Media Council of Kenya (MCK) CEO David Omwoyo has urged County communications teams to institute ways to address information gaps between the media and devolved units.
Mr Omwoyo says county communications staff are strategically placed at the counties and play a significant role in projecting counties.
“You sit right at the middle of counties and what they see about counties is what you present to the citizenry via the media. It is therefore critical that you guide county leadership on the role of the media in enhancing visibility of the counties”, the MCK CEO said during the induction for County directors of communication and governors press in Mombasa.
“Unless you internalise your role the leadership will recognise the media based on how you treat them. It is important as key communications people at the counties to clearly define relationships with the media”, he said.
Mr Omwoyo also spoke about the need for cordial working relationships between the Fourth Estate and devolved units.
“This training is good as a way of addressing tension between county communications teams and media. It will allow County Governments to have better working relationship with the media”, said Mr Omwoyo.
He encouraged the media to leverage the digital space, saying technological advancements have made it easier to reach out to the masses.
The MCK CEO reminded the communications officers of the central place they occupy with regards to presentation of accurate information.
“You must balance between what you give the media and what you give to the community to build trust in the media”, he said.
He at the same time urged County Governments to appreciate the fundamental role of communications, saying the office should be correctly placed in the County hierarchy.
“Media has become central in organisations yet those handling communications at the counties are lowly placed. It is high time communications personnel were held in high esteem due to the criticality of their positions”, said Mr Omwoyo.
He urged County Governments to provide journalists with a conducive work environment, saying safety and protection of media workers while on duty is a responsibility of both County security teams and the media.
Mr Omwoyo also urged County Communications Officers to effectively manage crisis communications and provide proper guidance to County Government officials during crisis situations and providing the media with the right information.
The MCK CEO at the same time rallied for support to the Media Council of Kenya and stakeholders’ efforts to address the rise of fraudsters who have invaded the profession.
“We have enhanced security features of our accreditation cards and all journalists seeking information from the counties must be correctly identified. We must work together to stop the harassment and extortion of news sources by these cabals”, he said.
The induction of the county communications teams comes a day after the Media Council of Kenya signed a working pact that will, among others, seek to enhance collaborative capacity building of county communications and media staff, improving relations between county governments and journalists and development of training curricula on devolution for the media from model practical perspectives in the County Governments.