Political media ownership in kenya, internews, 2012. There is a grain of truth in this, but it is clear that the reality is much more complex. The national ict policy of 2006 committed the government to support and encourage pluralism and diversity. The media we want the media vulnerabilities study report 17. Best practices are detailed for each of these issues. Media ownership and the coverage of the 20 general election. Their main reason was to use the media to legitimize their second place to the whites in kenya. The study targeted the media in kenya consisting of the various print and broadcast outlets and the forces that influence it. In the united states, where the fcc once had stringent ownership controls concerning radio and television stations most are. Media practioners and other kenyans, eaten with curiosity have always wanted to know who owns which media. The kenya vacs was designed to yield lifetime and current. How kenya is failing to uphold its commitment to a free press. Media owners decry harassment by government agencies.
View influence of media ownership on editorial indepedence. The political and economic environment in which the. The africans on the other hand, later venture into the media ownership basically to use the media as tools for putting across their demands for freedom. But continuously they have groped in the dark for years. How media ownership and advertising curb critical reporting attempts to control the media in kenya date back to at least 1929, with transmission of the first radio signal by the british east african broadcasting corporation, which served the interests of the colonial government. Media ownership regulation in australia parliament of australia. The 2010 kenya violence against children study vacs is the first national survey of violence against both female and male children in kenya. Media ownership in kenya media ownership in kenya traces to the coming of missionaries and colonialism. The commission used the evidence collected in these studies, as well as the comments, to guide and support its decisions in the 2006 ownership proceeding. The asians later ventured into the business of ownership of some sections of the media. Amartya 2000 argues that no substantial famine has ever occurred in any country with a democratic form of government and a relatively free press. Published by the association of media women in kenya laws governing media practice in kenya a journalists handbook this publication is a simpli.
The influence of media ownership and control on media agenda. The impact of kenyas legal and institutional frameworks on. There is also a good number of private ownership of the media especially through the dominant nation media group. Doc effects of media ownership, commercialization and.
Trends of ownership and control of media in south africa. Media ownership elizabeth hart editorial independence the concentration of media ownership also matters because of its potential for the control of editorial matter, news and other information throughout the media. United states, many crossmedia ownership rules have been relaxed or have disappeared with the rise of a laissezfaire ideology within parliaments, governments and regulatory bodies. The media council act, 20 and the kenya information and communications amendment act, 20 association of media women in kenya. These language lines are also major boundaries of kenyas racial and socioeconomic groups. Azam media limited aml is a television broadcasting company registered in december 2103. Analysis suggests that media and journalism in kenya face highly complex and changing. Therefore, before any media ownership laws were enacted, colonialism. Media ownership 2006 research studies archive 73107. The report adds that in the run up to the 2007 general elections, the kenyan media was seen as partisan because of political interference in editorial content. Political economy of the kenyan media towards a culture. This ownership pattern therefore involves the ownership of the print and electronic media by private individuals andor private institutions. Media culture and environment a historical perspective 37 8. Chief components of any strategy are shaping the legal enabling environment, strengthening constituencies for reform, removing barriers to access, training, and supporting capitalization of media.
They were the first to collect and record african folklore, proverbs, songs and drum beats that were used to communicate. Media ownership preface the issues of media ownership concentration and the formulation and implementation of an effective media legislation received considerable attention in recent years. Yet, the media can be an agency of destruction, as some have alleged over kenyas 200708 post. Feb 25, 2016 the political ownership of media outlets can act against the requirement for a fiercely independent media especially during election times nyanjom, 2012. Influences of media ownership patterns on media freedom and professionalism in nigeria independence led the people to organize nationalist movements. You are free to copy, distribute and display this work and to make derivative works, except for the images. Economic contribution of film and television in kenya.
Economic contribution of film and television industry in kenya 7kenya film commission 2012 ii among the film industry, the direct contribution to the kenyan economy amounted to kshs. He is a researcher and private consultant on a wide range of development issues. While there are 110 media individuals listed as owning media houses in kenya, the media scene is dominated by less than 10 major players with interests in print, broadcast and online media. Political economy of the kenyan media towards a culture of. Democracy at the crossroads t his research explores the relationship between journalistic freedom and media concentration in kenya through the lens of the propaganda model baker, 2007 as well as the media ownership theory, as propounded by shoemaker and reese 1991. Status of the media in kenya report by media council of kenya. Political media ownership in kenya 2012 executive summary the media is important as an efficient mirror of societys status, an amplifier of development initiatives, and an agenda setter. Media ownership is sometimes seen as a simple reflection of political conditions. The media we want the media vulnerabilities study report contents 1. The impact of kenyas legal and institutional frameworks. Contemporary research demonstrates increasing levels of consolidation, with many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated. Some of the forces that influence the media are noted as the government, advertisers, owners, audiences and civil society groups. If you stand up against something that you feel is wrong youre out on your ear and thats it.
Furthermore, under article of this act, a transfer of concession to a third party is an o. Media owners association plans to sue kenya film classification board, saying it has no jurisdiction to regulate programs and advertisements. Media ownership patterns the ownership of the mass media namely. Most western european democracies, for example, had a state. Removal of the media specific foreign ownership rules in the broadcasting services act 1992 and the newspaperspecific foreign ownership restrictions in the foreign investment policy under foreign acquisitions and takeovers act 1975. Vernacular or communitybased languages are commonly used in broadcast media. Thirdly, the media provided a channel for social communication among the settlers in kenya from different parts of the country. The media we want the media vulnerabilities study report 3 contents 1. The media council of kenya is a statutory body established in october 2007 by the media act cap 411b as the leading institution in the regulation of media and the conduct and discipline of journalists. This situation is exacerbated by the presence of crossmedia ownership for example. The media council of kenya is an independent national institution established by the media act, 2007 as the leading institution in the regulation of media and in the conduct and discipline of journalists. For example, ownership is relevant to the distribution of documents and property when closing a file, transferring a file to a successor lawyer, undergoing discovery of documents, asserting a lien, and other situations. Section 5 synthesises the issues that arise and section 6 draws conclusions and makes recommendations for the future.
Transparency in ownership of media has improved only slightly over the past five years. Radio was also started in 1928 to play the same kind of roles. Proposals by foreign interests to directly invest in the media sector, irrespective of size, would remain. Concentration of media ownership also known as media consolidation or media convergence is a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media.
Private media ownership has both positive and negative qualities. The council started as a selfregulating body for the media industry in. However, today kenya has a plural, sophisticated and robust mass media and communication sector that serves the various competing political, social, economic. The growth of these movements led directly to the birth of small newspapers. Therefore the launch of factually true, legally untrue. Political media ownership in kenya 2012 about the author othieno nyanjom holds a doctoral degree from the university of sussex, an msc degree from bradford and a bachelors degree from nairobi. However, today kenya has a plural, sophisticated and robust mass media and communication sector that serves the various competing political, social, economic, cultural and technological needs of diverse interest groups bbcwst, 2008. The influence of media ownership and control on media. The overall framework of policy and law is not yet adequate for digitized media in kenya. The role of media ownership in creation and delivery of news content. Publications mainly use english as their primary language of communication, with some media houses employing swahili.
Though new in the broadcasting industry, aml has, for few years of its existence, grown to become one of the media companies with state of the art broadcasting infrastructure. Media ownership and the coverage of the 20 general. The african ejournals project has digitized full text of. Case study of two english news channels conference paper pdf available september 2015 with 8,146 reads how we measure reads. Censorship in kenya article 19 defending freedom of. Media owners with strong political affiliations tend to be politically coopted and influ. Peter mwauras communication policies in kenya is perhaps the most comprehensive survey of kenya mass media to date. Pdf the media is important as an efficient mirror of societys status. Private media ownership can result in better quality products due to competition.
The media entertainment and arts alliance meaa, which represents australian journalists, and other professional media groups, says the consolidated power of the large media owners is. Media ownership and its impact on media independence and. In kenya, like many other media outlets in africa, the government, for instance, owns the kenya broadcasting corporation in terms of public broadcasting. The political ownership of media outlets can act against the requirement for a fiercely independent media especially during election times nyanjom, 2012. The threat of losing market share to a competitor forces firms to put forth their best products. Article 19 appreciates the generous support of the kenya media programme and. Media ownership and the coverage of the 20 general election in kenya.
Additionally, some of the roles of the statutory but weak media council of kenya mck have been usurped by the selfinterested media owners association. Kenya broadcasting corporation, whose board and management are directly appointed by the government, the nominally private kenya television network is owned by the same company which publishes the kenya times, the daily newspaper of the ruling kenya african national union kanu. Trends of ownership and control of media in south africa version 3. The impact of kenyas legal and institutional frameworks on media. Status of the media in kenya report by media council of.
This paper examines the status of broadcast media in kenya under the new information. Financially viable media in emerging and developing markets. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Pdf the role of media ownership in creation and delivery. But, more importantly for kenya, crossmedia ownership has the advantage of providing the synergies and economies of scale necessary for. These language lines are also major boundaries of kenya s racial and socioeconomic groups. Pdf the role of media ownership in creation and delivery of. Mapping structural conditions of journalism in kenya mecodem. Furthermore, large media firms achieve efficiencies due to economies of scale.
Who owns media in kenya and what are the implications of. Media in kenya includes more than 91 fm stations, more than 64 free to view tv stations and an unconfirmed number of print newspapers and magazines. Who owns media in kenya and what are the implications of this. Odipodev the politics of media ownership in kenya the elephant. Status of the media in kenya report by media council of kenya issuu. Discover the most extensive kenya newspaper and news media guide on the internet. The survey is the most up to date national assessment of householdscovering 1,306 females and 1,622 males aged between to 24 years. Dear kenyans, this is just a reminder that a majority of the mainstream.
Document ownership has not received much attention in canadian jurisprudence but is something that lawyers deal with regularly. The council is the leading institution in the regulation of media and the conduct and discipline of journalists in kenya. The media in kenya is regulated by a statutory body called the media council of kenya. Contemporary research demonstrates increasing levels of consolidation, with many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated by a very small number of firms. The government controls media licensinga process that is shrouded in secrecy, so that it is difficult to establish who owns which media house. There is also the emerging ownership of the electronic media by institutions known as community broadcasting. Craftsman book company, 6058 corte del cedro, carlsbad, ca 92011. This work is provided under the creative commons attributionnoncommercialsharealike 2. Hundreds of local and regional radio and television stations comprise the u. Within the media watch program, we drew attention to the threat these issues pose to media pluralism in 2002 based on. Media ownership elizabeth hart introduction the new economy makes media dynasties among the most powerful organisations on earth.