Thursday, 11 April 2013
Monday, 11 June 2012
How citizen media can help ensure peaceful elections in Kenya in 2012-13
Earlier today on my way to lunch I noticed a crowd gathered outside the Prime Minister's office. Naturally, I took out my phone and proceeded to record. There was armed police blocking them off from entering the prime minister's building. As I started to enquire from some of the bystanders, the Prime Minister had arranged for an informal meeting with these Kibera youth and apparently, he had postponed it but they didn't find out until this moment and hence the heckling. As I was recording, one of the youth members spotted me and drew the attention of the heckling crowd.
Things quickly went down hill from there as they began to demand for payment. One of them grabbed my phone and attempted to delete the footage that was before it dawned on him that he didn't know how to operate a smart phone like mine. At this point he handed it back to me and stood over me demanding that I delete it. I began to delete it but then I realized that he had no way of verifying whether or not I deleted it so I didn't. Of course I shot down their demands for money since I couldn't possibly pay them for video that they had made me delete and hurriedly walked away less all hell break lose..
I didn't understand what the fuss was all about, if they had a legitimate cause and I was the only media coverage available, It would only make sense that they would talk to me and get their story told to somebody other than the gate keepers of the Prime Minister's building. I have concluded that either these youth simply mistrust the media or do not fully understand the purpose of journalists and how they can work with us to push for their cause albeit their cause this afternoon was to get a free lunch.
The mainstream media failed Kenyans during the last elections because they failed to dissolve the tension that was amongst the general population and avert the aftermath. All they did was give a handful of politicians all the airtime who in turn misused it to propagate hate and violence. Citizen media can do the exact opposite. Citizen media can tell the story from the regular people's perspective because that in my opinion is the most important side when feeling for the pulse of a nation.
By constantly feeding their audience with the same politicians every move, the mainstream media blinded the regular mwananchi. Citizen media if used effectively, can wean the mwananchi off of these kinds of stories and give them an alternative source of information.
I didn't understand what the fuss was all about, if they had a legitimate cause and I was the only media coverage available, It would only make sense that they would talk to me and get their story told to somebody other than the gate keepers of the Prime Minister's building. I have concluded that either these youth simply mistrust the media or do not fully understand the purpose of journalists and how they can work with us to push for their cause albeit their cause this afternoon was to get a free lunch.
The mainstream media failed Kenyans during the last elections because they failed to dissolve the tension that was amongst the general population and avert the aftermath. All they did was give a handful of politicians all the airtime who in turn misused it to propagate hate and violence. Citizen media can do the exact opposite. Citizen media can tell the story from the regular people's perspective because that in my opinion is the most important side when feeling for the pulse of a nation.
By constantly feeding their audience with the same politicians every move, the mainstream media blinded the regular mwananchi. Citizen media if used effectively, can wean the mwananchi off of these kinds of stories and give them an alternative source of information.
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