If Kenyans have said that journalism is not a profession since it has no rules, it is because of the kind of writing that is peddled by the likes of Muthui Kariuki, the Vice President’s adviser on media and communication.
I am dismayed that a smart politician like Kalonzo Musyoka can hire such a reckless writer as Muthui to be his adviser. In his column in the Star (on Wednesday 7th September, page 20), he made some sacrilegious assertions which makes a mockery of the profession.
I am not talking about the accusations that he makes about the ODM party. The ODM Secretary General, Anyang Nyong’o has already answered for his party in today’s letters to the editor in the Star. My only concern is the unsupported statements that he makes which fly in the face of practice of good journalism.
I don’t want to discredit his credentials but I have a problem with his writing he makes claims without basing them on any known facts or on new scientifically-tested findings. As a media practitioner, I find it rather disappointing that Muthui makes many unsubstantiated statements. His statements are making a mockery of the principles of journalism, one of which says that all statement made should be based on facts. As a veteran in the profession, he should be at the forefront showing upcoming journalists what it is to write good articles grounded in fact.
But I am afraid that his most recent writing does just the opposite! He claims that “where ODM is rapidly descending, ODM-K is doing the opposite – rapidly ascending”. On what findings does he base his argument? As far as all the opinion polls that have been conducted lately in Kenya show, ODM is still the most popular party, even though its fortunes have been dwindling.
Then he goes further to say that “in the last general election, candidate Kalonzo Musyoka lost a lot of votes as a result of confusion by voters over the two Orange parties”. When did Muthui or Kalonzo or ODM-K carry out a survey to find out this fact? He does not bother to say where he gets this idea from. If the party has found that out, then they need to share it with the public. Otherwise, that is just an idle statement from the adviser to the Vice President.
Muthui goes further to say that the Vice President has been “reaching out to Kenyans…and getting very positive responses”. Now, how does Muthui measure these responses? I wonder what scientific method he uses to make these judgments noting that he does not believe in opinion polls which he claims are always doctored in favour of ODM.
By saying that the he does not believe in opinion polls since they are “self-sponsored” by ODM, he forgets to acknowledge the fact that that alone cannot make the findings of the polls invalid. Muthui fails to tell the readers whether he has carried out his own opinion polling for him to be in a position to discredit the polls which have been showing ODM as the most popular party.
Another disturbing statement that Muthui makes is that the Vice President poses the most threat to ODM since he is “the senior most politician” in the G7 alliance. How does the fact that he has been in active politics for longer that his G7 colleagues make him to be at a “vantage position to carry the trophy when the alliance nominates its flag bearer”? I think that it is the party members who will make that decision and it would not be made on the basis of number of years one has been in parliament. That idea negates the essence of democracy and freedom of choice.
My unsolicited advice to the Vice President would be to get someone else to advise him on media issues since Muthui has failed in a very simple journalistic test – of basing his arguments on facts. I would excuse any other writer without a background in journalism but it is shame for someone of Muthui’s stature and background to feed readers with writing that is so amateurish and which portrays the profession as lacking in any principles.
If he cannot fulfill such basics of journalism, what kind of advice would he give the Vice President as he faces the battle of his life for the 2012 presidential elections? If the Vice President is really a serious candidate as Muthui wants to portray him, he should reorganise his media team now before it is too late!
Otherwise, I really doubt whether the current team led by Muthui will do him any good as he prepares for the battle ahead.
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