Gather round, let me tell you all a little story about media capture, @WilliamsRuto’s relationship with the media, and why the funding that media houses like @AfUncensored receive is so important for the spread of legitimate, verifiable, whistle-blowing information.🧵
1/ A little background: Generally, Kenyan media houses refuse their journalists to publicly express political opinions or show any leaning towards any side. Even the media houses themselves play that ‘respectability politics’ game, always giving both sides a hearing…
…in an effort to look ‘objective. This is unlike US or UK media where you know which side a media house leans towards, even if they give all sides fair hearings in their reporting, and make their stands clear in their editorials & opinions. That said
2/ Let’s go back to 2013, when the UhuRuto gov’t took over. So many of us in newsrooms across the country were horrified that two ICC suspects had won the hearts & minds of Kenyans. We were sure things would not go well. But we couldn’t say this out loud, for the reasons above.
What we didn’t know is how bad things would get.
The very first thing UhuRuto did was organise a media breakfast for chosen journalists @ State House. Uhuru & Ruto were still ‘bros’, wearing matching suits and stuff. Uhuru was the charmer, the one with the rizz.
The very first thing UhuRuto did was organise a media breakfast for chosen journalists @ State House. Uhuru & Ruto were still ‘bros’, wearing matching suits and stuff. Uhuru was the charmer, the one with the rizz.
Those of us who weren’t invited watched as Uhuru called individual journalists by their first names as if they were his drinking buddies, flattering them so hard they couldn’t help but swoon. By the time they left, each of them was certain they were about to be appointed…
…the new Government Spokesperson. And that was UhuRuto’s coup number 1: Charm the Fourth Estate so hard they forget their role as your chief critique and voice of the people, and preoccupy themselves fighting for your gaze and approval.
3/ The next thing UhuRuto did was disband the Presidential Press Service. The PPS was basically a liaison between SH and newsrooms, updating journalists on the President’s movements and providing pictures, video & soundbites for journos to use as they pleased.
UhuruRuto replaced the PPS with the PSCU - the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit, comprising Munyori Buku, a former journalist who became the PSCU Director of Public Comms; Eric Ng’eno, the speech writer; James Kinyua, in charge of branding & events…
…and the now infamous Dennis Itumbi, who was said to be in charge of Digital Comms.
Unlike the PPS, the PSCU was designed to be an actual Communications service, explaining the Presidency’s actions & motives & therefore convincing the public to support UhuRuto…
Unlike the PPS, the PSCU was designed to be an actual Communications service, explaining the Presidency’s actions & motives & therefore convincing the public to support UhuRuto…
…unlike the PPS, whose job had been to pass information back and forth, judgment-free. In other words, the PSCU was there to manage narratives; they were the ‘bad cop’ to UhuRuto’s ‘good cop’ (remember, Uhuru & Ruto were still matchy-matchy charmers at this point). And so…
…coup number 2 for UhuRuto: Blind the Fourth Estate with your charm and also cut off their access to information that they can use to critique your excesses by creating a team to craft saleable narratives to the media and the public.
4/ By 2016, Uhuru was looking quite disinterested in running the country while Ruto was running around stealing land, tear-gassing children and engaging in the Hustler Jet 1 scandal (in 2013, Kenya spent Sh100 million on a private plane for Ruto to use for five days)…
The Hustler Jet 1 report was eventually quashed by Parliament (at this point, I have to ask: is any of this giving you déjà vu? 😂😂).
The next thing UhuruRuto did was to turn on the Fourth Estate - remember the swooning masses they had won over? Yes those ones.
The next thing UhuruRuto did was to turn on the Fourth Estate - remember the swooning masses they had won over? Yes those ones.
5/ By 2016, the non-swooning journos were starting to find their voice - too many things were going wrong, and Kenya was reversing all the gains she had made during Kibaki’s tenure. One day, Uhuru, in a fit of anger, declared newspapers ‘(gazeti ni) ya kufunga nyama.
Now, you have to understand: swooning journalists + managed access to information regarding the presidency + charming president who hates the media = eroded public trust in the Fourth Estate. By 2017, MSM has become ‘githeri media’.
But before that…
But before that…
6/ The UhuRuto government delivered its final blow to mainstream media by cutting off all government advertising, establishing a gate-keeping unit called the Government Advertising Agency, and directing all government adverts to a pullout they published called MyGov.
By the time the 2017 elections rolled around, things were thick. UhuRuto (well, by this point the ‘Uhuru’ was silent) had used MyGov to punish media houses critical of their opinions. Digital disruption was taking strong root, and private business were heading towards…
…social media, which was cheaper and better at targeting specific markets & faster with analytics. Gov’t advertising was the only way to pay salaries and stay afloat, and the government knew this. Meanwhile, the PSCU had turned into a propaganda unit…
…actively discrediting local & international media. At one point, the Unit penned an unauthorised reply to a critique of UhuRuto’s role in the 2007 post-election violence, and how it led to their presidency owaahh.com
…that had been published by The New York Times. That was a massively embarrassing incident that led to the four being fired… for, like, three days. Thus far, the team had been working under Manoah Esipisu, who was increasingly losing control of them (it seemed).
The team came back - this time under the stewardship of the new SH Chief of Staff, Nzioka Waita. UhuRuto went on to win the 2017 elections - twice - after which the Uhuru and the Ruto parted ways. Waita stayed with Uhuru. The PSCU went with Ruto. SM continued to finish MSM…
…as did MyGov. So now we have digital disruption + mis/disinformation from the PSCU, primarily led by Itumbi + discredited media + GAA & MyGov manipulation, which all equals a cash crunch & annual layoffs for all media houses.
Without the public on their (our) side, being that we were now actively ‘githeri media’, sales/viewership was declining faster than it should have for an African country with growing literacy & digital access levels. And Gov’t was actively holding back advertising money…
…for media houses that didn’t toe their line. At some point, decisions had to be made about whether to kiss gov’t behind and get that money or starve and lay off members of the Fourth Estate who play an important role in keeping the people informed and aware.
So please understand: We need the media, in all its forms. We NEED an informed populace. We NEED easy access to civic education; MSM can provide that. But for that to happen, we need a media that is free of government shackles. Ruto will never allow a free media; it’s not…
…in his DNA, neither is it in his history of actions. A media that relies on government advertising is doomed to be partisan. Our hope lies in independent houses like @AfUncensored, and the donors that allow them to whistleblow. Our hope must also lie in ourselves, to…
@AfUncensored …fund the media we support, and give them space and leeway to tell the stories all good journalists yearn to tell: stories of truth, of insight, and that speak truth to power.
That’s it from me for today. Thank you endlessly for reading this thread 🙂🙏🏾
That’s it from me for today. Thank you endlessly for reading this thread 🙂🙏🏾
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