Its apparent that our learned men and women of the fourth estate have lost the moral decency.Its no wonder then that their news and editorial material are extremely short on truth, logic and rationality and tall on drama, sensationalism and nudity. Without any fear of contradiction most media content nowadays can best be described as cheeky, mischievous and obnoxious
The influence of the media on national opinion and by a large extension security, order and morality is something that cannot be ignored. Indeed, in every country that practice democracy, the media is the moral conscience of the nation and a critical tool for socio-economic development. The media therefore represent the hopes and aspirations of the people.
Sound and proper democracies all over the world have professional media institutions such as editors' guilds and media councils to enforce standards and self control of the industry to ensure that consumers of media products are guarded against indecent products.The driving factor behind this is that the media represent one of the most potent commands and platforms for human interaction and development anywhere in the world. Their potential to do good is matched by the potential for evil as well.Without any fear of contradiction one of the greatest occupational hazards of the media is the prospect of a journalist becoming an isolationist, and developing the redundant and repugnant characteristics of occupants of ivory towers, becoming a sadist, an extortionist, a blackmailer or a pervert.
Among Kenyan media practitioners however, there exists an even worse clique of journalists than the ivory of tower or extortionist,the journalist or media house who sacrifice moral decency at the altar of instant gratification and profiteering, and yet continue to masquerade as independent and objective purveyors of information. What's worse, is the fact that a variety of media practitioners who are nothing short of social misfits or outright deviants of social norms, occupy senior positions in newsrooms where they intentionally publish pornography. If this is the media to set the agenda for society, then our children would be in grave danger indeed.
A story in The Star daily in the last week, regarding the sexual escapades at Muliro Gardens in Kakamega is a clear testimony to the miscreant crop of editors that run the show in some media houses. How can explicit photos of people having sex in a public garden end up on the pages of a purported national paper?What value if any did the publishing of the offending photo add to the story, save to an editor with a vicarious mind? Indeed an editor who publishes such photos obviously possesses a mind no better than that of the culprits themselves.
This country has been treated to some of the most egregious and gross effects of lopsided editorial cast of mind and malpractice in the past in both the print and electronic media. Morally offending editorial content has been diffused through the radio, television and online media, in the most reckless manner one can imagine.Its with this in mind that I argue that the media sector taken a culture that can be defined as ignorance,ostentation,vainglory and arrogance. In fact, media have created a cult of treating their customers with disdain and making no apologies about it.
Today, the media have become part of our youth culture, fusing music, fashion, and drugs use with computer graphics in vehicles that are virtually nightclubs on wheels. Private radio broadcasters are joining the matatu industry at the hip as the most abusive, pollutant and irritating service sub-sectors in Kenya. And surely, media rank very high in the world in these dubious distinctions.But a new dimension in the media is the culture of dedicating acres of space focusing on mythic characters. Our media outlets do not consider utilizing the same energy, space and resources to cover more important issues like economic development, agribusiness,culture, sports, environment or even technology.The mass media is today replete with a sensationalism craze and the celebrity sub-culture which is becoming deeply entrenched and permeates everyday life, to a point where it seems unfashionable to run a newspaper without a picture of a half-naked woman somewhere on the pages.
Indeed without any prevarication I conclude that our editors have a poor sense of judgment when it comes to moral values, taste and tone, put differently who told our editors that perversion, pornography and celebrity-cult is what the people want to read and hear? Does it mean that Kenyans have become so petty as to prefer sordid pornographic and weird celebrity content as opposed to developmental material? The ever increasing number of magazines and newspapers compete to get the most graphic illustration of celebrities and their misdeeds. Some have made it their noble calling to incorporate nudity as a culture on the center pages of their newspaper magazines, without batting an eyelid.
And as the media continues showing this blatant irresponsibility by propagating the culture of pimped cars, fancy lifestyles, jewelery, sagged trousers and nudity - what lessons can we learn from the current state of media in this country? Is it safe anymore for a parent to let their kids read a newspaper, watch the television or listen to the radio alone? indeed this is a naked pursuit of large readership without any patriotic moral commitment to the dignity and newsworthy news item.I have constantly noted that part of a media fraternity are in urgent need of adulthood education and they lack a nose for news.They seem obnoxious of what constitute a newsworthy item.
By echoing Thomas Jefferson the media fraternity should know that :a nation as a society forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society. Let's play our part in making our shared space a better place for all of us. It starts with all of us...!
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