No endorsements: Media houses should remain neutral in politics

President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States in Washington on January 20, 2009. The Bible Obama uses is the same one that President Abraham Lincoln used at his Inauguration in 1861. On October 11, 1860, one of America’s most prestigious newspapers, The New York Times, threw its hat behind a “Mr Lincoln of Illinois, familiarly known as ‘Old Abe’, age 51, by profession a rail-splitter”. 


Photo credit: File | AFP

 In a tweet on August 20, Nation Media Group Editorial Director Mutuma Mathiu posed: “@makaumutua Why do you think it is important for us to endorse presidential candidates? Isn’t it better to provide the info and leave the decision to the people?”

A week later, Prof Makau Mutua, a distinguished man of letters who lectures at Buffalo Law School, US, argued in his Sunday Nation column that the Kenyan press should endorse candidates running for political office, including those gunning for the presidency.

The columnist considered the press as a corporate citizen of the state in which it is domiciled. As such, the media “must be a teacher of high morality, empathy and of empathetic living” by upholding the basic rules of human decency, equity and civilisation.

I, however, struggled to establish the connection between endorsing politicians and fulfilling the ideals listed. He also opined that the media is best placed to “summon our better angels and suppress our common demons.”

How a media organisation can accurately capture the collective aspirations of millions of Kenyans and influence their voting decisions in a highly charged and polarising campaign without offending their political sensibilities is the million-dollar question.

Wisdom and education

Thirdly, Prof Mutua duly recognised the vital role the media plays in providing as much information as possible in order to aid voters to make informed choices.

In his own words, the media must report “truthfully” and is the “sole conduit for objective wisdom and education”. Isn’t it paradoxical then that the same media, which ought to conduct itself objectively, should, pari passu, exhibit bias by endorsing politicians?

The acclaimed legal scholar drew examples from the US, where editorial boards interview leading candidates before settling on the best aspirant. What will be the acceptability of such endorsements in a multi-ethnic society such as ours? Will the ordinary voter recognise the blurred line that distinguishes news from the editorial content?

Finally, the good prof faulted Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, a critic of his proposition, of forever remaining stuck in the swamp of ethnicity. Prof believes that endorsements will jolt candidates to steer clear of primordial ethnic mobilisation and embrace ideology in pursuit of political office.

Having lived in the US for most of his adult life, Prof Mutua seems detached from the reality on the ground; his high-sounding argument is evidently far removed from the local political dynamics.

The custom of newspaper editorial pages endorsing presidential candidates has been practiced in the US for well over a century.

On October 11, 1860, one of America’s most prestigious newspapers, The New York Times, threw its hat behind a “Mr Lincoln, of Illinois, familiarly known as ‘Old Abe,’ age 51, height 6’7, by profession a rail-splitter”.

Abraham Lincoln went on to win the elections, leading the traumatised nation through the American Civil War, the country’s greatest moral, constitutional, cultural and political crisis. But as to whether the Times’ ringing endorsement aided Lincoln’s quest to gain the White House is open to question.

While endorsements were once ubiquitous and a much-sought boon to a campaign in western democracies, they have faded and waned in recent decades owing, largely, to the reluctance of editors to engage in partisan politics and to the explosion of social media platforms through which voters get to know candidates.

There are a number of sound reasons as to why editors must refrain from getting entangled in the murky world of politics through editorial endorsements.

Balanced coverage

Such public support for politicians will seriously erode a media organisation’s objectivity and compromise the ability to accord all candidates fair and balanced coverage. It will alienate a huge chunk of voters who happen to be an important source of revenue for the media through their readership and viewership; consequently, the commercial interests of media will be mortally wounded.

In the aftermath of the 2017 hotly contested presidential election, the Nasa coalition advised its supporters to avoid products of certain companies they perceived as biased.

Secondly, one of the media’s most important functions is to provide a platform for candidates to market their manifestos and leave it to the voters to decide.

Editors would come across as condescending in attempting to influence voting patterns of independent-minded voters through endorsement; this has the potential to repel a huge customer base.  Moreover, it is difficult to foster trust when the public knows which political party an organisation favours.

If individual journalists must remain neutral in the public eye, the same standard should apply to media organisations.

Mr Maosa is a banker. @ndegemaosa; [email protected]