Vibrant Kenyan press gets thumbs up in report

The number of African journalists who flee their home countries due to government suppression is on the increase, according to a report released this week.

However, the report commends Kenya for having a vibrant media industry compared to that of European countries and other advanced democracies.

The worldwide survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) shows that Kenya was the only country where freedom of the press was relatively observed.

Hostile

Somalia, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Burundi and Rwanda were described as hostile to journalists.

“Journalists from these regions feel safer writing stories of their home countries away from home,” said CPJ coordinator Tom Rhodes.

The situation is worse in Somalia, where top journalists from the war-torn country file their stories from either Nairobi, London or Washington.