Should Eric Ng’eno use the word ‘distemper’?
A reader going through Daily Nation.
What you need to know:
- It is customary and courteous of Nation Media Group to inform readers of changes to their favourite columns
- Should Prof Makau Mutua will continue writing his column as Raila Odinga’s spokesman?
Saturday Nation columnist Eric Ng’eno has twice or thrice in the past used the word “distemper” when directing his cannon fire at President Uhuru Kenyatta or the government.
What is distemper? It is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic dogs and other animals such as ferrets, skunks and raccoons. It is incurable and often fatal (Source: vcahospitals .com).
I wonder if Mr Ng’eno should be allowed to continue using this word.
— Githuku Mungai
Eric Ng’eno: The archaic definition of distemper is political disorder. Besides, I have in mind the analogous depiction of the state by Hobbes (Leviathan), which invests it with a body (politic) and an artificial eternity of life, but also with pathologies and, ultimately, demise via civil war.
I happened upon a totally different definition of distemper in 1996, when I was helping my mother to give the house a coat of paint.
Aside from your absolutely correct definition, distemper lends itself to other implications.
***
‘Seeds of Gold’ magazine is badly laid out
I find it very irritating the way the Seeds of Gold magazine is laid out. People have complained even to the Public Editor but nothing is done.
Is there a valid reason why your media planners do it in such a horrible way that anybody who wants to keep a copy has to literally tear off pages, which messes up the whole newspaper?
It’s irritatingly messy for those of us who still prefer physical copies. What’s so hard about having eight pages of a magazine as one (pullout)?
— (Name withheld)
***
Inform readers when you changes writers
It is customary and courteous of Nation Media Group to inform readers of changes to their favourite columns. Only recently, I read of the exit of columnist Mariga Thoithi, he of the ManTalk column in the Saturday Nation.
Having failed to read Baraza JM on two consecutive Wednesdays, I concluded that I might have missed the memo on his new abode — if he has bolted. Do we have a new Baraza on board, yet?
— Harrison Kinyanjui
***
It is interesting to see if Prof Makau Mutua will continue writing his column as Raila Odinga’s spokesman. Would that be the ultimate betrayal of objectivity in the media?
— Prof X. N. Iraki
