The Media Council of Kenya has today officially launched the Industrial Placement Programme for journalism students in Kenya.
Media Council CEO Mr David Omwoyo says many young people in Kenya are unable to access internships to enable them gain industry experience. “We have a major internship crisis and this calls for concerted efforts by all stakeholders”.
He says industrial placement of journalism graduates will expose them to experience and enable them to perform better in the real media work while some can even start their own media enterprises.
The CEO has welcomed media houses to take up journalism students, adding that the Council will facilitate their placements. “It is not fair for a student to pay school fees and then being asked to pay for an internship to gain industry experience”.
Media Council of Kenya Council member Ms Roselyne Obala affirmed the Council’s commitment to promote and enhance ethical and professional standards amongst journalists and media enterprises in Kenya through development of training standards to build their capacity.
While giving a background of the MCK Industrial Placement Programme, MCK Director for Media Training and Development Mr Victor Bwire called for measures to address the rife internship crisis in Kenya.
“We must unclog this capacity development challenge where students complete their course work but are unable to graduate due to lack of internship. We will create linkages between industry and academy to allow industries and academy to adapt competency-based training”, said Mr Bwire.
The Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru said media performance remains under constant scrutiny over the professional conduct of its personnel and the burden of expectation placed on the industry because of its central role in society.
CS Mucheru urged journalists to remain impartial in their operations. “The media is a key pillar that should hold others accountable, not because you have an agenda you are trying to achieve, but because you have a higher calling to be the voice of the people”, said the CS.
“The media have the power and an immense responsibility to the populace to not only keep them informed and entertained but to also shape political discourse and guide them in making the right socio-economic and political decisions”, said CS Mucheru.
The CS acknowledged the challenges young people face in accessing jobs after graduating from college due to lack of skills to undertake competent media work. “There is need for skilling our journalism graduates with requisite industry skills”.
CS Mucheru commended the Media Council for launching the industrial placement programme, saying it “supplements government initiatives to ensure that our youth access job opportunities through training and skills development opportunities to prepare them for the industry”.
He affirmed the Ministry’s support of the programme and appealed to other media stakeholders and development partners to support it, saying it will ultimately contribute to availability of opportunities for millions of journalism graduates.
The programme will benefit 400 trainees in cohorts of 100 per quarter throughout the country. The Council will place the first call for applications on September 24th, with the first batch expected to join between October 24th and November 1st.