The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has pledged to see the newly formed Veteran Journalists Association grow.
MCK CEO Mr David Omwoyo says welfare groups in the media remain critical in supporting industry growth.
“The MCK will help with the drafting of a constitution, registration and name search for the organisation. Once this is done, we will be able to engage the association formally”, said Mr Omwoyo while meeting members of the group at the Council offices in Nairobi.
Mr Omwoyo told the officials that the Council will take the members through a Training of Trainers (ToT) to enable them to mentor young and upcoming journalists.
“We run a big mentorship and internship programme which is a perfect fit for you. You will be taken through a training of trainers on the current emerging issues in the media to enable you to mentor young journalists”, he said.
He highlighted the plight of retired journalists saying that most of them were unable to meet their basic needs and called upon the officials to create a welfare programme for its members.
“We have a structural problem about the welfare of journalists in Kenya. About 90 per cent of media organisations are unable to meet their journalists’ obligations”, he noted.
He asked the officials to come up with laws and guidelines that would require the members to pay a subscription fee to ensure the sustainability of the association as well as a code of conduct to guide their practice.
During the meeting, the Interim Chair Mr Sammy Lui thanked the Council for supporting the association with the registration process. He reiterated the financial challenges among the members in times of difficulty.
“When we lose one of us, it all depends on the association and how well one was known as a member. We therefore need to ensure that matters concerning health and last respect are captured”, he urged.
Mr Lui underscored the ability of the members to enhance professionalism in the media industry. He mentioned that several of them were still practicing as producers.
“We have the strength in numbers, capabilities and capacities. We would like to see a pool of our people producing programmes for local and international media houses”, he remarked.
He spoke on the erosion of the Kiswahili language and urged media houses to produce programmes in a language that would be acceptable in other countries.
He asked the Council to extend training to the members to enable them to keep up with the transformations in the media and digital space.
Other matters discussed at the meeting include establishing a museum to celebrate the broadcasting heroes, documenting a broadcasting journey and establishing a press club.