Readers have their say

Difficult to believe

You stated that ‘there is a distinction between the views of NMG and those of its columnists. The two should never be confused’ (“Dog insults and why columnists are entitled to air their opinions freely”, Daily Nation, December 25, 2020). The retinue of DN’s regular columnists includes Tom Mshindi, Kwendo Opanga, Gitau Warigi, Kamau Ngotho, grand ol’ Jerry Loughran, John Kamau, Macharia Gaitho, Magesha Ngwiri, Joe Mbuthia, and of course yourself, besides (until recently) Jaduong’ Philip Ochieng’ etc,” he writes.

“These eminent journalists have served in Nation for years and owe their existence to DN. Several other columnists i.e., distinguished scholars Austin Bukenya and Makau Mutua either taught or are related to current DN editors. You’ve endeavoured — I believe in professional faith — to invoke The New York Times objective of affording an opportunity to provide “new insights and new ideas by writers and thinkers who have no institutional connection with that paper”.

“It’ll take a lot of convincing for me to believe that ‘NMG follows the same conventional wisdom’ as the Times in allowing new insights and new ideas from the same columnists who have adorned DN for 50 years,” he concludes.

— Prof Jeremire Araka

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Well-researched columns

As year 2020 drew to a close, many of us who had written something that had fallen short in the newspapers were reminded how hard writing is.

I’m here referring to well-researched articles written by the columnists in our newspapers. When they write, they put brains to it for us to read a good thing.

I think I should thank those who read the ‘Letters to the Editor’ page and who know the contributors are ordinary men and women who feel they also have something to say.

• Githuku Mungai, Nairobi

The Public Editor is an independent news ombudsman who handles readers’ complaints on editorial matters including accuracy and journalistic standards. Email: [email protected]. Call or text 0721989264.