Threats will not deflect media from their mission

Government should stop its obsession with trying to muzzle, if not destroy, the media. It has become a fad for government officials to threaten the media. The process has been building for the last 10 years.

The formation of the Government Advertising Agency was in itself done in bad faith with the aim of stifling media houses by starving them of government advertising. Whereas the government is a major advertiser, it is not the sole one. For majority media houses, it contributes less than 10 per cent of their advertising revenue.

Listening to Information Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo trying to explain the push to withdraw government advertising from newspapers, one gets a feeling of an ulterior motive and not what he calls the new way of doing things or sealing revenue leakages.

According to the CS, the government’s publication that contains government advertising, MyGov, ought to be distributed via the Kenya Postal Corporation because it has better reach than the newspapers. Whereas that can be challenged, his next statement is what is baffling. Owalo says his ministry will revolutionise the corporation to focus on e-commerce because, as it is, it is moribund.

So which is which, Mr CS? Let the plan be executed for the right reasons. But bandying around claims that cannot be justified smirks of hate towards the media. The same government is sponsoring bills in Parliament for the sole purpose of emasculating the press.

Insulting and assaulting journalists, as has happened recently, is just a pointer to the thinking of government honchos. Government says it wants to do business with social media content creators but what it fails to acknowledge is that legacy media has some of the biggest footprints on social media.

There is a reason why the media is the Fourth Estate. We are the voice of the voiceless; we stand for society; we check the government. And this is a calling many journalists have paid a heavy price to defend and execute. What the government needs to know is that we are in charge of our destiny, and constant harassment will only make us grow stronger and solidify our resolve to speak to power on behalf of those who cannot.