WHY MASCULINITY HAS GAINED PROMINENCE IN THE KENYAN MEDIA

She starred straight across the court room. She seemed remorseful. It was not  clear whether she truly sorry for her actions or it was the guilt and weight of the events of the last 24 hours that had given her national prominence. When she had arrived the court hours earlier crowds had bayed for her blood. Her crime of passion being that she had chopped off her husband’s manhood for coming home late drank and getting a condom in his pocket.  It was hard to read what was going on in her mind even as the court later released her on the Ksh 20,000 bail.

Weeks later another man from the same region suffered the same fate.  Weeks earlier coincidentally several T.V interviews, radio talks show and articles had started featuring masculinity.  Indeed masculinity has gain prominence in the Kenyan media.

 What are the reasons for increased coverage of masculinity in Kenya or the lack of it?

The answer lies in News values i.e

Relevance – The first reason why many people are interested in the story whether it be on fatherhood, absentee dads, domestic violence against men, neglect of the boy child; is that they find it relevant in one way or the other.

Second is the dimension of Conflict – Conflict makes good stories. The fact that there seems to be  conflict or perceived conflict between the two genders.

Digital media: Shaping & changing media education and consumption patterns

I participated in an interesting discussion on digital media hosted by Media Policy Research Center (MPRC) held over the weekend.

Some of the trends noted were emerging opportunities especially for creative souls, freedom to cover, get covered, and of speech never experienced in the history of mainstream media in Kenya.More and more people are enjoying the MIB; yes money in the bank but probably not enough.

Impact on journalism education and practice

The discussion dwelt on how journalism education and practice was being shaped by the dynamic digital media environment in particular the convergence of the media. – which means the wedding together of at least two previously competitive media delivery formats(platforms) for example, T.V, radio, or newspaper on the internet platform, and delivered through a computer, mobile phone, watch etc.

One of the effects of convergence is that a journalist who is multi-skilled and can write report, handle the camera, handle sound, photography and edit has an added advantage.it is also preferable if they have a command of both English and Kiswahili.

It was noted that although journalism schools have churned more journalists than could fit in the newsrooms, any journalist could start to ply their trade immediately on the digital platform. “The ground has shifted and everybody is taking their space.” A participant shared that their newspaper was widely read in The Netherlands and by individuals who went direct to the website and not through social media.Media educators reported shrinking print media classes as most students were wowed by the glitz and celebrity status of broadcasters wanting to be news anchors rather than writers.If you can deliver interesting pieces, and other content to that busy person on the go – there lots of opportunities for you online one participant said.

Is there Money in the Bank (MIB)?

Advertising follows content is the mantra. Are local platforms or Kenyan owned online platform making money? Well, uh….In terms of revenue the more eyebrow-raising or eyeball-popping the content the more the followers and hits some of which resulted in revenue streams for platforms owners. Some of the rate cards mentioned run a banner advertisement for Ksh300,000. Opportunities arenot just the money earned by writing, films, pictures but also from other websites, crowd funding etc. Reports say that in mid-2014 the bulk of online earning went to search engine giant Google, which continues to be the very biggest player online, collecting $31.4 million in sales which was one third of the total revenue. Amazon came in at number two.

Is there need to be concern about the Brow raising and Eye popping platforms?

On the premise that media shapes public opinion, attitude and could influence culture and behavior  concern was expressed over some of the popular platforms and the content they present. For example a mention was made of the emergence of socialites and some of the principles they espouse. Is there reason for concern and reason to ring the alarm bells? Kenya has an estimated 45million population and online access is dominated by the more educated, urban population. Ventures Africa in its“The State of Social Media in Kenya” mid last year estimates that four million Kenyans, roughly 10 percent of the population,daily engage in social media. Facebook dominates Kenya’s social media with 3.8 million users. Far behind them is LinkedIn with 1.5million users, Twitter with 650,000 users and Google+ with 350,000.In 2013, Kenya had the 6th largest number of Facebook accounts after Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Are the 4million Kenyans impressionable or are they watching what they have always watched?

The concern may lie in ease of access. This has been enhanced by availability and affordability of smartphones, proliferation of cyber cafes in various residential neighbourhoods. The relative anonymity of the blogosphere and other forms of social media has enabled this explosion.

Also, the fact that there are millions of young people with more than just a brushing of basic education has fuelled the wheels of runaway consumerism of any electronic fad.

Is there need for Ethics, public interest and regulation?

There were questions on ethical considerations, public interest and whether the regulators will gain teeth and muscle to govern the online sphere. One participants noted that cautioned that “care must be taken not to damn a whole generation!.”