Glasses, grit and guts: Why I chose ethics over easy discounts
A woman.
What you need to know:
- Last week’s reunion was particularly significant because it marked our third time meeting in a professional setting since the leadership programme.
- We reconnected during the conference, having first met in 2022 through a leadership accelerator programme conducted by Women in News.
Last week, I attended the 8th Annual Digital Media Africa conference, hosted by the World Association of News Publishers at the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications in Nairobi.
The conference stood out to me because it focused on the challenges and opportunities facing the media industry, including AI in journalism, regulatory frameworks, and ethical issues. Media leaders from academia and the industry across the continent and beyond, gathered to discuss these crucial matters.
But before I bore you with conference details, let me introduce my friends Betty and Chebet.
We reconnected during the conference, having first met in 2022 through a leadership accelerator programme conducted by Women in News. The nine-month immersive course was designed to prepare the next generation of female media leaders through coaching, group projects, live sessions, and practical online courses. Another key goal of the programme was to foster lifelong professional and personal networks for women in the industry, both horizontally and vertically.
Last week’s reunion was particularly significant for Chebet, Betty, and me because it marked our third time meeting in a professional setting since the leadership programme.
As usual, we took cute selfies, which promptly found their way to our Instagram pages, tagged #Instaofficial (publicly announcing our friendship). It is still a mystery to me how the three of us gravitated towards one another. I suspect it had something to do with a shared value system, as you'll see as you read along.
During breaks and our trips home over the two days, we skimmed various topics—how much we've grown professionally since our last meeting, the interesting things we’re learning about our leadership styles, and what we’re doing to improve ourselves. We also touched on some fascinating discoveries we’ve made about our profession and its underlying currents.
One conversation that stood out was on ethics. I shared a recent experience I had when I took my mother to a leading eye hospital in town. She needed new frames and lens prescriptions, which we got. When I asked the optician if there was any discount available, he made an interesting offer. He said that if I paid through the official hospital channel, there would be no discount. However, if I paid him directly, the price would be reduced by about 60 per cent. Tempting, right? But also unsettling.
“What do you mean if I pay you directly?” I asked, wanting to clarify.
“I’ll give you a number to send the money to, and we’ll communicate about how you’ll get the glasses,” he replied.
To make the deal even more appealing, he said that if I paid him directly, I would get the glasses on Monday (we were at the hospital on a Saturday), instead of Wednesday, which was the official timeline.
“But you won’t come here for the glasses. We’ll communicate, and I’ll let you know where to pick them up," he said, confirming my suspicion that this was indeed some shady business.
I declined the offer and opted to get the glasses through the regular channel. As expected, the optician didn’t appreciate my decision—he gave me attitude and took longer to process my request. But that’s a story for another day.
Betty and Chebet applauded my choice.
“Imagine if you’d accepted the dodgy deal, and then the glasses turned out to be faulty! You’d have ended up spending even more,” Chebet pointed out.
“I get such offers all the time at work—people trying to get me to pass off public relations stories as regular editorial content instead of going through the official advertising channels. Even if they offer me Sh100,000 or more, is it really worth my peace of mind?" Betty added.
While acknowledging how tempting these offers can be, we all agreed that they’re not worth risking our reputations. Birds of a feather truly flock together.
“The secret is to never give in, not even once! The moment you do, you become a slave because they’ll always have something to blackmail you with. You could end up getting in too deep—so don’t even take the first step. The rule is simple; don’t give to the devil, and don’t take from the devil,” Chebet said, and Betty and I wholeheartedly agreed.
Our parting promise to each other, apart from meeting more regularly for random coffees and catch-ups, was to keep our slates clean as we rise in leadership. We vowed to avoid any unnecessary mud that could tarnish the hard work we are putting in.
The writer is the Research & Impact Editor, NMG ([email protected]).
