The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has underscored the critical place of conflict-sensitive reporting during elections.
MCK Manager for Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Mr Jerry Abuga emphasised the importance of training in preparing journalists who will be covering the elections for the first time.
The Council, in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) held a two-day election reporting training for journalists based in Marsabit County to sharpen their skills and knowledge in covering the General Election.
“MCK’s mandate is anchored on six functions and capacity building for journalists is one of them. Based on our needs assessment, we established that most of you will be covering elections for the first time and together with our partners, we have seen the need to prepare you for the task ahead”, said Mr Abuga.
He sensitised journalists on their rights and responsibilities, urging them to adhere to the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya which is key in maintaining professionalism.
“Chapter Four of the Constitution on the Bill of Rights Articles 33, 34 and 35 clearly stipulates that you have rights to freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information and therefore you should not fear to execute your journalistic duties because you are protected by the law. Journalists have a duty to ensure high levels of professionalism”, said Mr Abuga.
MCK Trainer Dr James Oranga urged journalists to be on the lookout for cases of hate speech during campaigns which may be a catalyst for chaos during or after elections. He said journalists should expose hate speech perpetrators by providing evidence for their prosecution, encourage conflict- sensitive reporting and educate the masses on consequences of hate speech.
“Hate speech manifests in different ways, it can be written, spoken or sang. As journalist you must call out leaders promoting hate speech because you have a big responsibility to condemn and not publicise it”, he said.
Dr Oranga also took the journalists through essential skills should emergencies arise and their response options. He highlighted the importance of having a validated MCK press card for identification by the election’s bodies and security agencies.
“Covering elections requires you to prepare for any eventuality and therefore we call on media houses to conduct pre-election counselling for their reporters and to prepare for post-assignment counselling to ensure that they don’t suffer mental breakdown during or after the polls”, said Dr Oranga.
MCK Trainer Mr David Okwemba urged journalists to be cautious when reporting on conflict and encouraged them to report accurately and constructively while minding their language.
The trainings also touched on gender and special interest groups reporting, opinion polls, live broadcast, phone ins and talk show interviewing skills.