Journalism Standards in Kenya

Journalism Standards in Kenya

By Francis Mureithi

August 10, 2007

Concerns have been raised over the proliferation of commercial colleges purporting to offer professional journalism training in the country.

It is worth to note that while the government appears zealous to regulate the media through legislation, it has failed to regulate the training of journalists in Kenya to enhance professionalism.

In Nairobi for instance, there are at least 10 such colleges, which are churning out what we term as half-baked journalists who then proceed to seek employment in mainstream and independent media.

Due to lack of quality training, most of the graduates from these schools are unable to grasp the technical demands and values of journalism and have become an embarrassment to the profession.

It is a well-known fact that some of these colleges are awarding diploma certificates to young people after just one month of pretending to train them.

These colleges also lack equipment and do not have qualified staff. On the other hand, parents or guardians of students in these colleges are charged exorbitantly despite the fact that low quality education is imparted to the learners.

Even as the government, politicians, the media and other stakeholders duel over the Media Bill recently passed by Parliament, we believe that these colleges are a major contributor to the malpractices that are drawing the public’s wrath towards the Kenyan Media.

That is why the government must immediately take measures to streamline the training of journalists in the country.

Before the government start talking of regulating the media though legislation, it should first enforce the existing laws to bring sanity in the training of journalists by setting standards in the country’ journalism schools.

It is vital that the government investigates the existing commercial journalism colleges mainly in Nairobi and ensures that those, which do not meet the required standards, are closed down.