Media stakeholders have committed to support the Church in spreading messages of hope as the country awaits declaration of the 2022 General Election results.
The Media Council of Kenya and media sector players today held a consultative meeting with religious leaders drawn from the National Council of Churches of Kenya and the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops to deliberate on the ongoing electoral process and seek collaborations to promote peace and national cohesion.
The media industry committed to uphold professionalism in reporting the 2022 General Election.
The Media Council of Kenya CEO Mr David Omwoyo said media industry players were working together to synchronise reporting of the election results.
“The truth is media organisations have different capacities and are tallying based on their own parameters. This is what has caused the variations in the results being projected by our media houses”, he said.
He absolved the media from the censure by a section of the public on the stoppage of results transmission by television stations.
“We are liaising with media houses to align the reporting. “No one has asked anyone to stop the tallying and projection of the results. We are collaborating on this as we peer review information being relayed to the public”, Mr Omwoyo told the religious leaders who were led at the meeting by Nairobi region chairman Rev Dr Alphonse Kanga.
Mr Omwoyo called for patience among Kenyans as they await the declaration of the results by the IEBC.
Radio Africa Group’s Head of Content and Kenya Editors Guild member Paul Illado said the media has learnt from past experiences and were committed to uphold professionalism.
“We are at a very critical time and media is a key player in the process. As the media we will not be responsible for any chaos and we will uphold responsibility of our reporting, he said.
He called for continuous engagements with stakeholders including the Church, which he said commanded a huge constituency.
Nation Media Group’s Head of External Affairs and Marketing Clifford Machoka who represented the Media Owners Association said the Church was welcome to leverage media platforms to engage Kenyans at this critical time.
“The media is helping share peace messages to reduce anxiety. We are giving opportunity to the Church and all voices to be heard through our various platforms”, he said.
The religious leaders emhasised the influential role the media played in guiding society at such critical democratic times.
They urged the media to remain firm and play its role effectively given the trust they had in the public.