MEDIA CULPA? NAIROBI COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS AND THE POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE

Abstract: Community radio stations are a new phenomenon in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. While the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act 2008 recognizes them as a media category, confusion remains around questions of ownership, funding and roles. Following the volatile post-election situation of December 2007, the government imposed a month-long live media ban. Media has been blamed by politicians for inflaming passion and they have received criticism from media professionals for preaching peace. The study explores how the post-election violence has affected community media practitioner’s perceptions of their roles and responsibilities and highlights the debate on the universality of media ethics. The title of this thesis, Media Culpa, is making reference to while questioning the heavy criticism that ‘the media’ received during the post-election violence. The well-known Latin phrase mea culpa, translates into English as ‘ my fault’, ‘my own fault’. The analysis shows to a large extent that community radio practitioners believe in the pre-eminence of the ‘Do no harm’ ethical standard over the ‘Seek truth and report it as fully as possible’ responsibility. Kenyan media specialists demand a recontextualization of media morals. The study is built on questionnaire, nineteen semi-structured interviews and observations conducted in Nairobi, between September and January 08-09. The thesis conveys and is related to ideas within the communitarianism theory and the realist approach applied to news journalism.