Half of all your headlines are just on two senior politicians

More serious agenda-setting

I refer to your editorial “Premature political campaigns obscene” (Daily Nation, June18, 2019). I find it rather hypocritical on your part and other mainstream media.

Through your daily reports and headlines, you create the impression that nothing happens in Kenya other than the usual depressing politics.

Consider, close to half of all your headlines are just on two senior politicians, whose names start with R. With all our pressing problems as a developing nation, have you nothing else to write about?

You have a duty, as our leading media house, to influence the national discourse to a more serious agenda other than the usual non-issue based politics.

— Kabaru Ndegwa, advocate, Nairobi

The Nation seems to have lost its sense of news value and what should be the leading news. Often, it leads with half-baked and speculative political news stories commonly involving Deputy President William Ruto even when there are solid, significant and more important stories to lead with.

A case in point is the Daily Nation of June 20, when its headline story was “Anxiety as Uhuru visits Ruto bastion”. The headline was not supported by the story or what was observable on the ground. It was speculative.

The only “anxiety” seems to have been only that of the Nation editors to come up with a sensational headline regardless of the newsworthiness of the story.

Even more importantly, the editors relegated to second place the more weighty and substantive story of the conviction of three of the terrorists who attacked Garissa University in 2015 and left 148 students dead.

— Bedan Mbugua, Nairobi.

I was reading an interesting article on access to electricity (“Kenya outshines neighbours in access to mains electricity” — Daily Nation, June 3, 2019, page 34). The body of the article presented a lot of data, then my eye was caught by the box, “In figures - Comparison”.

The first half compares different countries’ access. So far, so good. But the last sentence jumps without a word of transition to a whole different concept, namely annualised increase in access. The result is confusing, to say the least! Does the Nation ever hold classes for its writers to help them to improve their math skills?

 — Prof Dorothy McCormick, University of Nairobi

I refer to your article titled “In ethical journalism, we follow second great commandment” (Public Editor, Daily Nation, June 21, 2019). Despite the ancient honourable principles you describe as underlying ethical journalism, the popularity of polarising opinion journalism seems to increase.

The reports of Chinese allegedly hawking illegally in Gikomba made me wonder not only how vigilant our authorities are about preventing that but also whether there is reciprocity between us and China about the treatment of such illegals and, if not, why not.

I’ve come across reports that Africans caught on the wrong side of the law in China commonly end up languishing in Chinese prisons or executed. Reports like that from Gikomba highlight certain possibly detrimental effects of our partnership with the Chinese that GoK is silent about.

I also think public incitements like Inea’s are neither helpful nor necessary. But in recent years, there have been a number of commentaries in the media on the negative impact of the Chinese entry into local business on local traders.

Though, as you point out, it’s now ‘a globalised world’ (that world isn’t necessarily characterised by, or designed for, equality), China seems to prioritise Chinese interests when it comes to the Chinese market. Has our government similarly safeguarded Kenyan interests?