The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has encouraged media stakeholders in Kenya to come up with possible solutions to address the various issues affecting the sector.
The Council on Wednesday, 08 February, hosted stakeholders of the media sector in Kenya for a consultative roundtable on the state of media in Kenya. The meeting brought together various stakeholders in the industry including the Kenya Union of Journalists, Kenya Editors Guild, Media Owners Association, Kenya Correspondents Association and the Association of Media Women in Kenya.
MCK CEO David Omwoyo acknowledged that media in Kenya is facing challenges which he said needed collaborative industry efforts.
“We have a major crisis of quantity in the media sector, and this has left the industry in bad shape. We have witnessed many media houses shutting down, some drastically reducing staff pay and others going for months without paying their personnel. This is a problem that has not been addressed in a long time. We need to have these discussions to enable us to chart a way forward”, said Mr Omwoyo.
He called for sobriety and objectivity in efforts to collectively address the media industry challenges.
“There is a lot of disconnect in the minds of the various actors in the sector and we need to find a way of agreeing on how to address this issue. We need to open our minds and narrow down our thoughts and see how we can reach out for help, including addressing media sustainability” said Mr Omwoyo.
Kenya Union of Journalist Secretary General Eric Oduor lauded the efforts by MCK to bring together key stakeholders to discuss the state of media in Kenya and called upon the stakeholders to come up with solutions to this challenge.
“The media world over is facing disruption and Kenya is no exception. There is a need for each stakeholder to come up with home-based solution to address this issue in order to be sustainable and add value to our audiences”, he said.
Kenya Editors Guild President Churchill Otieno urged media stakeholders to come up with innovative ways of addressing the disruption that has affected the media sector.
“We need to turn the tide by doing something to attract new investments by finding ways for progressive regulations, we need to have stronger associations in the sector this will help us to build on the ethical practice of journalism,” said Mr Otieno.
The meeting comes in the wake of repeated calls by Information, Communications and the Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo for media stakeholders to work in harmony to ensure professionalism and efficiency in addressing matters affecting the sector.