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Where are Kenyan journalists?
adept
#21 Posted : Thursday, May 07, 2009 9:23:00 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 12/8/2008
Posts: 359
Finally...he speaks!!!

Let's just say I have learnt a new word today so I will refrain from commentating on this matter forthwith.

So @rickymosh don't hold back anymore. Preach on...I might get converted. Don't count on it though cause the odds are not in your favor.

Any institution or person that purports to operate for/in the public interest is subject to a public audit.
Spendthrift
#22 Posted : Thursday, May 07, 2009 10:26:00 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 4/26/2008
Posts: 132
@ rickymosh and McReggae,

What I would have been more interested in while watching the news item is seeing the causal relationships e.g. between the suicide and the Arsenal's loss or the fat prostitute's increased income and the sex boycott. Don't take comfort in numbers just because the story got to reuters,bbc,espn....afterall who feeds these with the news? I would suppose that they do not remotely sense and they could have as well employed Kenyan journalists or some graduates of some 4th floor college masquerading as scribes. (and again,what if the loud quip I talked of in another thread was true.....)

And if you hold a talk show,the line of questioning should be useful for the guest as well as the audience. That's not too western to ask

To agree with you most professions in this country are sinking into mediocrity. If teachers and informers of the nation,such as journalists and waalimu are in deep,then I guess too bad. But you journalists cannot be left off the hook because you equally pry into public and private affairs with the proper intention of informing the rest of us. The responsibility that comes with that is enormous.

While I also agree with McReggae that audits are needed for every profession and even individual,for the print and electronic media,it starts with basic EDITING for language,coherence and factual content. Otherwise that newspaper that I pay Kshs. 35 for could very well be worth only 20 bob or less if you want to indulge in me in matters of value for money.

Kudos to the few,maybe two or four real scribes out there



Everyday!
McReggae
#23 Posted : Thursday, May 07, 2009 10:42:00 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/17/2008
Posts: 23,365
Location: Nairobi
Hey spendthrift,

ma profession is far from journalism in fact I did not have to pass any subject on language to pursue it.

All in all I think we do agree that all proffessions need to be audited and scritinized but blanket attack on journalism as a whole is wat I was against......remember guyz like Philip Ochieng are still out there doing their thing!!!!!


Make money.....then you will enjoy all the fine things in life!!!
..."Wewe ni mtu mdogo sana....na mwenye amekuandika pia ni mtu mdogo sana!".
tmatekwa
#24 Posted : Thursday, May 07, 2009 10:55:00 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 10/1/2007
Posts: 232
The problem with journalists is the tendency to comment authoritatively on matters they are least qualified.... It is like giving a teenager a gun. Some regulation is desirable for public good. The challenge lies to what extent the regulation should be applied.

Osama bin Laden
mukiha
#25 Posted : Thursday, May 07, 2009 11:22:00 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/27/2008
Posts: 4,114
There was a debate in Kenyan public universities a few years ago. The question was: Are education graduates Bachelors of Education (Arts/Science) or are they Bachelors of Arts/Science (Education).

This arose out of two observations:


The students spend more hours learning their teaching subjects than on education courses
One must first understand a subject before they can (learn to) teach it

In the end,no agreement was reached and the tradition of B.Ed remained

The same can be asked of journalism: What is more important understanding an event or knowing how to write (or read) a report?

I think there is too much emphasis on writing stylistics to the detriment of the content of the story. Thus you find people who have no clue about meteorology reading weather reports and others who have no clue about medicine writing medical stories...etc.

It is instructive that CNN's Sanjay Gupta had been proposed to become the Surgeon General (Director of Medical Services in Kenyan context). Even the pretty girls you see reading the weather on BBC/CNN/SKY are qualified meteorologists.

My opinion then is that journalists must specialise on particular types of stories. That requires you to study well in that area (BTW my university had a BA degree in Football Afairs under the department of socialogy...graduates would be employed as club managers and live commentators!)

If you concentrate on stylistics,you end up looking (and sounding) like an egg head that doesn't know what they are on about.....
Nothing is real unless it can be named; nothing has value unless it can be sold; money is worthless unless you spend it.
McReggae
#26 Posted : Thursday, May 07, 2009 1:08:00 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/17/2008
Posts: 23,365
Location: Nairobi
fantony: out of order!!!!

Make money.....then you will enjoy all the fine things in life!!!
..."Wewe ni mtu mdogo sana....na mwenye amekuandika pia ni mtu mdogo sana!".
mukiha
#27 Posted : Thursday, May 07, 2009 1:42:00 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/27/2008
Posts: 4,114
Yes! @fantoy;

Edit that name out!

Quickly before others see it
Nothing is real unless it can be named; nothing has value unless it can be sold; money is worthless unless you spend it.
Spendthrift
#28 Posted : Thursday, May 07, 2009 2:49:00 PM
Rank: Member

Joined: 4/26/2008
Posts: 132
@ fanthony,please be SK civil and remove those identities.

It was and still is a discussion and not a vendeta ground.



Everyday!
adept
#29 Posted : Thursday, May 07, 2009 4:47:00 PM
Rank: Member

Joined: 12/8/2008
Posts: 359
Ngai fafa! @fantony...oh no you didn't!

Hata kama it is trying to prove a point,hiyo ni mbaya.
Obi 1 Kanobi
#30 Posted : Thursday, May 07, 2009 6:26:00 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 7/23/2008
Posts: 3,017
@Spendthrift.

Methinks you are directing your rage at the wrong persons. The problem is not poor journalism,its more like poor editing and management quality controls. The journos are at the bottom of the ladder,blaming them is not fair.

If I was an editor and got some of the crap written on the papers,I would hit the journo real hard with it and ask him to get his act together. On top of that,they should grill the journo on his proof and support of the story to maintain the papers integrity.

Same case will apply to management,they should likewise come down hard on their editors during reviews to avoid silly mistakes and maintain quality.

As for presenters and program hosts,they are meant to be flowers not brains,the real brains should be the producers,diretors and script writers who should ensure enough research is done on topics before presenting them to the public.

And we (kenyans) are not helped by our Shen'glish,me thinks it complicates sentence construction,we tend to think the way we speak.



I guess if you can't win with facts,you can always pen bile-laced,xenophobic rants to distract everyone.
"The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline." James Collins
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