Standard Media ‘secret weapon’ formula to recruit talent

Standard Media Group is looking for the next Raquel Muigai and the next Timothy Otieno after placing an advert inviting graduates to apply for a nine month training journalism programme after which qualifying candidates will be deployed to fit the interests of the organisation.

The Mombasa Road based media house has in the recent past bled some of its key regional correspondents to Citizen TV including Ms Muigai who was based in Laikipia County and Elphas Lagat who was based in Baringo County, both of them are believed to have underwent a similar training programme and graduated from the Standard Media Academy.

The move by the media organisation to call for applications in the advert published in The Standard Newspaper on Wednesday could be a cost effective method to fill the void left by the departed journalists.

Of the big three broadcast media houses, KTN has been the biggest casualty of talent hemorrhage having lost a significant number of its journalists to Citizen TV and the BBC in the recent past.

The media group could also be looking to recruit for its other media affiliates including The Standard Newspaper and Radio Maisha.

READ: KTN TURNS INTO TRAINING GROUND FOR TV JOURNALISTS

Despite the losses, the Standard Group is known to be a strategic recruiter having brought on board Jesse Rogers, Brenda Czeda Radido, Maalika Kazia and Frida Mwaka from smaller media entities to replace K24’s Betty Kyalo, BBC’s Peter Wakaba and Citizen TV’s Mashirima Kapombe in August 2018.

At the time, the then new additions were not as prominent as they are at the moment and represented cheaper additions as compared to the idea of poaching talent.

It is also worth noting that the advert explicitly states that applicants can have a University Degree in any field which will allow Standard to choose from a wide pool of talent which might not necessarily be found in journalism students only.

SEE ALSO: K24’s GRACE KURIA JOINS KTN NEWS

The Nation Media Group (NMG) also runs a similar academy where NTV’s education reporter Sharon Baranga horned her skills.

However Nation’s academy has gone quiet of late with financial constraints being the most plausible explanation.