Mr David Barasa Makali’s piece “why does everyone want to celebrate journalists?” in The Star of 22nd December 2011 made a good reading save for his “reckless” conclusions which warrant a sober right of reply.
The self-contradictory argument is that of an upset Makali who feels that if the media won’t host its’ own media awards, then what he derogatorily calls the “artisans” or “alien” organizations will “exploit the vacuum and do it with disastrous consequences”. On this score, it would only have been fair for him to say when and how this reality may change so that there are no “vacuums” anymore.
Clearly, Makali would have kept off the media awards subject should The Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations (Kara) and the Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) not have staged their joint Annual Media Excellence Awards last Tuesday evening.
Because he is a “duty carrier and a member of good standing of a professional society called the Kenya Editors Guild”, he feels both Kara and Cofek were “reckless” not to have consulted the Guild.
He forgets that little is known about the Guild by the quarters he calls “outsiders”. A quick Google search for the Guild reveals it has no website but had a Facebook page with 87 “likes” on the day his story ran.
The last objective of the society is “to recognize and reward editorial excellence”. As a former Chairman of this important body, Makali would have at least mentioned why the Guild may not have realized the noble objective he is criticizing others for doing.
In his article, Makali erred on many fronts. Firstly, by failing to appreciate that the debut Annual Media Excellence Awards (AMEA) organizers had a specific niche on awards – which deliberately sought to from media organizations.
Second, by remotely attempting to compare the less than a year old AMEA event to the 94-year old Pultizers Awards, Makali was right for the need for both Kara and Cofek to learn from it. But then he was completely off the mark to want to make a strict comparison.
Third, Makali’s egoistic imagination that media “outsiders” cannot be competent to reward journalists is to limit the expansive realm of his profession to some unrealistic narrow scope. Journalists are part of the society and it is easy to tell and feel their impact of their profession on service delivery matters.
The reverse is indeed true. Major media houses, even in Kenya, are now taking graduates in different areas and then training them in journalism. That is one aspect AMEA wishes to promote.
Fourth, Makali was right about the challenge with sponsor-driven categories. But we must begin somewhere as both Kara and Cofek are neither funded by the taxpayer nor are they profit-driven companies. Fifth, the choice of Makali’s diction is a betrayal to his profession especially when he says “these purported journalism awards”.
Finally, Makali erred by imputing that the AMEA judges did not amount to a seal of professional recognition. We could not have secured a great mix of professors, practitioners, critics and other professionals led by the University of Nairobi’s School of Journalism Associate Director Dr George Nyabuga.
More important Makali should not be left to arrogate himself too a high a moral authority, so insulting to those journalists who participated in the AMEA, and appear as if he is a self-appointed media prefect.
Stephen Mutoro is the CEO, The Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations (Kara) and Secretary General, Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek)
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