i released the results that week, exactly as The Standard had reported.
Perhaps one of the biggest fake news stories in the history of Kenyan journalism is a 1975 report by the Nation newspaper claiming that the vocal Member of Parliament for Nyandarua North, JM Kariuki, had secretly left the country for Zambia. JM, as he was popularly known, had been reported missing on 2 March 1975. As the Nation ran that story, JM’s body lay in Ng’ong Forest just outside Nairobi. He had been assassinated. But one important point is missing in the fake news debates. Powerful people cry out fake news to discredit good journalism when the media runs stories they don't like.
With the rapid expansion and influence of social media, fake news is now a bushfire. It presents a serious threat to the profession of journalism. News consumers are no longer sure what to believe. But the other threat of fake news should not be ignored; that is, powerful people for their own interest falsely dismissing accurate reports as fake news. See you Monday!
Two incidents come to mind. In mid December last year, the Star newspaper exclusively reported about a fallout between Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and his deputy Polycarp Igathe. Sonko came out with guns blazing. He claimed he had a perfect working relationship with Igathe. The Star story wasn't true, he said.
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Issue 4, 3, 29 22 January 2018
Kameme FM spreads intolerance
The broadcast was thick with undertones of ethnic chauvinism. “Sakaja niariganirwo kuria aumite [Sakaja has forgotten where he came from]!” the Kameme FM presenters admonished. The Senator was roundly condemned, while Babu Owino was called names. Kameme FM was echoing a section of Jubilee lawmakers led by Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria and his Kikuyu counterpart Kimani Ichung’wa who, according to Citizen TV, rebuked Sakaja, accusing him of being an opposition sympathiser. But this wasn’t enough.
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino was arrested on charges of
assaulting a guard. Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja bailed him out of police cells, according to press reports. On 22 January, Sakaja’s action formed the subject of a morning talk show called ‘Arahuka’ on the Gikuyu language station, Kameme FM. Show hosts Gatonye Mbugua and Man Nyari readily agreed with a listener who sent in an SMS saying he was not impressed by Sakaja's action of procuring Babu Owino's release from police cells. Mbugua and Man Nyari declared that Sakaja's action showed his lack of loyalty to Jubilee, the party on which he was elected. Owino belongs to the opposition ODM party.
At 10am the station carried a news item featuring Embakasi North MP James Mwangi condemning Raila Odinga’s planned swearing in on 30 January 2018 as the People’s President. The MP hurled epithets at the NASA leader. “Kamiti Prison ina milango minene ya kuiganira andu ta Raila” [The doors of Kamiti Prison are wide enough to fit people like Raila].
From these two incidents, Kameme FM came across as an intolerant radio station spreading division. This is nowhere near professional journalism. A media house is at liberty to take a political position. But it must be done Where Kameme FM gets the competence and authority to with decorum. It should not include possible incitement. decide Jubilee party loyalty is difficult to say. Under no circumstances can a radio station justify airing insults. Politicians have supporters. And in our polarized Styling their radio station as a Jubilee mouthpiece, the presenters political context, reckless attacks on politicians are often proceeded to rouse the emotions of listeners by playing songs interpreted as attack on their communities. like ‘Ngoro ya Mudu’ and ‘Nigutee’ that depicted Sakaja as a sell-out. Kameme FM should strive to be a professional radio station serving Kenyans, not sound like an ethnic In Kameme’s scheme of things that morning, people on megaphone. Just ask Rwanda. opposite sides of the political divide are enemies and hould only relate as such. Politicians are permanently locked up in boxes, their respective parties, and cannot relate outside their boxes. They can’t be neighbours. They can’t attend the same shrines to worship. Theirkids can’t be friends or enrolled at the same school. Their children can’t marry across the divide. Such bigotry!
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Issue 4, 29 January 2018
Forced conversionsTime at cityto! school?
Jamhuri High School in Nairobi was temporarily closed last
Wednesday following student unrest. The news reports about it by different media houses were so gabbled one was left wondering whether the journalists were writing about the same incident. People Daily: “Trouble started when a Form One Muslim student reportedly dropped a bag belonging to his new Form 3 colleague. Four “Form Four students, feeling disrespected, joined forces in support of the new student to bully the Form One, which did not go down well with a faction of Muslim students.” The Star: “What began as a small issue between two students – a fight over a cup and a slap – escalated into a full-blown
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battle between Muslim and Christian students at Jamhuri High School.” The Standard: “A quarrel over a cup on Tuesday morning degenerated into a fight that has left over 40 students injured at Jamhuri High School. “The tussle ensued when a Form Four prefect confronted a Form Two student, a day scholar, and accused him of being in possession of a cup meant for boarders.” The Nation: “A scuffle between two students over a cup of tea sparked a full blown fight at Jamhuri High School, leaving seven students and the principal nursing injuries.” Quite hilarious tales. So, which of these stories is the correct
Issue 4, 29 January 2018
version of what happened? Take your pick.
shall be used only when it is clearly in the public interest to gather or convey important information or when a person But it is KTN’s initial reports that raised our eyebrows. providing information might be harmed.” “Many students at Jamhuri High School, Ngara, Nairobi, That Muslim students wanted Christian students to convert (fighting, leading to violent confrontation at Jamhuri High are injured after a violent overnight clash stabbing) to Islam, between Christian and Muslim students. It is alleged Muslim School, is a serious claim. Yet KTN did not bother to students wanted Christian students to convert into Islam or authenticate the veracity of this allegation. leave the school,” the station told the world. And two, the case touches on covering ethnic, religious and Forced conversion? Very serious. How was it being done? sectarian conflict as stipulated in Article 11 of the Code of Who was involved? Who made the allegations? KTN did Conduct: not say. “News, views or comments on ethnic, religious or sectarian Religion is a highly flammable issue. Reporting a conflict as dispute shall be published or broadcast after proper a “clash over religious affiliation,” or as arising from forced verification of facts and presented with due caution and conversion, must be backed by nothing but concrete facts. restraint in a manner which is conducive to the creation of Not speculation. an atmosphere co ngenial to national harmony, amity and peace.” The Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya (2013) makes two points that are relevant to this case. There is no reason why a confrontation over a cup of tea or One, integrity of the news gathering and dissemination whatever should be framed as an attempt at forced religious process. The Code (Article 3, 2a) says a journalist shall conversion. “identify sources whenever possible. Confidential sources
Fake economic analysis? Dr. XN Iraki teaches economics at the University of Nairobi and is a columnist for The Standard. He was on KTN Prime on 4 January 2018 to give his perspective on the economy. Show host Ben Kitili was asking the questions. Kitili: What is your prediction of 2018 in terms of the economy?
What is the state of Kenya’s economy? This is obviously an Dr. Iraki: My economic forecast for the next one year [is important question. But the answer depends pretty much on that] it is likely to be very positive. For one, one of the whom you listen to. We are either just about to enter the bliss biggest problems we face in this country year in year out is of prosperity or heading straight to hell. drought. The weather has come out very positive; as we talk it is raining. Last year towards the end it rained. And that That’s the much expert analysts tell us on television, radio had a very positive impact on the economy. We expect prices and in newspaper columns. You might just have to do your to go down [other words not clear]. If we can put our own analysis and forget all that punditry. politics in order I see positive economic expansion in the next one year. 4
Issue 4, 29 January 2018
So, my analysis is that I see things coming out very positively.” It is a view shared by Nation columnist Peter Warutere. “Kenya could be inching towards economic growth take-off stage,” the columnist crowed last week (Daily Nation, 25 January 2018, p.15). “In the past few weeks, analysts at Stanbic Bank have projected that Kenya’s economic growth will rise to 5.6 per cent this year, from 4.8 per cent in 2017, while the World Bank predicts a growth rate of 5.5 per cent in 2018. The numbers may differ slightly but the message is of strong signs of an economic rebound.” These euphoric noises are raised against the background of very high and rising cost of living – everything from prices of basic commodities such as unga, fuel and electricity to rent and healthcare. This excited armchair punditry takes no account of the endless daily reports of children who cannot proceed to secondary school because their parents or guardians cannot afford it. We have some economic analysts celebrating “take-off ” while tens of thousands of people die or are rendered unproductive by preventable and curable diseases. Workers are being laid off because a number of businesses are no longer profitable. Several have published profit warnings. The economic pontiffs promise us prosperity when even the media houses that have hired them are sending workers home! The country is mired in debt, now at Sh.4 trillion and growing. “The positive outlook is supported by increasing business confidence and growth in manufacturing and agricultural production and services,” Warutere went on. “Analysts could soon be talking about Kenya moving towards the economic takeoff stage described by American economist Walt Whitman Rostow in 1960…” Blah, blah, blah. Wait. Who still talks in 2018 about W.W. Rostow’s much impugned “stages of economic growth” and the entire gang of modernization theorists? In the week that Warutere was telling people about “increasing business confidence and growth in manufacturing and agricultural production and services,” the Standard ran a well-researched report on the state of the economy (Tuesday,
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23 January 2018). “In the last five years, the profits of most companies have shrunk by a third. Consequently, managers have had to execute painful cost-cutting measures like job losses and other panic strategies to stay afloat. “An analysis by the Financial Standard (FS) also reveals that 2013 was the best year for most listed companies in Kenya. Cumulatively, since 2013 when Jubilee under President Uhuru Kenyatta came to power, the 56 companies whose results FS has analysed have lost Sh.61.27 billion from their earnings.” We would be happy to see Warutere and Dr Iraki challenging this report. Talking of manufacturing and agricultural production, what’s perhaps closer to the truth is that these key sectors have shrunk in recent years mainly due to dumping of cheap imports (everything including toothpicks) and low investment. Where are the jobs if manufacturing is growing? If agriculture has expanded, WTF (Where’s The Food)? Wage employment stands at about 2.5 million out of Kenya’s population of about 50 million, according to government figures. About 800,000 new workers are poured into the labour market each year, with only about 50,000 able to find a job. Economy growing at 5.6 per cent? According to Vision 2030, the government’s blueprint for making Kenya a medium income country, the economy should grow at an average of 10 per cent each year to attain that status. Twelve years to 2030, some people are going gaga about 5.6 per cent growth! And which serious analyst still examines development through the neoliberal capitalist lenses of “growth”? Growth for whom? Ok, let’s stop there for now. Just decide which you want to believe: what your own eyes can see or the happy noises of a columnist who writes that, “Public and private initiatives underwrite the prospects for brighter times ahead,” -- when the front-page of the same paper screams, “Pain of Kenyans owed Sh.90 billion by governors”
Issue 4, 29 January 2018
KNA, quit this third-rate journalism
Is this a sensible explanation for the problem of students failing to report to school? The media has been awash with reports of primary school leavers who are unable to report to secondary school for lack of fees. Looks like KNA and My Gov have not seen any such reports. To begin with, the government’s much trumpeted free secondary education for day scholars is not free as such. New students have to buy uniforms, pay for the school bus, pay for lunch and a host of other things requiring tens of thousands of shillings.
Every Tuesday the government publishes a weekly newspaper called My Gov. It is carried as a pullout in the dailies. The paper is usually heavy with government advertisements. Its stories are supplied by the government’s news agency, KNA.
Now, Kenya News Agency has been around since the hills were born. Yet its journalism remains third-rate, even for a PR outfit. You are not going to find lots of people interested in reading about what government officials said, week in week out.
If the KNA reporter had interviewed education officials and parents – and not a government administrator donning a colonial khaki uniform and helmet – the journalist would have come away with a better story about what is really preventing thousands of Kenya’s young people from reporting to school. In these hard economic times, many parents across the country simply do not have the money to take their children to school. That’s not a problem to be solved by chiefs and their assistants chasing KCPE graduates around the village to take them to school by force, or is it?
The lead story in last week’s issue was titled, “Counties face Form 1 puzzle.” Apparently, government officials are unable to figure out why large numbers of students invited to join secondary schools have not reported. Almost the entire story was based on an interview with Taita Taveta County Commissioner Kula Hache. The administrator thinks the problem is with local chiefs not doing their work properly. She warned them of dire consequences. “I have ordered the chiefs and their assistants to locate and ensure all the pupils who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination (KCPE) last year are enrolled into the secondary schools they have been admitted to without further delay,” Hache said, according to My Gov. “If any child is found loitering in the villages under your jurisdiction, you chiefs and assistant chiefs will be answerable.”
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Issue 4, 29 January 2018
Stop these threats against reporters
And finally, an attack on a group of journalists took place in Turkana, again. It is the second attack this month.
A report by KTN News said the eight journalists were assaulted while covering a press conference by KANU members in Lodwar town.
The reporters were from KTN, KBC, NTV, Citizen TV, Radio Maisha, the Star newspaper and a local radio station. Some of the journalists were injured and their equipment destroyed. A similar attack took place on 2 January 2018. It is also reported that a Standard Group reporter based in Isiolo was last week forced into hiding. Ali Abdi recorded a statement with the police following death threats from the aide of a former governor of Marsabit. According to the Standard, the aide was unhappy with a story Abdi published last Monday that Members of the County Assembly of Marsabit were opposed to the appointment of former Governor Ukur Yattani to the Cabinet of President Uhuru Kenyatta. Abdi reported that the mostly Jubilee MCAs were planning to join NASA coalition’s call for formation of a people’s assembly. The death threats against Abdi came shortly after Deputy President William Ruto’s media man, David Mugonyi, threatened to sack Nation journalist Justus Wanga over a story (see The Observer issue of 15 January 2018). Attacks on journalists are a crime. Police in Lodwar and Isiolo must carry out investigations and bring the perpetrators to justice. We insist that no journalist should live in fear because of their work. Anyone unhappy with a story should file a complaint with the Media Council of Kenya.
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Issue 4, 29 January 2018
publicholiday holidaythat thatnever neverwas was AApublic
That Special Issue of the Kenya Gazette doing the rounds on social media looked like the real thing: the national Court of Arms, the font, the layout, the wording, everything.
Gazette Notice No. 10783, dated 24 January 2018 and citing The Public Holidays Act (Cap.110), read as follows: “It is notified for general information of the public that the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Public Holidays Act, declares that Tuesday, the 30th of January, 2018 be a public holiday to accord Kenyans the opportunity to participate in the Swearing in of Rt Hon Raila Amolo Odinga and Hon Kalonzo Musyoka as the People’s President and the People’s Deputy President respectively.” The notice was complete with the signature of Fred Matiang’i. Purportedly. An excellent fake job. The notice enjoyed mass circulation almost immediately it hit social media. But who could be fooled that Matiang’i would publish such a notice? He is an appointee of the Jubilee government, which is totally opposed to the planned swearing in of NASA leaders Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka as the People’s President and Deputy People’s President respectively. The notice caught the attention of Matiang’i, who denounced it as a fake. He tweeted: “PUBLIC NOTICE: The Public is advised to disregard the contents of this document that is being circulated on social media. It is FAKE.” That was the biggest fake news of the week.
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Issue 4, 29 January 2018
News that never was. #FakeNews! 1
The reported sacking of staff at Nation Media Group elicited a lot of reactions from rumour mongers as depicted below.
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The photo below indicates an article stating that NASA co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka claimed that if President Uhuru Kenyatta does not hold dialogue with NASA leader Raila Odinga then Kenya will be like South Sudan. This story did not indicate the author or the date it was published. The story is published by a blog called Naiexpose.
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Another fake story was published on 19 January 2018 by an author called Kijana Wamsituni. The article purports that there are countries ready to host Raila Odinga swearing in as the People’s President.
The article below states that Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto gate-crushed one burial ceremony in Nyamira County to seek votes during the last election. It was published in Buzz-arena.com.
Issue 4, 29 January 2018
News that never was. #FakeNews!
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President Uhuru Kenyatta was also not spared by fake news mongers as depicted below. The link takes one to a fake Telegraph website.
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Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Mukromen is purported to have been attacked by NASA supporters after he questioned the swearing in ceremony of Raila Odinga on 30th January 2018. Even the photo used does not show Kipchumba Murkomen.
Issue 4, 29 January 2018
News that never was. #FakeNews! 7
Is NASA begging Kenyans to support them financially?
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And there was the hilarious one about Nairobi police boss Japheth Koome advising city residents on how to avoid being mugged in the streets.
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Issue 4, 29 January 2018
The Media Observer is published weekly by the Media Council of Kenya.
Media Council of Kenya P.O. Box 43132 – 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Chief Executive Officer David Omwoyo Programme Manager Victor Bwire Project Team Leader Kodi Barth Media Monitoring Leo Mutisya Editor Henry Makori Layout Simon Njuguna Tel: (+254 20) 2737058, 2725032 Cell: +254 727 735252 observer@mediacouncil.or.ke
@MediaObserverKE
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Issue 4, 29 January 2018