Media should not allow offensive language, even from columnists

I was hardly two weeks in office as public editor when I realised that readers love to hate Njoki Chege, who writes the City Girl column in the Saturday Nation.

Complaints from readers of all ages and stations in life have been numerous.

Let me relate just one as an illustration. Michael Wambugu wrote to complain about a “very distasteful and downright abusive” article she wrote on Nairobi City askaris.

“I think Njoki just isn’t ripe for the column she’s been assigned,” he concluded. “There’s a sense of naivety, almost teen bravado, in the way she writes.”

Mr Wambugu accused Njoki of ageism — prejudice and unfair treatment of people because of their age.

He complained: “When you write about ‘an askari who was obviously too old for the job’, ‘a second askari, who looked like the first one’s father’, I ask, do you know, Njoki, that one day you’ll get old, if God grants you good health over the years and preserves your life?

"I am 47 myself. Ask me, I know. Those women you find with wrinkled skin, bent over and walking with difficulty once walked straight, had supple skin.”

He was using the familiar retort to young women who look down on old women because of their sagging breasts: Even the Roman Empire fell.

He was not finished with her. “When you write about ‘these underpaid kanjos,’ ‘their ugly grey uniforms, like scavengers,’ did you realise that you were writing about people who provide for their families?” he asked.

“Many years ago, if you check with your colleagues, they’ll tell of an MP (now deceased), who described journalists as tumundu tutu twa ngathiti (you small-brained journalists).

"Would you feel comfortable being described that way? Chinua Achebe described writers as ‘the conscience of the nation’. Your writing should not teach teenagers and young children to use vulgar language.”

BE MINDFUL
There have been some readers who say they enjoy reading Njoki.

But the complaints never stop, and for me a complaint from Dr Njoki Fernandes was the clincher.

She complained about Njoki’s article published last Saturday, which was a condemnation of marriage and a vilification of married women.

The columnist insulted and belittled married women.

“Marriage is where the brain cells go to die. For the woman especially, her mental faculties come to a screeching halt. Her brain stops to function, and her career ambitions are thrust on the back burner.

"She becomes like a goat tethered to a tree stump … All that fat from eating buckets of KFC chicken has pushed their brains to the darkest corners of their skulls, and you might as well replace her brain with a piece of cabbage, because that is what marriage does to a woman.”

Dr Fernandes said she spoke for many highly educated married women who are doing great things in this country and in the world, as well as trying to look after their families.

“These women work hard to be the best in their professions, as well as remain loving wives to their husbands and mothers to their children … I think as a national newspaper, you have the moral authority to nip some of these opinions in the bud, because they affect the perspectives of our young people, and will affect their marriages in future.”

She said Njoki’s writings are detrimental to families.

“In as much as she is free to write whatever, she needs to realise that with great freedom comes great responsibility,” noted Dr Fernandes.

DO SOMETHING
The NMG editorial policy says the media should not publish anything that is obscene, vulgar, or offensive to public good taste.

The policy requires good taste and tone in writing and a story of questionable taste should have significant news value to justify its usage.

And whether something is in good taste or not is to be determined by the prevailing social norms.

The prevailing social norms, as affirmed by the numerous complaints, point to some of Njoki’s articles as being offensive, vulgar, and in bad taste.

Editors should keep a tight rein on her.

Send you complaints to the [email protected]. Call or SMS 0721 989 264