The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has urged devolved units to ensure professionalism and synergy in communication to guarantee impact.
MCK CEO Mr David Omwoyo says the Council is committed to enhance reportage of devolution stories through partnering with the Council of Governors (COG) to ensure professionalism in sharing information at the counties is upheld.
The MCK CEO who hosted the Chairman of the ICT and Knowledge Management Committee at the Council of Governors His Excellency Wisley Rotich emphasised the need for professional reporting of devolution matters.
“There are a lot of good things happening at the counties. However, all that the public is treated to are scandals and negative news. It is critical that the media covers stories form the counties in a balanced manner”, said Mr Omwoyo.
He encouraged counties to grant journalists access to information, to guard against misinformation.
Mr Omwoyo said the Council will continue engaging county stakeholders and media players on efforts to promote professional coverage of county matters.
He at the same time said the Council will approach the devolved units in its industrial placement programme for media and communication students to spread impact across the country.
Governor Rotich underscored the importance of working with the media to amplify stories from the counties.
He called for the need to enhance capacity of county communication officers to foster professionalism and collaborative environment at the counties.
“We are making efforts to partner with the media to enhance objective and impact solution-based journalism. The relationship between county governments and journalists needs to be enhanced to create a collaborative environment”, he said.
The Governor called for the need to enhance reporting of devolution stories, adding that the COG is developing best practice stories where county governments can benchmark with each other.
He added that the COG is in the process of coming up with correspondent desks targeting devolution reporting journalists where they intend to train and build their capacity.
“We would like to partner with the Media Council of Kenya in building the capacity of our communication officers and correspondents at the counties to ensure professional coverage of devolution matters through effective information gathering and dissemination”, he said.