Storm in a glass of water or how the media helped to overplay a bad idea

Sensational, unprofessional and poorly sourced.

That is Prof Sam Chege’s assessment of the media coverage of the idea by Fafi MP Salah Yakub to uncap the presidential term limit.

He was specifically looking at the Daily Nation coverage. His assessment, however, applies to all the media—which is, of course, of cold comfort to the Nation as it sets standards for the nation.

The associate professor, who teaches journalism at Kansas State University, in the US, argues that, even though the MP claimed he was talking with other legislators, there was no attempt by the media at verifying the claim. “Such sensational journalism undermines the integrity of the paper,” he says.

I concur with him. The media coverage of the Yakub idea was a storm in a glass of water or, if you prefer the British idiom, a storm in a teacup. The coverage was overblown and overdone. The story was driven by media frenzy and hysteria with the sole purpose of stirring controversy on what was, essentially, a non-story.

Reading the banner headlines on Wednesday, one would have thought that Kenya was in the grip of a constitutional crisis. That day’s Daily Nation headline read: “Storm over plot to end term limits”.

The Standard headline was similar: “Storm over presidential term limit”. The Star stood alone with a less hysterical headline, saying, “Term limits: UDA disowns Fafi MP’s plan”.

The Taifa Leo headline, “Ataingia klabu ya madikteta? (Is he going to join the club of dictators?)” juxtaposed with a huge portrait of President William Ruto and mugshots of seven other African heads of state, including Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame of Rwanda, was a classic example of unashamed provocation.

Roadside declaration

Yakub talked of the idea of removing the presidential term limit while distributing food in Garissa County at the weekend. You can call it a “roadside declaration” by a first-time MP who was voted in with 5,702 votes.

In view of the rigid constitutional requirements for changing the presidential term limit, his puny idea has a snowball’s chance in hell. The media was, apparently, interested in the controversy for its own sake—maybe just to sell papers.

In the process, good journalism suffered. The newspapers relegated to inside pages other stories that mattered more to the citizens because of their impact on their lives in order to give prominence to the idle talk.

More important stories that were overshadowed to give prominence to the Yakub talk included the court orders directing striking Kenya Airways pilots back to work; the revelation of the questionable details of the SGR contract; parliament’s vetting of the Inspector-General of Police nominee Japheth Koome; Senate probe of ghost worker claims in county governments; and Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu’s controversial pronouncement on the funding of public universities. 

All these stories were taken to the back seat to create frontpage treatment for Yakub’s non-starter.

The hype roped in all those politicians seeking their 15 minutes of fame. NTV devoted its show “With All Due Respect” on Tuesday night to the controversy with invited guests, including Yakub himself, the MP for Rangwe, Dr Lilian Gogo, and Kenya Kwanza’s National Assembly Deputy Majority Leader and Kilifi MP Owen Baya.

On Thursday, Citizen TV was still carrying the “President Term Limits Debate” on its Day Break show featuring Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Kenya Kwanza’s National Assembly Majority Whip Silvanus Osoro and Mukurwe-ini MP John Gachukia.

The Yakub hot air talk was deliberately dragged out by the media to milk the controversy for as long as possible. The Nation first reported the story on Tuesday. It was briefly mentioned on page one and carried in full on page 5. The headline, “Plan to remove presidential term limit”, was factual and sober. The only problem was that the story sought the views of Azimio politicians but not those of Kenya Kwanza. 

Kenya Kwanza then issued a statement dismissing Yakub as a lone wolf. The then-controversy became a free-for-all with the media feverishly contacting politicians to comment.

If ever there was a media-driven story of much ado about nothing, this was it. Valuable airtime and space wasted. Journalism standards thrown out of the window. 

What a week for Kenyan journalism!

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