Why editorials have become an endangered species in TV news
A photo of a screen showing Zainab Ismail presenting an episode of the ‘The Memo’ editorial on the NTV Tonight evening show.
This is an unplanned sequel to my article, “Viewer’s guide to NTV ‘The Memo’ and why tongue-lashing is a no-no”, published last Friday.
The readers who reacted to the article are in two camps. There are those who say they enjoy NTV’s boldness in speaking out and those who accuse the broadcaster of invading their living rooms with pompous and unwanted opinions.
Mitchelle Nkirote, typical of the first category, says: “I really love ‘The Memo’ and, truth be told, they tell the truth. Maybe not everybody will see it but that’s why the media is there. I liken it to the [Citizen TV] ‘News Gang’. Just because ‘The Memo’ comes at the start of the news is why people see it as offensive. Maybe...I don’t know...but segments like this make me watch the news.”
Stephen Chege, who represents the other camp, says: “I stopped watching NTV when they started giving us a lecture before watching the news. Fortunately, there other Kenyan stations that have news at 9 pm.
Mr Mwaura has compared this with Citizen TV’s ‘News Gang’ but there is a huge difference [between them] since the ‘News Gang’ comes after the news and so one has the choice of watching the news and then switching to a different station thereafter.”
Sufficiently separated
One of the points I made in my article was that the “The Memo” is not sufficiently separated from the news. The commentary flows into the news as if it were part of the bulletin. That makes it difficult for viewers to distinguish between the two. It breaches a cardinal rule in journalism, that opinion should be separate from the news.
I should have added that, with today’s TV ecosystem, the line between the news and opinion has, in any case, become blurred. And although no study that I know of has been done to prove this, it’s apparent many Kenyan viewers already find it difficult to differentiate between news and opinion. “The Memo” only makes it more difficult.
There’s no question editorials, in general, help audiences to understand, analyse and make up their mind about issues. They also embolden audiences to stand up against injustices and poor governance. At the very least, editorials provoke debate on matters of public interest.
But the question is whether NTV, as part of the NMG, needs to editorialise in view of the direct impact and perception of TV news.
NMG publishes more than 24 opinions every week in Kenya alone. These appear as editorials in the Daily Nation (usually double opinions), Business Daily, Taifa Leo and also The EastAfrican (weekly). Clearly, NMG already has a battery of editorialising capability.
“The Memo” is, therefore—if you like—superfluous. NMG can afford to drop the segment and put to better use the resources used to produce it—such as the provision of more and better NTV news.
NTV can also avoid the potential difficulty of having to accommodate people who are unfavourably mentioned in “The Memo” and demand the right of reply. The Communication Authority of Kenya’s (CA) Programming Code for Broadcasting Services in Kenya requires that, when personal attacks against any person are aired, that person shall be given a fair opportunity to reply immediately in the same programme, if possible, or at the earliest opportunity. This can be messy in news programming.
To avoid such problems, most TV stations across the world do not editorialise. They prefer to be impartial—to provide accurate and impartial news without offering their own opinion. That is even though they sometimes publish opinion by outside experts who interpret and analyse the news.
The BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, PBS, ABC, NBC and France 24, to mention just a few, are among the big boys of the industry who do not editorialise.
The BBC, in particular, prides itself in presenting news without giving its own opinion. It’s impartial and fair and recognised around the world as such. The British broadcaster’s commitment to impartiality wins the trust of its audiences.
“Our commitment to impartiality is at the heart of that relationship of trust,” says the BBC. “In all our output, we will treat every subject with an impartiality that reflects the full range of views. We will consider all the relevant facts fairly and with an open mind.”
The TV editorial is, no doubt, an endangered species.
- 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.
