All have duty to guarantee journalists’ safety, security

In 2015, the United Nations Declared November 2 the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, creating the greatest attention ever to the plight of those who constantly walk “under the shadow of death”. The UN Plan of Action on Safety of Journalists adopted a wider definition of ’safety’ to include healthcare concerns to enhance safety and security of journalists.

When Covid-19 struck in 2019, journalists had nothing in place to confront the pandemic even as they took their positions on the frontline to break down the components of the coronavirus to their audiences. The production of the “Safety Handbook with Guidelines for Journalists Covering Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenya”, therefore, embodies the media fraternity’s commitment to push for better and safer working spaces for journalists.

In March this year, the media fraternity, under the Kenya Media Sector Working Group, converged on Maanzoni, Machakos County, to propose ways to improve the profession. “The Maanzoni Declaration” proposed, among others, that the media be supported to survive the ravages of Covid-19 and the resultant economic downturn. Tax cuts or holidays, suspension of licence fees and other levies are necessary in ensuring the media survives and continues to serve the public interest without fear or favour.

To this effect, media stakeholders have been lobbying state actors for the necessary support.

The meeting also recognised the effects of the proliferation of Big-Tech multinationals such as Google and Facebook on the space of journalism. Our working group has been lobbying the government and hopes to develop legislation and policies to ensure accountability of Big-Tech firms and that they are compelled to compensate media houses and journalists in Kenya starting July next year.

A media fund was also deemed necessary to guarantee consistent and continued availability of independent and diverse media.

Technology disruption

Further, the Maanzoni Declaration spelt out the need for adequate training for journalists to prepare them for the ‘new normal’ engendered by technology disruption and Covid-19. Accordingly, the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) launched its Continuous Professional Development policy to ensure journalists are well equipped to promote public confidence in the media, given the unethical behaviour of a few of their own, and help to build capacity on emerging complex subjects.

Journalists realise that there is a new deadly predator beyond the gun-toting and baton-wielding state agents, policemen and women, militias, soldiers, insurgents, rioters, gangsters, bandits and politicians posing a new challenge to the security and safety of journalists all over the world.

This challenge has to be confronted promptly by rewriting our safety protocols to ensure both physical and mental wellness for journalists in the newsroom, in the field, in social places as well as in their homes.

This involves intense knowledge about the virus, its mutations, use of protective personal equipment (PPE) and the attendant Covid-19 health protocols that have upstaged the traditional ways of news gathering.

Thus, Covid-19 safety protocols in news organisations is a vital additional tool of the trade that we must master to ensure journalists’ safety and security.Journalists whose security and safety is assured are more likely to expand and defend press freedom; defend the human rights of their audiences; commit to advocacy for the rule of law by governments (accountable leadership); advance a nation’s democratic values; and serve the public interest.

Security of journalists

It cannot be gainsaid that the safety and security of journalists is intrinsic to their enjoyment of freedom and the public good that a free media provides. Therefore, KEG has joined hands with Unesco and the European Union to create a framework that enables journalists to ward off the threats they face from the coronavirus.

The framework calls on journalists to be extra-vigilant and comply with the protocols. This enhances their moral authority to engage their audiences to adhere to the laid-down health code of behaviour in the hope that Covid-19 will eventually be defeated.

With this intervention, KEG will be fulfilling some of its core objectives — such as defending media freedom; promoting standards of journalism; the independence of media; and advising members on issues of practical and ethical concern.

Even so, the media should remain cognisant of the importance of promoting the universal good of journalists without compromising their freedom of conscience and that of the audiences they serve.

We are also duty-bound to fulfil the objective of networking with other organisations to help to improve the quality of journalism through active support of education and training.

Mr Otieno is the chairperson of the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG). [email protected].