10. Discrimination

The Code says in general, the media should avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to a person’s race, tribe, colour, religion, sex or sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or handicap. These details, it says, should be avoided unless they are crucial to the story.

The late Prof. Edward Said of Columbia University gives the best example of media stigmatization of Islam as a religion of terrorists. He examines the origins and repercussions of the media monolithic image of Islam in his Covering Islam where he advances the argument of the existence of “an intense focus of Muslims and Islam in the American and Western media, most of it characterized by a…highly exaggerated stereotyping and belligerent hostility.”

In early 2006 a section of the media in Kenya could be accused of doing the same thing to the Kikuyu community and other ethnic groups that dwell around Mount Kenya. The term “Mount Kenya Mafia” was used to condemn entire communities around Mount Kenya for the sins of a few individuals who were later disgraced for engagement in corrupt activities. During the November 2005 referendum that gave Kenyans an opportunity to accept or reject the so called Wako draft constitution both the mainstream and the alternative media vigorously campaigned against the draft by condemning it as the work of the Mt. Kenya Mafia even though in it were the best provisions protecting freedom of the media and creating a freedom of information Act.

The overwhelming rejection of the Wako constitution was paradoxically reversed in all the areas around Mount Kenya where the people devised a defence mechanism of accepting the draft as a means of protecting themselves against an avalanche of attacks from the media that stigmatized them all as a bunch of corrupt people. The draft also introduced gender equality which was described by the media as “unafrican” giving the traditional male chauvinism an upper hand. Yet all this was done with impunity.

This is what Edward Said describes as “malicious generalization”. Racial discrimination has been part of Kenyan history from the time the country was colonized more than a hundred years ago. Today, however, the discrimination is more latent and less exhibited publicly though it can still be strongly felt in every society torn apart by a deep rooted economic divide. The media in Kenya do not champion the divisive role of highlighting the divergence between races though deep inside members of different races remain weary. Wring about this feeling, John Maximian Nazareth, who was an elected member of the Kenya Legislative Council for the Western Electoral Area from 1956 to 1960 says in his Brown Man Black Country: “When independence came to Kenya I said to myself that nothing would make me leave –nothing short of Kenya falling under the hell of communism—soul destroying communism. I was born here, in Nairobi. Here were spent my days of early childhood and all my working life. Here I would live and die”.

He continues: “Deep within me was a sense of unease. What would be the attitude of the Africans and us Asians? They had often referred to us as ‘guests’. I had been present at African or Indian-African public meetings before 1950 where we had been called ‘guests’ by Kenyatta. When I became president of the East African Indian National Congress in 1950 I had wanted to take up this issue with him. But the Hindu-Muslim tension within the Indian community dissuaded me. The time seemed inappropriate.”

Nazareth, who was a leader of an association for Indians in East Africa paradoxically was feeling uncomfortable when Kenyatta described him as a ‘guest’ though he obviously would not accept Kenyatta, leave alone an ordinary African, as a member of the Indian Congress. Nazareth fears were based on the possibility of the then discrimination taking an about-turn direction making the Africans a little bit above the Asians.

When it was first started more than a century ago the East African Standard played a pivotal role in intensifying racial hatred and separation which in Kenya was known as the colour bar. This was a phenomenon which spread all over Africa particularly in countries where white settlements had established roots which made them regard the areas they occupied as their own homes. In these parts they also established newspapers to defend their “rights”.

Among white racists who tried to influence white-controlled papers was the Prime Minister of the Central African Federation which was established in 1953 bringing together Nyasaland (Malawi), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Sir Roy Welensky who had great influence over white journalists working for white newspapers serving white settlers. Writing about these papers in Race and Nationalism, Thomas M. Frank says “(at that time, 1959) there (was) no multiracial liberal press in the Federation. (There were) five dailies papers: The Rhodesian Herald, the Evening Standard, the Bulawayo Chronicle , the Northern News and the Central African Post which (were) all controlled by the Argus Group and generally follow(ed) the-middle-of the-road attitude on racial issues of the English language press in South Africa.

But he adds: “A shrill racist weekly, the Citizen concentrate (d) attention (on racial issues and) cater(ed) for the hate market.” According to Frank, Africans who own(ed) newspapers at that time in the so called federation did exactly the same in building up black nationalism against the whites. He says: “George Nyandoro’s African Congress backed Chipupu (Witness) fanned the fires of Southern Rhodesian black nationalism until the banning of Congress in 1959. A controversial English language newspaper for Northern Rhodesian Africans which Frank considered to be liberal, African Times, was forced to close only a few months after its inception. He says there were a number of African newspapers in Southern Rhodesia “but they were all white controlled steered away from unsafe political controversy.”

Strong and negative racial feelings in Kenya did indeed exist for a long time and one of the people who helped to dilute and may be kill them completely was the first President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, who just before independence in 1963 addressed white farmers in Nakuru and said: “I am, a politician, but I am a farmer like you ..I think the soil joins us all and therefore we have a kind of mutual understanding. I you want to understand each other, then the best thing is to talk together…. I believe that the most disturbing point among us is suspicion, fear. These are created by not knowing what the other side is thinking. If we must live together we must work together, we must talk together, exchanging views. This is my belief.” Those words sunk into the heads of all teachers who taught the current generation of Kenyan journalists who believe stories they hear about past discrimination are no more than fairytales. That however does not mean newspapers, radio and TV stations are devoid of all forms of discrimination.

One of the most difficult aspects of journalism in Kenya is the exposure of the emergence of a superior and condescending economic class that continues to exploit the inferior subjugated class of workers and the unemployed. At the risk of appearing to fan the fires of class differences I feel journalists have a responsibility to write about the violation of the second generation human rights in Kenya. Civil and political rights of ordinary Kenyans are also constantly violated by the ruling class. As Whitney M. Young Jr. Says in his To Be Equal, the struggle (in Kenya) is no longer “between whites and blacks, but (it is) between right and wrong. He says: “It is a struggle between people who care and people who are callous.” Sometimes discrimination exists in a manner that is not considered insulting. It is what Kenneth O’reilly calls “respectable racism”.

In his Racial Matters he talks of respectable racism flourishing within the culture and gives example of the “man in the street humming such turn-of-the-century as ‘if the man in the moon were a coon’, while students at Yale and Columbia listened to their professors lecture on black man’s incorrigible morals”. He even gives examples of newspapers writing about respectable racism. The Atlantic Monthly, for example, once posed a rhetorical question “If the stronger and cleverer race is free to impose its will upon ‘new-caught, sullen people’ on the other side of the globe, why not in South Carolina and Mississippi?” Thanks God Kenya does not have journalists who whip up racial feeling to that extent.

One of the major causes of racial discrimination in America is the perception among some white communities that black men are oversexed and therefore a threat to white women. The belief has led to many a newspaper articles promoting racial hatred. Does racism show its ugly head in Kenyan journalism? Yes! Very often. On Thursday, September 8th, for example, Kiss FM posed question to its listeners: Would they elect a Kenyan of Asian origin to be the country’s president? As Catherine Mutoko was asking people to telephone the station and give their answers , “Nyambane” was making constant interjections explaining that is Kenyans were to have a “Mhindi” president then the workers would have to forget payment of overtime and be prepared to work up to 10.00pm at night.

Callers were jokingly suggesting that Kamlesh Patni should be the next president of Kenya. One caller was particularly insulting when she suggested that she would rather vote for a donkey instead of the then leadership of Mwai Kibaki. The innuendo was clear – that ridiculous as it sounded, voting for a Kenyan Asian presidential candidate was better than returning Kibaki to power. If Asians as a race are mentally marginalized then those who are placed in a further distance from the centre are an increasing number of closeted members of the gay community in Kenya.

In May 4th 2002 I wrote in the East African Standard that in most heterosexual African cultures, homosexuality was a taboo even among consenting adults. Inappropriate sexual proclivity is the most repugnant waywardness to African morality. One outstanding characteristic of African culture is that it is basically homophobic and sees homosexuality as an abomination against everything dignified. Africans are simply not able to relate comfortably to people who prefer to have sex with members of their own gender. Yet in many Western countries the entitlement to indulge in the practice is viewed as a human right. In Kenya it is clandestinely widespread and it is the belief of a large portion of the new generation Africans that the gay community should not be blacklisted and ostracized

The media in Kenya has taken no visible stand either for or against the secret gay community. By refusing to discuss the existence of the community amidst us Kenyans are facing a ticking time bomb about to explode over homosexuality. At the moment there seem to be no public rupture between the community and the Kenyan society. While the Kenyan homosexuals pose no danger to the rest of people, very soon they may start to demand official recognition. That may be followed by ruthless gay bashing instead of taking a principled position of regarding them as normal human beings with the right to choose their sexual behaviours and preferences.

This touchy subject must now be discussed boldly and openly by the media because of the sex crisis facing the Catholic Church in America where a number of gay priests have confessed to child molestation. The world has been left astounded and mesmerized by the manner in which the church, believing it was dealing with sin rather than crime, totally failed to deal with the problem by refusing to remove the culprits from priesthood. The inevitable question Kenyans are asking, albeit quietly, is whether we face the same burgeoning problem in our society. The fact that the outrage in the US Catholic Church was kept under wraps for so long may mean it could be repeated anywhere in the world, including Kenya, without the detection of the arm of the law.

The problem that concerns the majority of Kenyans is whether the group indulges in molestation of young boys making them hooked to the behaviour. The crisis in America should help us shed more light to our own society where there is belief that paedophilia also exists. American’s uproar over the scandal is making them face facts about unchaste gay priests and it is a feeling of many Kenyans that we too are facing a ticking time bomb about to explode over the homosexual community amidst us. At the moment there seem to be no public rupture between the community and the Kenyan society.

While the Kenyan homosexuals pose no danger to the rest of the people, very soon they may start to demand official recognition. That may be followed by ruthless gay bashing instead of taking a principled position of regarding them as normal human beings with the right to choose their sexual behaviours and preferences. Kenyans may by nature be against homosexuals but there are some who believe not all the stereotypes about the perverts are true. A lot of them are said to be very useful members of our society. Among the Kenyan intelligentsia are some who believe that in the corridors of justice the gay issue needs to be reviewed in order to see whether the existing underground community is being appropriately treated. Naturally the majority of Kenyans will consider this to be a rather ridiculous proposition. But in a world that is beginning to treat homosexual acts between consenting adults as legally normal, the community in Kenya may soon start to wage a struggle to gain similar recognition. And the media can play a vital role in educating the entire community about this issue.

There are many who believe anyone’s sexual orientation is a private and personal affair. Some modern straight Kenyans knowingly mix with their homosexual friends freely despite the fact that for a long time to come our society will consider homosexuality the most sinful stamp of shame. There is evidence to accept that sooner or later homosexual militants in our society will be as common as they are in the Western world and no one will dare challenge their suitability to survive with the rest of the people as equal human beings. The bigotry and intolerance that shapes the hate attitude against the gay community will soon be a thing of the past. Making these observations may put some people in a very nervous situation, but any society that is unafraid of facing the truth always succeeds in producing the best of all possible worlds.

Be that as it may homosexuality can never justify paedophilia which the media must always vehemently oppose. One is regarded as a sexual orientation and the other as a terrible crime. It seems to most observers that despite our society’s aversion to gayness it exists secretly and is responsible for paedophilia. Though Kenyans’ faith in boarding schools remains firm there is very serious suspicion that in some of them sexual abuse of young boys goes on undetected and will soon become a major scandal. Something extremely shocking may be revealed when the moral standards of the managers of the boarding institutions are closely examined. The mere mention of this subject is likely to make emotions run high among teachers and parents.

The truth is that morality is sinking in boarding schools and the fearful indicator of that is the proliferation of clandestine gay societies in many institutions where a number of young Kenyans consider African cultural values and attitudes outdated and outmoded. The wave of paedophilia scandal is sweeping in many Kenyan education institutions and when the truth is discovered it will be extremely hard not to loathe the people molesting children they are entrusted to take care of. One critical aspect of what goes on in boarding schools is that it has received so little attention and the entire society appears unconcerned about the crime of paedophilia that is said to be taking place throughout the country.

The allegations say that some of the elder boys use their powers to violate the trust given to them to look after the young ones. To avoid repeating in Kenya what has happened in the US the country needs to set moralistic standards that would make sure Africans decency does not decline at the introduction of Western style of life. There is a crying need for an exposé to be done on this subject and before that it remains a major challenge to journalism in Kenya. There are some Kenyan societies that consider sexual virtue and chastity more precious than life itself. Pederasts in education institutions who make regular homosexual advances towards children must therefore be exposed and dealt with sooner rather than later. Journalists have to take action. Now!

May be the most challenging ethical problem in journalism in this country concerns handling of tribal issues. Reading the way political stories are handled even by the mainstream media houses it is clear that ethnicity is rampant in the profession. Just before President Mwai Kibaki took over office in 2002 many stories were written about how the Kalenjins were “plotting” to make sure Kikuyus would never take over political power in Kenya. There were so-called “revelations” that Gema politicians were also scheming a strategy to make sure that after President Moi the leadership in this country would fall into their hands. Those kinds of stories were both shocking and dangerous. They helped to tear the country apart along tribal lines.

The rise of ethnic consciousness in this country seemed to be the greatest threat to our national unity. Though accepted by all as an antithesis of nationalism , tribalism appeared to be the central theme of most political stories published and broadcast by the generation of Kenyan journalists of the time .Whereas it was a fact that people could never change their ethnic backgrounds nor their cultural and linguistic origins, these diversities did not necessarily play contradictory roles to nationalism. Tanzanians under the late Julius Nyerere have proved that these natural backgrounds of most Africans can indeed be transformed into positive inputs in the creation of a strong and united nation. But left to the manipulation and abuse by the continent’s village tyrants , who very often try and may be even succeed in influencing the thinking of journalists, these otherwise good qualities of our cultures and languages could be abused to pull people apart and create animosity where there was harmony. Slanted presentations of stories to support or oppose ethnic leaders threaten to do just that.

It is hard to imagine journalists who are pocketed by leaders appealing for tribal loyalty in order to take over the leadership of the country nationally. Yet in mid 2006 when the country was preparing for the 2007 general elections I could not help wondering whether the stories about tribal groupings in politics were real scoops. By publishing such stories newspapers hoped to engender furious outbursts and spirited debates. Often stories were printed to be grating, ingratiating or both. Yet readers always loved them even when they obviously loved to hate them because they emotionally either agreed or disagreed with them. So before some people accuse the national media of fanning the flames of tribal animosity by publishing tribal rivalries, let us examine what the media in Kenya normally do to promote or destroy national unity.

National news media in Kenya find themselves trying to fulfill a dual purpose of probing the problem of ethnicity and promoting nationalism amid political tension within the community. Whereas the first commandment of the Kenyan nation should be to strive for real cohesion, that of journalism is to probe the truth and expose it for all to see. If therefore there was an ulterior motive in plotting for a one ethnic group to fight another, the media had an obligation to expose the truth however dangerous doing so could be. If ever there will be ethnic harmony in Kenya to resemble the unity in Tanzania, however, the media must play a major role in finding ways to encourage civil discourse on sensitive issues such as communal land and inter tribal marriages that are bound to bring about cultural assimilation.

Needless to say this goal cannot be achieved unless there is proper journalistic commitment to professional independence. Today there are serious allegations about editorial bias, which sometimes reveal the editors' own ethnical loyalties. To many Kenyans, ethnic political groupings are something we have been suspecting all the time. Some may call it ethnic nationalism others may call it tribal chauvinism deserving no better place than the dustbin of history. Whatever the case may be sensational headline writers get extra excited by the stories based on ethnicity because if we want to be honest with ourselves we have to pause a number of questions: Is it a fact that some segments of the Kenyan community are hard to penetrate? Are there also sacred cows among tribal chauvinists?

If we have to answer these questions honestly we must accept the fact that there are a good number of large Kenyan tribes which have dreams of taking over the leadership of this country from what is seen today as the Kikuyu political epoch under Mwai Kibaki. Before journalists agree to be used by chauvinistic leaders eager to segment the country along ethnic lines they should stop, step back and think about the implications of a tribally structured system of governance. Time has come to reject leaders who insist on making everyone reflect the ethnic makeup of the entire nation before thinking of anything else.

The obligation of making Kenyans accept that ours is a community of diverse people may be hard to get rid of. But I believe whoever wants to take over political power will have to sing a song of national unity no matter how artificial that unity may appear to be at the moment. It is irrelevant how vehement the accusation against Moi's sincerity when he talked of national unity may be. The truth is the fact that his dream of love, peace and unity will always represent the utopia of Kenya's ethnic relations. It will always be cited by those involved in our nation's debate on nationalism as justification for ending tribalism.

Though for the moment it is very difficult for Kenyan leaders not to view each other through the lens of ethnicity Kenya's political stability will depend entirely on all tribes striving to look at and judge one another without the consideration of a tribe. When the debate on the succession issue hots up Kenyans should beware of hot-blooded demagogues who will try to manipulate journalists to light up fires of hatred. They will also be ready to spill blood of innocent Kenyans. Left to preach doctrines from their overheated heads such leaders could make violence erupt in our country. Yet there are among us some leaders who are engaged in the heroic efforts to make our communities more united than they have been in generations. Let such leaders stand up and be counted now.

Debates on ethnic nationalism conducted through journalism were so dangerous that they threatened the whole country to pull the pin on the hand-grenade that happened to be our tribal diversity. Whatever ignited these debates could always lead to a painful realization that many Kenyan political leaders had yet to be sensitized to the feeling of tribal invisibility. If the tribal debate were stirring controversy, they most certainly also created ripples of animosity that were putting the entire nation's stability at stake. The paradox was that this sad eventuality was invariably the very aim of the initiators of the so called debates.

Naturally when our national leaders went on a verbal rampage throwing tribal dirt at each other it become a major national news item. Indeed it was a searing story that dominated national front pages throughout Mwai Kibaki’s first term in office. Which meant other serious stories concerning the state of the economy and the manner the latest constitutional reforms strategic talks were being conducted, especially by the Ufungamano group, had to go elsewhere as briefs. Editors could hardly be accused of betraying their readers' trust because the scoop of the tribal debate actually helped to show how low we had stooped in the political Darwinism of survival of the fittest in the struggle for existence.

It also proved that some of our leaders had lost sight of the issues that were very dear and close to the people's hearts. Their expressed views on tribal loyalties appeared to most sane people to be not only sophomoric but also extremely spiteful and insulting to the intelligence of the people of this country.

The younger generation in this country use mock dialect to joke about our ethnic diversity. They produce hilarious commercials that offer a whiff of humour that perpetuates ethnic sensibility, which to me is absolutely necessary for societal tolerability. It exhibits mature open-mindedness. The end result is pleasant jocular laughter at our own elder's manner of speaking both Kiswahili and English. But the behaviour of the so-called political elders of this country is neither humorous nor a joking matter. The ranting and raving of people like David Mwenje and Jackson Kalweo only exposed their ugly and out-of-date parochialism. The unbalanced views expressed by leaders on ethnic issues simply proved that the entire debate was a discussion gone wrong. In fact Kenyan hardly heard any debate at all.

9. Plagiarism

The Code is divided between two parts. The first part says using someone else’s work without attribution –whether deliberately or thoughtlessly – is serious ethical breach. However, it adds, borrowing ideas from elsewhere is considered to be fair journalistic practice. The second part of the code says words directly quoted from sources other than the writer’s own reporting should be attributed. In general, it explains, when other work is used as source of ideas for stylistic inspiration the final result must be clearly different from the original work of the reporter.

Apart from students and academics, journalists are the only people who almost on a daily basis are engaged in reporting and interpreting ideas that are not originally their own. In op-ed pages these ideas form the nucleus of discussion, news backgrounds, and analyses as well as commentaries. Giving credit where it is due is therefore one of the most important pillars of good journalism. Reading weekend papers in Kenya would make anyone think journalists in Kenya are full of new ideas. This does not mean that journalism in this country is made up of great thinkers full of original ideas put across through extremely flowery language which, strangely, very often resembles that of either great writers of the past or contemporary ones who have become famous through their prolific pens.

Maybe one of the best guidelines on how to avoid plagiarism is provided by Indiana University’s writing tutorial service which advises writers through the Internet to always acknowledge other people’s ideas, opinions and theories. The guidelines suggest that any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings that are not common knowledge should be credited. It further suggests that quotation of another person’s or written words; or paraphrases of another person’s spoken or written words should also be given credit.

May be the best way to illustrate the difference between unacceptable paraphrasing which amounts to plagiarism and acceptable usage of other people’s ideas in a proper paraphrased manner is to show a specific example. In the Saturday 20th September , 2003 issue of The Standard the following article by your truly was published:

As the hapless victim of a murderer’s bullet, Dr. Odhiambo Mbai has inadvertently united the country against tribal chauvinists. Now the people are determined to change the constitution that allows an individual to become a demigod who does whatever he wants. The public rage that was ignited by Mbai’s death may have united the rift between a few well known demagogic hecklers who have all the time wanted to stop any discussion about presidential powers and the majority of Kenyan who, more than ever before, now want Bomas II conference to go ahead. As soon as the conference resumed, the devolution of power was a major contention. President Mwai Kibaki’s dismissal of the proposal to share power represent an obstacle delegates have to overcome before they implement people’s wishes as they appear in Draft Constitution.

The following is an unacceptable paraphrasing which amounts to plagiarism:

As an unfortunate victim of killer’s weapon, Dr. Odhiambo Mbai, ha unintentionally brought the country together against tribal leaders. Now Kenyans have made up their minds to change the constitution which promotes one person to become all-powerful, doing whatever he likes. The people’s anger started by Mbai’s death could have united the differences between a few well known political agitators who have always desired to end any talks about presidential powers and the largest number of Kenyans who, as always, now want Bomas II meeting to go ahead. As soon as the meeting commenced, the devolution of powers was a major topic. President Mwai Kibak’s rejection of the idea to share powers is a major problem delegates have to consider before they implement wananchi’s desires as reflected in the Draft Constitution.

And the following is the acceptable form of quotations and paraphrasing:

According to The Standard columnist Joe Kadhi, Dr. Odhiambo Mbai was the hapless victim of a murderer’s bullet who “has inadvertently united the country against tribal chauvinists.” Claiming that the people (of Kenya) are determined to change the constitution that allows an individual to become a demigod who does whatever he wants he asserts that the public rage that “ was ignited by Mbai’s death may have widened the rift between a few well known demagogic hecklers who have all the time wanted to stop any discussion about presidential powers and the majority of Kenyans who , more than ever before , now want Bomas II conference to go ahead” As soon as the conference resumed, he says, the devolution of power was a major contention . President Mwai Kibaki’s dismissal of the proposal to share power represented an obstacle delegates had to overcome before they implemented people’s wishes as they appeared in Draft Constitution. (KADHI)

Because the writer accurately quotes the original article by Joe Kadhi then his paraphrasing is acceptable. Without failure the writer gives credit to the original author and by direct quotes shows the parts he is reproducing verbatim. According to Bruce H. Leland, Journalism professor at Western Illinois University, plagiarism is a perennial temptation for students and an eternal challenge for teachers; but I would add that it is a greater challenge to journalists who address millions of educated readers, listeners and viewers who are at any given time in a position to recognize work that is not original.

As the number of educated Kenyans increases, plagiarism detection net spreads on an increasingly large area all the time making unethical journalist plagiarizing other people’s work even more vulnerable. Almost spontaneously, readers, viewers and listeners have become plagiarism policemen and women who conduct on the spot surveillance as they read their daily papers, listen to programmes of the radio and watch TV.

Writing for the Journal of Information Ethics, Vol.3, No., fall 1994, Brian Martin of the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, says among intellectuals, plagiarism is normally treated as sinful offence but he admits that in spite of its seriousness it is extremely widespread. Undoubtedly, he says, no more than a small fraction of student plagiarism is ever detected and, of that which is detected, serious penalty are imposed on only a minority of offenders. “It is safe to say if rules against cheating were able to be strictly and effectively enforced, failure rates would skyrocket,” he says.

In Kenyan journalism the most obvious and provable cases of plagiarism takes place when journalists copy phrases and even passages of well known published works. The alternative media does not even make an effort anything they plagiaries from plagiarized phrases used in the mainstream media.
When some words are changed the final outcome is what Martin calls paraphrasing plagiarism. What is laughable about plagiarism in Kenyan journalism is when journalists take a whole story from an international or KNA wire copy and run them with their own by-lines which amounts to what Martin calls plagiarism of authorship. When original stories appear in rival newspapers with proper attribution of the origin of the story then it becomes quite clear which of the stories is authentic. This is what Martin also calls word-for-word plagiarism. Plagiarism of words, phrases and other forms of sentence structure can easily be detected.

A more difficult form of plagiarism to detect is that of ideas. Some ideas are so original that copying them without citation makes the plagiarizer look either like a genius or an extremely well read person, the argument that no one has the monopoly of ideas notwithstanding. Great minds may indeed think alike but the manner of expressing some ideas can be so particularly unique that an expression made by wordsmiths for the first time could have that exceptional ability to grow into a common way of everyday expression. The best example I can think of is that of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s visit to South Africa in early 1960s when he said “The wind of change is blowing through the continent of Africa.” Since then a lot of winds of change have blown through many pens of journalists writing on many different issues.

“The standard view on plagiarism, subscribed to by most intellectuals, is that plagiarism is a serious offence against scholarship and should be condemned and penalized. It is strongly discouraged among students,” says Martin. Among journalists it can hardly be said to be rare Import and some highly respected writers have been accused of plagiarizing. Among them are Dr. Martin Luther King and the famous writer of Malcolm X, Alex Haley.

In Kenya ghost writing is only acceptable among important politicians who always read speeches written by other people. Journalists report these speeches without even bothering to find out who actually wrote them. This in fact is commonplace throughout the world cutting across all sorts of leaders from monarchs to powerful politicians. Answers given by Kenyan Minister in Parliament are never written by them yet next day’s papers quote ministers as originators of both ideas and words they read. The phenomenon so widely accepted becomes unprofessional when repeated by journalists whose most important tools include words.

The credit given to Minister for what they say in public often belongs to some junior civil servants with the ability to write well. That is the skill journalists are proud of and publicly tell the world when they put pen to paper. Martin calls the type of plagiarism repeated daily by Kenyan Ministers in our Parliament “Institutionalized Plagiarism”. But the type practiced by journalists is referred by him as “Competitive Plagiarism”. Politicians plagiarize all the time. They hardly read in public what they have actually written.

In 1987 an American presidential aspirant, Joseph R. Biden, dropped out of the race after being accused of plagiarizing Robert Kennedy. But what Biden was plagiarizing was not originally written by Robert Kennedy. It was written by Kennedy speechwriter Walisky. Yet Kennedy was never accused of plagiarism (MARTIN 1994)

In Kenya both institutionalized and competitive plagiarisms exist. Journalists engage in competitive plagiarism and to a certain extent they are also victims of institutionalized plagiarism. When they use speeches by Ministers they are victims of institutionalized plagiarism. When they lift phrases from well written books they are guilty of competitive plagiarism. For many reasons competitive plagiarism seems to be more stigmatized than institutionalized plagiarism. Top among these reasons is the fact critics of plagiarism come from competitive groups and their voice is heard loudest in both academia and journalism.

Hierarchical institutions which keep institutionalized plagiarism under cover are often very powerful. They include governments, parliaments, judiciaries and significantly dominant industrialists. Spokesmen and women belonging to these institutions almost never say anything original publicly. Yet the original writers of what they say are never always easily known.

Plagiarism is discussed in this chapter as a condemnable professional offence most certainly unethical; but could it also be a legal offence? Legally plagiarism is an infringement of copyright laws. In his Mass Media Law, Media Law and Ethics at the University of Washington, says news events cannot be copyrighted, but stories or broadcasts that endeavour to describe or explain these events can be copyrighted. “What is being protected is the author’s style or manner of presentation of news, he says. Similarly, he argues, facts cannot be copyrighted, but works that relate to facts can be protected as expressions. He says: “While news and facts cannot be copyrighted, anyone who attempts to present news or facts gathered by someone else as his or her own work may be guilty of breaking other laws, such as misappropriation or unfair competition.” In most cases, he says, copyrighted works are protected for a life of the author or creator plus 70 years.

In Kenya the copyrights Act (CAP 130) makes provision for copyright in literary, musical and artistic works, audio-visual works, sound recording and broadcasts. Section 7 (1) of the Act says copyright in literary, musical or artistic work or in an audio-visual work shall be the exclusive right to control the doing in Kenya of any of the following acts, namely reproduction in any material form , the distribution to the public for commercial purposes of copies by way of sale , rental , lease, hire, loan or similar arrangements , the communication to the public and broadcasting , of the whole work or a substantial part thereof either in its original form or in any other form driven from the original.

The Act lists a number of exceptions which include scientific research, private use, criticism or review or the reporting of current events. It also allows the inclusion in a collection of literary or musical works of not more than two short passages from the work in question if the collection is designed for use in a school registered under the Education Act (or any registered University) and includes an acknowledgement of the title and authorship of the work. It also allows the broadcasting of the work if the broadcast is intended to be used for purposes of systematic instructional activities.

Judicial proceedings too are allowed to make any use of copyrighted work for purposes of justice. Section 15 of the Act explains what infringements of copyrights are. In subsection 1 it says copyright shall be infringed by a person who, without the licence of the owner of the copyright (a) does, or cause to be done, an act the doing of which is controlled by the copyright or (b) imports or causes to be imported, otherwise than his private and domestic use, an article which he knows to be infringing copy. The same section explains the infringement of copyright as actionable. It further talks of the relief by way of damages and award of damages.

Looking at the copyright laws in Kenya one cannot help wondering whether or not the late Fadhili William and Daudi Kabaka are not perpetually turning in their graves because they died before taking hundreds of plagiarizers of their work to court .Together with Fadhili and Kabaka must be a huge number of great writers whose work is illegally copied constantly in Kenya newspapers with local journalists’ by-lines.

In his Anti-Plagiarism Strategies for Research Papers of November 17, 2004, Robert Harris suggests there should be institutional policies with clearly defined penalties for violating anti plagiarism rules. One of the most effective methods used to unearth a plagiarized article is to make the write discuss it without looking at either notes or the published article. Editors who have mastered the art of briefing and debriefing reporters before and after assignments know how to detect and avoid plagiarism

8. Paying for News and Articles

The Code says when money is paid for information, serious questions can be raised about the credibility of that information and the motive of the buyer and seller. Therefore, in practice, journalists should avoid paying for information unless public interest is involved. In the same context, journalists should not receive any money as incentive to publish any information.

Though the practice is yet to be the order of the day scoops in many Western countries can be extremely expensive. In his popular book The Insider, Piers Morgan, the former Editor of the Daily Mirror describes a typical incident of paying for news. He says on Wednesday 17, November 1999, he received a call from a Max Clifford saying that he had a “dynamite” meaning very hot news.. Morgan explains that the dynamite was in fact a one fact story on Cherie Blair and wanted an equally dynamite cheque for it. Morgan listened to the fact and instantly agreed a fee with Max “not massively far from 50,000 British pounds. That is more than five million Kenyan shillings. Sand what was the scoop? Simply the fact that Cherie was pregnant at 45! And what was the justification for spending so much money just to be the first with the news about Prime Minister’s wife. According to Morgan, this was “journalism at its best!”

The debate about whether or not to pay for exclusives has been going on in journalism schools for a very long time. Many of them condemn the practice yet highly qualified editors keep their jobs by paying paroled criminals and self-confessed drug addicts large sums of money in order to extract from them private information about their weird lives. A large number of magazines in the Western world exist by publications of such exclusives.

The moral dilemma involved in the exercise has split practitioners down the middle. For some the ex convicts given the money by journalists have a story to tell and often they are the only people with the details of the story. According to the Kenyan Code if the story is of great significance to the “public interest” then it would be well and good to pay for it. There are scholars who believe paying for a dirty story makes the outcome after publication equally dirty as in the final analysis it makes criminals benefit from the crime.

Another name for the practice of paying for news is “checkbook journalism” which is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary of English language as journalism that involves the payment of money to an informant for the right to publish or broadcast news story. Discussing the controversial subject in his column Media Mix in the 26th June 2005 issue of the USA Today, Peter Johnson says the most well versed magazines in American checkbook journalism are People, US Weekly and Star which pay big money to photographers for exclusive photos of stars and their weddings, with their newborns, canoodling or doing anything that will pretty much guarantee newsstand sales.

Among the most popular celebrity magazines in the UK is OK! which, according to Johnson, added a new dimension to the celebrity journalism in 2005 when it launched its US version and promised to pay stars directly for exclusive access to their homes, lives and families. Inevitably checkbook journalism always fascinates journalism scholars when they debate the line between hard news and entertainment which touches on the private lives of celebrities and ex convicts. That line, they argue, is fading very fast even here in Kenya. In March 2006 for example, Kenyan journalists fed readers, viewers and listeners with a lot of hogwash about Armenian “crooks” who came to the country in a mysterious manner and established business deals with a young lady who happens to be the daughter of the ruling Narc party activist.

Paradoxically, that particular story was given a total news blackout by the international journalists based in Nairobi who only a couple of days before were splashing the Kenyan hottest story of the time when hooded policemen invaded The Standard editorial offices and its printing plant. Reason? The Armenian story was too petty and came close to what celebrity magazines in the Western world would spend millions to get exclusively. The kind of interest readers, viewers and listeners in Kenya showed as they followed revelations after revelations about Armenian “mercenaries” clearly indicated that Kenya was heading towards sensational journalism which is very often kept alive by checkbooks.

It is a dangerous trend that could easily anger the public if it discovered the true motive of the so-called Armenian exposés. The danger of checkbook journalism involving celebrities in that the publicity sensitive ones insist on approving copy and layouts even after accepting money from media houses. OK! Openly admits that it gives stars both picture and text approval which is a line ethically upright editors never cross, according to Johnson. When OK! was launched in the US the magazine’s CEO Christian…….? Said: “(Instead of checkbook journalism) the term we use is relationship journalism. We pay the celebrities directly because we prefer to get the true story as opposed to paying some waiter in a restaurant who overheard something a celebrity said,” Martha Nelson, Managing Editor of People acknowledges that she has paid for exclusives but she adds, “People has never, and will never, abandon editorial control of stories. We will never let subjects review a story, or approve the layouts, or do anything that would limit our editorial integrity.”

According to Sidney Goldberg, a New York media consultant who is also a senior vice president of United Media for Syndication the phrase “paying for news” reeks of sleaze and unethical behaviour. “The stench (makes) journalists in newspapers, TV studios, and the halls of academe, to hold their noses. How dare the media pay someone for information?” If you have a job with the media, he argues, it is perfectly honorable to be paid a salary or a fee. If you don’t and someone within the media pays you for your information then both the payer and the payee are violating the journalistic code of never paying for information. Writing for the website TCS (Tech Central Station) he brings up an interesting angle of the payee receiving money as a contributor.

This of course, he says, is only possible if the payee has the skills to organize his information into an article. One need not be a clairvoyant to predict that Kenya’s checkbook journalism, now in its infancy, will soon blossom into full maturity when tabloid journalism does the same. If and when journalism in Kenya is professionalized – and the swelling numbers of trained professionals are increasingly demanding this – the quacks now in newsrooms will soon be marginalized. That is when most of them will change from journalists into spies who will sell information to the professionals.

The bottom line in all this argues Goldberg, is that the media wants its product—news and features for free. But he add : “ an ‘informer’ who wants to be paid for his information by a ( reluctant) journalist can turn around and sell the information to a book firm – with a ghost writer if need be -- and be within the rule. The book can get great reviews and no reviewer will revile the author and/or ghost for getting paid for it by the publisher.”

The current battle for “exclusives” has become more and more suspicious among the mainstream media to such an extent that scoops have now been accepted as the yardstick of measuring professionalism among journalists in Kenya. It is obvious that within a very short time a proper celebrity magazine will be born in Kenya and it may even follow the OK! path of buying news from the subjects. The danger in doing so is obvious. The celebrities will only reveal the positive aspects of their lives and not the newsworthy story which obviously is what the people are interested in.

When celebrities make news in a negative way, checkbook journalists jump into the scene. They were ready to pay Michael Jackson’s personal servant to get “exclusives” about how he treats children. They were ready to pay Bill Clinton’s bodyguards when he was having an affair with Monica Lewinsky. They were ready to pay to pay for an “exclusive” from the store clerk who sold O.J. Simpson a knife before he faced the now famous murder charge. Checkbook journalism appeals to emotions. Writing about it in the November/December 1994 issue of Columbia Journalism Review, Louise Mangelkoth who teaches journalism at the Bemidji State University says: “Money taints the truth…..And stories themselves appeal to the lowest common denominator in terms of subject matter, audience and focus.”

In the United States tabloid journalism is used to boost circulation figures by practicing checkbook journalism among ordinary people who have a fascinating story to tell. Prof. Mangelkoth tells his students about various incidents that could lead to checkbook journalism boosting both circulation figures as well as bringing to public attention injustices that would never have been discovered. He talks of “the young mother whose ex husband has been charged with abducting their three year old daughter, the woman whose grandson accidentally shot and killed his brother, the student in our class who was shot in her backyard while having barbeque.” All these are good human interest stories that can be found in any society and through checkbook they can be obtained exclusively.

Prof. Mangelkoth sees the good side of tabloids as a means of making the voiceless be loudly heard. He says: “The tabloids greatest virtue is exactly that which makes people sneer at them…..they are often foolish and not very sensitive. As gatekeepers they are lousy, and that’s often fortunate for those who need them most. They will listen to your story when nobody else will, if it has the elements and the angles they are looking for. If we truly believe in access, that journalists should be dedicated to comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable, the tabloids must be recognized as sharing that mission.”

The bad aspect of checkbook journalism is when it is accompanied with corruption. In Moscow where the media was for years muzzled by Communism, Glasnost has brought a very ugly aspect of checkbook journalism. Exposing it in the Columbia Journalism Review of July/August 1991 issue, Karen Dukess, a Tampa based writer and contributing editor of the English and Russian language Moscow Magazine says in “Moscow Rules” that Glasnosts has been good for foreign reporters , but it has also brought complications. “Along with openness came a less admirable characteristic of Gorbachev era: the open-handed demand for hard currency. Members of Moscow’s foreign press corps have been grumbling lately that some government authorities …….both bureaucrats and elected officials are asking to be paid for interviews, information and access.” He says if foreign journalists wanted to film the Moscow police in action, for instance, they would have to pay.

According to Vladimir V. Martinov, the Moscow Police Department liaison for television, journalists and filmmakers the cost ranges from $ 100 for brief filming to as much as $ 1,000 a day. Prepared footage of a string of arrests and other investigations goes for about $ n200 a minute. “It all depends on what you want to film, what kind of firm you represent and how long you want to use our employees,” says Martinov.

In 1990 the Foreign Correspondents’ Association in Moscow complained about these payments and according to Dukess the police said they would no longer charge accredited print journalists for the privilege of riding along in patrol cars or observing them at work. “Only television and commercial film crews would continue to be charged,” he says. For their part the police said they were swamped by the number of people wanting to film night time operations. The money collected from foreign correspondents did not go into officers’ pockets, but was used to purchase “much needed technical equipment”.

Discussing checkbook journalism in the 19th August issue of Taipei Times, Cheg Jim-Ming a professor in the Graduate Institute of Journalism at Chinese Culture University, admits that getting scoops is certainly the goal of all reporters. But since the scoops were exclusive the professor suggests that reporters and editors should have much higher standards for the credibility of such reports. At the very leas, he says, the scoops should meet basic professional requirements of accuracy, objectivity and fairness. Otherwise how can such “news” meet the test of both society and the media themselves? He asks.

“Exclusive news should be obtained through legal method and reasonable process. Exclusives obtained through dirty tricks hurt the media’s efforts to bolster its credibility,” he argues. In fact, he says, some methods of getting news stories have become jokes. He gives the example of Paul Burrell, the former butler of Diana, Princess of Wales, who wrote the book A Royal Duty to expose royal secrets, and was paid $ 550,000 by the Daily Mirror to publish the content of his book in a serialized form. This included Diana’s note to him which read: “My husband is planning ‘an accident” in my car, brakes failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him to marry”.

The question of journalism’s taboo against purchasing news is discussed in the April 1999 issue of American Journalism Review by Kelly Heyboer, a reporter with the Star Ledger in Newark, New Jersey. The article called Paying for It reveals how Larry Flint offered big money for information and brought down a powerful Congressman. Heyboer says: “It was one of the most brazen moments in the not-all-together distinguish history of checkbook journalism. Last October, Hustler magazine publisher: Larry Flint placed an ad in Washington Post offering up to $ 1 million to anyone who could prove a member of Congress or a high ranking government official had carried on an adulterous affair. Before the year was over, information turned up by the ad had ended the political carrier of House speaker- designate Bob Livingston.

In January , at a heavily attended press conference , Flint was dishing the dirt on Georgia Republican Representative Bob Barr . At the press conference Flint predicted that all news organizations were going to be paying for stories the same way he had done . Though his prediction has not yet come true in Kenya the cut throat competition for exclusives among both mainstream and alternative media in the country creates the necessary condition for the germination of that eventuality.
But Heyboer says Flint’s prediction is not likely to (be) realized because “after all, its one of the commandments of journalisms (which says): Thou shall not pay for information. But he admits: “Only the tabloids, of both the supermarket and TV variety, regard news as a tradable commodity.

The manner in which the “mercenary” story was planted on journalists and the mysterious ways in which the alternative media opens up private cupboards full of smelly skeletons proves that politicians are prepared to use journalists to publish dirt about their opponents.

While openly criticizing the practice of paying for news, mainstream media have been known to accept in when they are eager to get an exclusive. The New York Times for example paid $ 1,000 in 1912 to the Titanic wireless operator for an exclusive interview. Heyboer has more examples: By the time Watergate rolled around, the television networks got involved. CBS News paid Nixon while House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman was paid at least $ I million for his story.” Former President Gerald Ford accepted a million dollars from NBC shortly after leaving office to serve as “exclusive advisor-consultant in news special”.

Paying for news raises yet another important question – are those receiving money from journalists telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Are they not always tempted to exaggerate in order to fatten the cheques they get from media houses? “I do not pay for interviews, no matter what the payment is called,” said Oprah Winfrey once when it was rumoured she was about to hand a fat cheque to Monica Lewinsky to appear in her show. When Lewinsky was the hottest news in the world it was rumoured that her representative was about to strike a deal with Oprah’s team when things fell apart. This was not because Oprah was uplifting any ethical principle but because Lewinsky was demanding Winfrey “turn over the marketing rights to videotapes to Lewinsky,” says Heyboer.

Good journalists from respectable media houses have always managed to get their exclusives without paying for them. The other important question that is still unanswered in Kenyan journalism is whether paying for news always involves money exchanging hands. Many journalism scholars believe media houses could offer free advertising, travel and a wide range of entertainment to maintain good news sources. Paying in kind, I suppose, is also unethical.

In 1995 the powerful ABC came under fire from ethicist for interviewing Michael Jackson and his then wife Lisa Marre Presley only after running $1 million worth of commercials promoting the artist. The interview was followed by ABC getting exclusive rights to air Jackson’s musical video. When the giants stoop so low ethical principles can be thrown out of the window. This was not the only time when ABC violated the code. According to Heyboer they did it again in 1997. He says: “(At that time) they paid a six figure sum video of an Australian landslide that left 18 people dead. ‘Prime Time Live’ landed an exclusive interview with a survivor, whose agent had sold ABC the videotape.” But according to ABC spokeswoman, Eileen Murphy, this did not amount to any unethical activity. She claims it is alright to pay consultants and for videotape footage media houses do not own.

Never before has circulation wars in the mainstream and alternative print media in Kenya been so intense. The competition to get more listeners and viewers is no less vigorous among the electronic media. Unfortunately all the so called exclusives have not been so professionally done. The Anglo Leasing exposé came from John Githongo and the so-called Armenian mercenary story was planted on journalists by Raila Odinga. Yet Kenya is full of mysterious stories crying for demystification. Who was the real person behind Tom Mboya’s, Pio Gama Pinto’s, and Robert Ouko’s murders? If any of the living players involved in any of the murderers came out with the “truth” exposing the facts surrounding it for a fee, he or she could demand any payment may be amounting to millions of Kenyan shillings from the present media sharks.

There are so many ex policemen, judges, and lawyers who have not told their stories yet. Some relatives of these political martyrs have also never uttered a word. The unknown stories, however, are a big challenge to real professional journalists engaged in serious investigative journalism.

In Kenya a much more serious problem in journalism does not seem to be that of paying for news. Rather the problem seems to be paying to get your specific news to seethe light of the day. Journalists, including editors, have been accused of being extremely corrupt and receiving money from news sources especially politicians.

In November 2005, when Kenyans participated in the first referendum, unsubstantiated rumour were circulating everywhere claiming senior journalists were bribed to popularise certain anti government politicians. On March 20, 2006 the Minister for Information and Communication , Mutahi Kagwe said in an article published by The Standard that if anyone made “an inquiry from any sincere media manager , one would learn that certain stories were written to besmirch persons not in the good books of the owner.” This is a subject for another chapter.

7. Obscenity, Taste and Tone in Reporting

The code says in general, the media should avoid pushing obscene, vulgar or offensive material unless such material contains news value which is necessary in the public interest. In the same vain, it says, publication of photographs showing mutilated bodies, bloody incidents, and abhorrent scenes should be avoided unless the publication of such photographs will serve the public interest. It further suggests Television stations must exercise great care and responsibility when presenting programmes where children are likely to be part of the audience.

These ethical values can best be examined by looking at four aspects of their moral principles. First the code talks about obscenity which is an extremely wide and controversial subject in journalism. Taste in journalism, another hot professional subject, can also be examined separately while TV and children is a subject about which many books have been written. The most controversial part of this ethical principle is probably the issue of various tones adopted by journalists while reporting both local and international events.

It is impossible to examine the subject of obscenity without looking into its legal angle because Chapter XVII of the Penal Code (CAP 63) is about “Nuisances and Offenses against Health and Convenience” and Section 181 of this chapter says clearly in subsection (1) that any person who: (a) for the purpose of or by way of trade or for the purpose of distribution or public exhibition , makes , produces or has in his possession anyone or more obscene writing , drawing, prints, paintings, printed matter, pictures, posters, emblems, photographs, cinematograph films or any other obscene objects, or any other object tending to corrupt morals ;or (b) for any of the purposes above motioned, conveyed or exported imports, conveys or exports, or causes to be imported , any such matters or things or in any manner whatsoever puts any of them in circulation ; or (c)carries on or takes part in any business, whether public or private concerned with any such matters or things, or deals in any such matters or things in any manner whatsoever, or distributes any of them , or exhibits any of them publicly , or makes a business of lending any of them ; or (d) advertises or makes known by any means whatsoever, with a view to assisting the circulation of or traffic in any such matters or things , that a person is engaged in any of the acts referred to in this section, or advertises makes known how , or from whom any such matters or things can be procured either directly or indirectly; or
(e) publicly exhibits any indecent show or performances tending to corrupt morals, is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to imprisonment for two years or to a fine of seven thousand shillings. Subsection (2) says if, in respect of any of the offences specified in paragraphs (a),(b), (c) and (d) of subsection (1), any constituent elements thereof is committed in Kenya , such commission shall be sufficient to render the person accused of such offence triable therefore in Kenya. Subsection (3) says a court, on convicting any person of an offense against this section, may order to be destroyed any matter or thing made, possessed or used for the purpose of that offence. Subsection (4) says a court may, on the application of the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, a State Counsel or a Superintendent of Police, order the destruction of any obscene matter or thing to which this section relates , whether any person may or may not have been convicted under this section in respect of the obscene matter or thing.

According to writers online encyclopedia Writersmarket.com obscenity is often used incorrectly as a synonym or pornography. It says, as I have pointed out above, obscenity has an alterable legal meaning, depending on evolving court rulings. The decision of Miller v California, for example, states that obscenity is determined by (a) whether “the average person, applying contemporary standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest... (b)whether the work depicts or describes in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined as prohibited by the applicable state law and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”

The encyclopedia says that the local standards replaced national standards as the criteria for judging whether a work is obscene. This American law is indirectly observed in Kenya without people talking or complaining about it. Down at the coast an extremely prurient wedding dance Msondo perfumed only by women behind closed doors would be considered extremely obscene in some puritanical societies of Kenya. From the moment it first came up with a code of ethics for American journalists in 1932, the American Society of Newspaper Editor (ASNE) connected obscenity in journalism with attempts to gain readers attention in order to boost circulations. In a Section called Decency it said:

Today when ASNE accepts the existence of different codes of ethics for different states it still sees obscenity in journalism caused mainly by “Attention” rather than “Information”. Explaining this phenomenon Philip Meyer, graduate schools drop-out who occupies the Knights Chair of Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says advertising-supported media are resorting to some bizarre strategies to capture their share of attention. He gives two examples: Pushing what he calls the envelop of tastelessness by promoting obscenity, and profanity even in what used to be television’s family hour.

His second example is what he calls “corrupting views and entertainment products by blending them with commercial messages so that the user never knows where the journalist’s or artist’s work ends and the pitchman begins.” Morality in media has become such a serious issue that an organization called Morality in Media. Inc. has been formed by people who regularly monitor the media obscenity content and when they are angered they take drastic steps including writing to the president. One such letter was written in January 2005 in which the President of MIM, Bob Peters said: “Years ago, TV broadcasters had a strong industry-wide code and self imposed internal standards that generally reflected community standards. However, this (is) no longer the case. Studies show how sexual (talk and action) and vulgar broadcast TV has become.”

Could a similar letter be written about vulgarity on Kenyan TV? To answer that question one can only say when TV was first introduced in Kenya one could never hear the “F” word mentioned. Today there are some programmes a strict African parent would be embarrassed to watch with his or her teenage children. Has our society changed or the standards of journalism become more influenced by attention rather than information? Obscenity laws and media codes are normally meant to protect children. In Britain a media institution could be sued for obscene libel when that country still had high moral values.

G.F.L. Bridgman of the Middle Temple, was a barrister and an honorary standing counsel of the National Union of Journalists in 1938 when he defined obscenity libel as writing or picture or presentation in some permanent form the decency of which has a tendency to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences and into whose hands the publication may fall. After that definition Bridgman says: “Here again the language and the tone of the matter published is all important. What is proper in a legal or medical text book may clearly be improper in the newspaper which, it must be remembered, is broadcast to all and sundry. The test is whether the publication is to the public advantage or the public harm.”

Sixty seven years after Bridgman wrote those words the President of MIM, Robert Peters, was still concerned about corrupting the minds of children through obscene publications and TV. Addressing the New York State Bar Association on January 24, 2005 he said: “Most Americans understand the difference between right and wrong. They understand the difference between cherished liberty and ruinous license. They understand that children are affected by the media they consume and that if the entertainment industry has a right to distribute whatever it wants, wherever and whenever it wants, children will be the loser. They understand that law is necessary to maintain a safe, healthy and decent society.”

Most Kenyans have more or less the same concepts of the differences between right and wrong and they may even have the same attitudes towards legal intervention to make sure their children are not exposed to immorality through the media .Unfortunately sometimes journalists are put in very difficult position when major events involving very important personalities in the society are engaged in immoral activities which, of necessity, are of very high news value. One such event was when the former US President, Bill Clinton, was engaged in extramarital activities with Monica Lewinsky. What they did privately in the Oval Office became international front page news in almost all newspapers in the world including the most conservative ones such as The Wall Street Journal in the United States , The Times in Britain and both the Daily Nation and The Standard here in Kenya.

With advanced technology which makes pornographic material easily accessible to children, editors have an even more daunting task about what to and not to publish. Discussing this issue for ASNE in November, 2001, Marilyn Greenwald, a former reporter for Columbia Dispatch, who is now a professor of Journalism at Ohio University says the current generation of editors is not the first to have to make tough decisions about how much detail to publish when sex is involved in a story, but many recent and dramatic changes in society have made it increasingly difficult to make those decisions. Advanced technology in particular, she says, have forced many previously complacent editors to rethink what to publish. If for instance, the local newspaper will not publish the graphic details of a local story, what do editors do when explicit stories roll off the wire?

She correctly answers that question by admitting that if the newspaper withholds details from a national story because of what it deems inappropriate content, readers can certainly go to online sources, 24-hour cable and magazines to find what they are missing. And newspaper editors who are used to shielding “innocent” youngsters from adult content know that these youngsters probably are more adept than their parents at getting such information over their home computers. The Kenyan youngsters are no different from the American ones. Greenwald raises another issue which is of greater concern to us than to the Americans. She says there are other changes in culture and society which have affected (editors’ decisions). She talks of the new generation diseases and advances in their treatments (which) raise questions about how explicit to get in conveying how these diseases are spread and treated.

She is of course talking about the spread of AIDS, the use of condoms and safe sex. When writing about the spread and control of AIDS journalists in Kenya must not be afraid of using explicit terms when describing what causes it and how to prevent it. This, in fact, is already happening and no one can be sexually aroused when reading such stories. As a matter of facts many of those stories are written for the benefit of teenage children.

About publications of disturbing photographs which show traumatic suffering of people the journalistic adage “when it bleeds it leads!” is normally what editors in this country and the rest of the world stick to no matter what the ethical rules say. In Kenya editors had a field day after the bomb blast of August 7th , 1998 when pictures were professionally used big. In the US horrifying pictures of people suffering following the September 11, 2001 were published all over the world for a long period after the blast.

Writing for American Press Institute in an article titled: Tragedy in Photos, a New Standard? , Phil Nesbitt, a newspaper journalist for 34 years and a former director for API who is also the past President of Society for News Design who was also the Editor of the US Army’s weekly V Corps Guardian, says newspapers…have been running horrifying images for more than a generation, however, the process by which the selections ore made has changed a great deal – as has the acceptance of readers. About 9/11 he says: With the tragic event of Sept 11, news media were faced with constant stream of incredible images, one that initially reminded many of the latest action movies they had seen. Even though the visual media, especially the newspapers, showed great restraint in the type of images used in the first days after (the) attack.”

Be that as it may there were still some pictures used which became a subject of serious debate in the professional, legal and academic circles. One such picture was used by many American newspapers showing a man falling headfirst from WTC towers to his horrible death on a New York concrete street.

The most important question asked by Nesbitt in his article is: “Does the use of this picture and those like it constitute a change in the standards and ethics exercised in newsrooms across the country or something else?” In the same article Nesbitt quotes John Wilson who was the chief picture assignment editor of the New York Times on the day of the tragedy saying the use of that picture was heavily debated at the Times an “ we knew that some readers would find it objectionable . However it told a unique element of the story that many wouldn’t otherwise realize. And it was a horrific decision those people had to make, to jump. We (at the Times) saw various forms of this picture in many New York newspapers, but we felt this one told its own story.”

In Kenya Editors don’t appear to engage in any professional discussion about whether or not use ghastly pictures of dead people killed by the police because they were the most “wanted criminals”. The number of times Kenyan newspaper readers and TV viewers are shown horrible pictures of seriously injured people after road accidents are so many that I could give countless examples. Whoever suspects that journalists in Kenya are sadists who take great pleasure in other people’s suffering or even getting killed in the cruelest manner may not be far from the truth.

Paradoxically some pictures showing greasily death scenes win prizes. Bill Marimow , Editor of The Sun in Baltimore , Maryland recalls such pictures now known to all journalism students in the world: “ The Vietnam man shot on the street of Saigon ; the little girl running down the highway after being burned in Vietnam , and the little girl and her mother plummeting from a burning apartment house in Boston . I think that was a Pulitzer winner. These pictures show initiative and awful glimpses of death or near death,” he says.

Just like obscene pictures, scenes of violence affect children negatively. According to psychological research conducted by Abelard, a human knowledge source that is informative and educational for all, the three major effects of seeing violence on television include becoming less sensitive to pain and suffering of others, becoming more fearful of the world around them and behaving in an aggressive way towards others. I am not aware of any empirical evidence of how Kenyan children are affected by violence on TV but there must be a great number who have watched acts of violence on the screen. In September and October 2005 Kenyan children saw their parents fighting with chairs and stones as they campaigned just before the November 21st referendum on the so-called Wako Constitution.

According to Abelard studies by George Gerber at the University of Pennsylvania, children television shows contain about 20 violent acts each hour. The studies showed that children who watch a lot of television were more likely to think that the world is a mean and dangerous place. Here in Kenya a large number of children watch cartoons that contain acts of violence put across in very aggressive manner. Gerber’s study shows that “children who watched the violent shows were more likely to strike out at playmates, argue, disobey authority and were less willing to wait for things than those children who watched non-violent programmes.

The last part of the code talks about “tone” in reporting without really elaborating. Since the word “tone” is lumped together with “obscenity” and “taste” then in this context it must be a “tone” that suggests either “violence” or some form of “obscenity” yet when journalism scholars discuss various “tones” in reporting they are really talking about bias in journalism and what they have in mind is political bias . In his book Press Bias and Politics Jim A. Kuypers discusses how media frame controversial issues. Analysing the book, Amazon.com says it charts the effects the printed press – and by extension, broadcast media – have upon messages of political and social leaders when they discuss controversial issues.

After examining 700 American press reports Kuypers concludes that media bias hurts the democratic process in general by ignoring non-mainstream left positions and vilifying many moderates ands vast majority of right leaning positions. If similar studies were conducted in Kenya some form of bias in the Kenyan media will also be discovered. On October 17, 2005, for example, The Standard had a front page splash story with a heading saying “Kibaki Plans New Districts for Nakuru as Race Hots Up”.

That headline had a strap-line on to saying “Orange Sweeps Through Coast, Western and Predicts Victory while…” The ‘tone” of the entire story gave the impression that President Kibaki was planning to create new districts in Nakuru in order to win votes to support the proposed constitution in a referendum which was about to take place. The story below the headline said “ President Kibaki’s announcement is likely to be seen by the orange (No) platform as yet another campaign freebie planned by the government ahead of the November 21st referendum on the proposed new constitution.” On the back page of the Daily Nation of the same date the same story appeared with a very different tone. Its headline said “State To Consider District Plea.” Its kicker said “Kibaki agrees with MPs’ Call That Nakuru deserves Two New Units.” The story said: President Kibaki yesterday said the Government would consider proposals to create two new districts in Nakuru.”

The slant in the Daily Nation story is that the President was reacting to the demands of the people. It was a pro-Kibaki “tone”. The “tone” of The Standard was that the President was bribing people to support the new Constitution.

One of the most scathing attacks of the political tone in American journalism was made in 2003 by Al Franken in his book “Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them”. Reviewing the book on the net Salon.com says Al Franken (is the man) of the hour. For years we have suffered while right-wing bullies hijacked American politics and media...persecuting a President for consensual sex act ; stealing 2000 election ; trashing the country’s economy , environment and constitutional safeguards ; handing the government over to the highest corporate bidders deceiving the public into the bloody quagmire ; and then brazenly smearing anyone who dared to criticise this orgy of dreadful leadership as un-American. The instant runaway success of Franken’s new book is not just a result of Fox News’ inexplicable decision to shoot itself in the foot and head by launching an idiotic trademark infringement law suit, but also the author’s bold and roaring funny-knack for confronting the Bush Presidency and its prevaricating apologists.” Obviously among the apologists are journalists who slant the news and give it a pro-Bush “tone”.

I believe there is absolutely nothing wrong with columnists, commentators or even entire media houses declaring their political stand on any given issue. The problem with Kenyan journalism is that those stands can only be noticed through the “tone” of stories because almost every newspaper, radio and television station claim to be professionally independent, fair and absolutely objective. Readers, viewers and listeners know better!

6. Misrepresentation

The Code is divided into two parts. The first says journalists should generally identify themselves and not obtain or seek to obtain information or pictures through misrepresentation or subterfuge. The second part of the code however, admits that subterfuge could be justified only in the public interest and only when material cannot be obtained by any other means. The public interest includes detecting or exposing crime or serious misdemeanour or anti social conduct, protecting public health or safety, preventing the public from being misled by some statement or action of an individual.

The first part of the code is obviously intended to perform double duty of protecting the privacy of all people in Kenya as well as keeping journalists away from the opprobrium attached to nosy police-like clandestine probing of people’s lives without the decency to let them know about it. Yet the second part of the code does in a nutshell admit that some exposes are impossible to see the light of the day without engaging in subterfuge.

The depth and breadth of the two suggestions by the code have been subjected to very serious debate by journalism scholars who include a veteran South Florida newspaper editor and a writer who is also the Knight professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va, Edward Wasserman, who says the legendary reporter who goes undercover to get the story is part of the mythology of 20th century journalism. But the practice, he says, has largely gone the way of Lucky Strikes and pay telephones. What Prof. Wasserman means by that is that subterfuge is disappearing from journalistic practice the way cigarettes known as Lucky Strikes are detested by many anti-smoking Americans and the manner in which pay telephones are fast becoming obsolete in that country where almost everybody own a cellophane.

Wasserman believes the profession has turned against false pretenses. The reasons, he says, vary (because) there is unease about deception. “If your job is to tell the truth you shouldn’t be lying. That seems high minded, but it is a cheap way around deciding whether the truth you are after might justify the dissembling required to get it. There is also the feeling that the whole gambit is sensationalistic and squalid. It smacks of tabloid TV, grainy footage of low-grade frauds secretly taped in the storefront offices.” Prof. Wasserman is strongly supported by the Philadelphia Inquirer Editor, Amanda Bennet who is quoted by Editor and Publisher magazine saying: “I don’t permit deception …Undercover is a method of the past.”

Writing for a media watch website Rathergate.com media critic, Kevin Craver, says not all ethical decisions in journalism are black and white. He poses an extremely sensitive question which should tickle all Kenya journalists as he asks: “When does it become acceptable to take steps some may seem as questionable for the greater good?”

At the beginning of 2005, for example, the KTN made the City Council remove begging mothers and very young children from the streets of Nairobi after showing a moving episode of child abuse by cruel mothers who forced their children to chase rich-looking men asking for alms. The short film showed the mothers beating up their young children who failed to get any money from pedestrians. It was a masterpiece of investigative journalism which could not have been possible without subterfuge. Cameras were hidden on top of buildings under which the mothers operated near Kenyatta Avenue. Similar tactics were used by the same station in the middle of the same year to expose conmen who extracted cash from innocent wananchi by pretending to conduct a lottery which would make winners take home bicycle and mobile phones. Many people congratulated the KTN for the exposes. This is the kind of subterfuge Prof. Wasserman would consider to be judicious for it was “used to confirm a pattern of behaviour for which (the media) already had good evidence and which has a strong claim to public importance.” In this country there are many seasoned journalists, particularly in the mainstream media, who would not favour the methods used to get such stories yet it is also true that when such stories are ignored public faith in the media could seriously be shaken. If the media lose that public faith then they will stand accused of abdicating their most sacred duty of being the society’s watchdog.

When journalists are chasing what they know and believe to be a rock solid story that is hard to obtain without subterfuge then the method can be used after an intensive editorial meeting to discuss the merits and demerits of undercover chasing of the said expose. Cases should be examined on individual basis. Whenever they smell a rat, many British papers indulge in subterfuge to probe even the best source of news. One such paper is the News of the World which in April 2005 was accused by a Mr. Neil Nash, owner of liberty hotel in Lutterworth, of taking undercover photos at a members-only club of swingers called Liberation.

The club had cajoled journalists to give it very positive publicity about its activities but was not amused when they took pictures of activities of the club in a clandestine manner. Nash took his complaints to the Press Complaints Commission. And what was the PCC ruling? Very positive and in favour of News of the World. PCC said: “The complainants were operating a controversial club, and had sought and obtained a large amount of publicity in order to put one positive view of it into public domain. It was not for the Commission to interfere with a newspaper’s right to test whether or not this view was accurate. To conclude otherwise would arguably be to grant organizations the right to control media coverage on their own terms.”

That was a very important ruling backing subterfuge when it is used professionally but as I pointed out earlier many cases of subterfuge inevitably violate another ethical principle of Privacy; but when some crooks break laws through their private activities then there is every justification to invade their privacy. A classic case of this took place in Britain as far back as 1885 when William Thomas Stead of Pall Mall Gazette in London exposed child prostitution through “purchasing” a thirteen year old girl. He got an excellent story for his newspaper but he also earned a jail term for himself. Legal scholars believe his story let to the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885 which made provision for the protection of women and girls and the suppression of brothels.

One of the most effective uses of subterfuge for the benefit of society is today being practiced by seasoned Indian journalists who have left respectable national newspapers to work for a New Delhi based online newspaper Tehelka.com . In March 2001, the paper which is rated among the most modern in the world, published exposes about bribery scandals involving the then Defence Minister , George Fernandes. Though Fernandes was an extremely popular politician among the military he had to resign at the age of 70 after first being elected an MP since 1967. His fame and power did not help him when Tehelka.com exposed him as a corrupt man through intensive investigations conducted under subterfuge.

According to the BBC Tehelka.com is a new phenomenon on Indian media scene and its editor in chief, Tarun Tejpal, “has invested heavily in hard hitting investigative reporting and has pushed the boundaries of editorial content further than most.” Quoted by the BBC Tejpal says: Our job (is) to blow the whistle on corruption in India’s defence procurement. We wanted to nail them down. The arms bribery scandal story that led to the resignation of Fernandes was followed by another expose of cricket mach fixing scandals. The investigations, the BBC says, were conducted by using clandestine material “gathered over several months using video footage of conversations players and officials had” on corruption in sports.

Following the arms deal exposure by Tehelka.com the Minister, as expected, cried foul and accused the newspaper of using unethical methods to get the story. Commenting about the matter in Vol.18 of March 31- April 13, 2001issue of one of India’s most respected magazines Frontline A.G. Noorani says: “ It is amusing to hear persons caught in the act, as it were, cry ‘ethics’ at their exposure by Thelka.com …The website has proved itself. The nation has accepted that its revelations are true and heads rolled in consequences.” The most important question to ask is whether Kenyan journalists could use subterfuge to expose corruption among its major news sources.

It appears a lot of legwork has to be done to achieve the goals accomplished by Tehalka.com . On October 9th 2005, for example, the Sunday Nation published a juicy story about bogus medical colleges that had to close down following an operation by Medical Practitioners’ Board. The back page story by Bob Odala headlined “Doctors Seized in Crackdown” said that several health workers including doctors and nurses were arrested and their institutions closed in a Medical Practitioners and Dentists’ Board operation in Western Kenya. The colleges were charging between 48,000/- and 30,000/- per Semester. What was wrong with the story? Nothing except that the journalists engaged in reportorial conveyor belt journalism that “delivers” to the readers events based on actions and spoken words by government officials, politicians or other personalities outside the journalist profession. They are not based on reports’ own investigations and interpretation of events which is a superior type of journalism known as Investigative and Interpretative journalism.

The Sunday Nation waited until action was taken by the medical practitioners’ board when they moved in to close down bogus colleges. Before that the people were exploited under the very noses of journalists without any pen touching paper. The exposé on the so-called Kakamega Medical School could best be done through subterfuge.

On October 10th 2005 The Standard published another juicy story about Anglo Leasing scandal with an attractive question-mark splash headline reading: “Have these Ministers seen Anglo Leasing Ghosts?” At first glance one would have thought the papers was engaging in a serious Investigative and Interpretative journalism but unfortunately it was just another reportorial conveyor-belt piece telling readers what Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o, the Minister for Planning, was suspecting to be people involved in the Anglo Leasing scandal. The story by David Ohito and Joel Okwayo said: “A fresh row broke out in the cabinet yesterday when Planning Minister Anyang’ Nyong’o claimed five ministers were shielding the culprits behind the Shs. Seven billion Anglo Leasing tender scandals from being prosecuted. The paper said Nyong’o pointed accusing fingers to Finance Minister, David Mwiraria, Chris Murungaru (Transport), Kiraitu Murungi (Justice) and Amos Kimunya (Lands). Says The Standards quoting Nyong’o: I have 21 sets of questions for the liars in the banana camp. I will fire the questions one by one ahead of the referendum day.”

Referendum or no referendum journalists in Kenya knew of Anglo Leasing scandal. Whether or not Nyong’o threatened to ask his questions to expose corrupt leaders journalists should have done everything possible to get answers to well over 21 questions about the mystery of the scandal. Based on the basic good old journalistic five Ws and an H any cub reporter could ask at least ten questions based on every W and ten more questions on the H about Anglo Leasing. So before Nyongo’s started talking about his 21 questions journalists should have asked at least 60 professional questions. To get proper answers to these questions proper and may be well trained professional journalists would have to engage in serious investigative and interpretative journalism which may have to include well organized and extremely expensive Tehalka.com like subterfuge. The simple rule of engaging in such subterfuge is that journalists must always respect and never try to bend the truth.

Engaging in subterfuge puts a journalist in a position in which he or she gets involved in what may be interpreted by many as “untruthful activities”. This is when they have to operate undercover. It would be pretty risky, for example, for any journalist to come up with a forged police search warrant to turn any of the suspected people’ home upside-down in order to search for documentary evidence to connect them with the Anglo Leasing scandal. But if such a search came up with impeccable evidence that may rid the country of the disturbing grand corruption the methodology will still remain part of a serious academic, legal and journalistic debate as it is today.