Why KTN is no longer the home of investigative journalism

New York Times assistant managing editor Rebecca Corbett who led a team of investigative journalists in exposing veteran film producer Harvey Weinstein’s years of sexual misconduct defines investigative journalism as discovering things that are not known and that have real impact and are questionable in some way — legally, ethically — in terms of whether people are violating the public trust.

Investigative reports garner the public’s attention instantaneously since they expose something of great interest to the public. That is what KTN was known for in its heyday before its first crop of brilliant investigative journalists was frustrated and forced to look elsewhere, the trend has continued since then.

At the moment, all major broadcasters in the country except KTN have in the recent past been strengthening their investigative/special projects desks after learning that is what Kenyans want to see.

NTV has run Quack Doctor, CotToCourt, Death In The Dorm and more recently Red Alert since November 2018 which are all powerful investigative reports that in one way or another exposed a certain type of rot in society.

Citizen TV’s investigative reporter Purity Mwambia has in the past 12 months exposed a man who killed his kin over a Ksh9 million insurance cover and rot in the Kenyan matatu industry through her exposes Murder For Profit and Gangster Sacco respectively.

K24 run Terror Gangs of Kisauni late last year while Business Today understands that the broadcaster is in talks with KTN News’ investigative reporter Brian Obuya and wants him to join Franklin Wallah in its promising special projects desk.

However all is not well at KTN, sources have told Business Today that investigative reports continue to be muzzled without any tangible explanations.

Before he left for Daily Nation business editor and respected investigative journalist Paul Wafula blasted Standard Group CEO Orlando Lyomu in a staff meeting over what he described as a failing management which was allowing the operations of the investigations desk to be interfered with.

This was after constant bugging over Behind the SGR Walls,an investigative report he wrote for The Standard newspaper which drew the wrath of the public. The report documented how the Chinese constructing the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line were racially discriminating against Kenyans.

{Read: Standard Group turns to Nation again in hunt for top editors}

Managing Editor Ellen Wanjiru’s leadership has been questioned even by top editors at the Mombasa Road based media house. A Whatsapp message (below) seen by Business Today posted by a senior editor in a group comprising of senior Standard journalists suggests that most of the editors have little faith in her leadership.

Faced with what is turning out to be stiff competition in television journalism, NMG reached out to Joseph Warungu, one of Africa’s finest broadcast journalists.

A few weeks ago they hired him as Consulting Editor. I heard him last week on NTV on the Bob Collymore story. There was a time he and Ghanian Ben Mallo were rated the finest broadcast journalists on the continent.

Mallo was grabbed by UN in 2004 to run its radio. So now Warungu at NMG broadcast, Linus Kaikai at Citizen, what is Standard Group thinking? I will laugh out loud if anyone at SG thinks that KTN has competent heads at the top. Despite having some measure of talent among the lower cadres, the top is quite depressing.

It is time to recall Katua Nzile to come back and reorganise SG’s television journalism. He is the man behind the once powerful investigative journalism and majority of the reigning TV queens in Kenya today.

With that guy, KTN will ably run the race alongside NTV (Warungu and Juma) and Citizen (Linus and Wachira Waruru).

It is instructive to note that KTN has muzzled three investigative reports despite running their promos.

The Profiteers, an investigative report on the plunder of South Sudan by John Allan Namu and Hussein Mohammed’s Hadubini which was set to expose corruption at Kenya Power never saw the light of day despite being heavily promoted.

Our sources also indicate that Faking The Read, an investigative piece by Brian Obuya exposing cartels counterfeiting school course books which was set to air today after being promoted has been killed (newsroom lingo for muzzling a story).

According to high placed sources, the investigative team built by former Managing Editor Joe Ageyo has slowly been dismantled after he was poached by Citizen TV.

Business Today also understands that investigative editor Hussein Mohammed has been left without a team to lead and only holds the tittle ceremoniously.

Francis Ontomwa left for BBC earlier this year, Nicholas Wambua has opted to do away with investigations and has reverted to anchoring daytime swahili news in the Leo Mashinani news segment due to frustrations.

Brian Obuya has been benched over what insiders say is his relentlessness in questioning certain editorial decisions regarding the investigations desk. He was instead moved to the assignments desk to do normal stories.

{See also: Former Royal Media sports editor ditches Sportpesa for CCTV Africa}

When Business Today contacted Obuya for comment on being benched and whether the investigative piece on piracy will air he said “We have a stories calendar which contains numerous projects assigned to each reporter. The newsroom is a beehiveof activity. I can neither confirm nor deny whether that is true,”

Siraju Rahman, a promising intern who had gelled with the investigations team contract expired. Communication regarding a possible extension has not been forthcoming leaving him in limbo.

While the investigations team was fully constituted and aware that some stories would never be broadcasted by their employer, they shared their story ideas with fellow journalists at NTV, Citizen and K24.

Attempt to revive Case Files, a court cases investigative news series synonymous with Dennis Onsarigo and The Lead, a crime investigations series were also rebuffed.

Multiple sources also indicate that KTN’s mooted the idea of bringing K24’s Franklin Wallah on board and even called him in for an interview after smelling its peers have developed an appetite for investigative stories but the idea is currently dead in the water even as competitors continue to churn out more exposes.

At the peak of its powers, KTN’s investigations desk had Namu (Africa Uncensored), Mohammed Ali (Nyali MP), Dennis Onsarigo (Taita Taveta County communications boss). All of them except Ali left after the investigations desk was disbanded following ‘orders from above’.

Namu said that the team was forced out by failure to fund investigative projects.

Their replacements are now facing the same challenges years later.