‘My pastor asked me to stay, pray’ headline was damaging to clergy

On Tuesday, Daily Nation readers woke up to a front-page headline that read: “My pastor asked me to stay, pray for marriage”. Alongside was an almost page-length picture of “Mutilated Jackline Mwende”, showing the stumps of her arms, whose hands had been chopped off by “a loving and God-fearing” husband and panga wounds on her youthful-looking face.

The headline and graphics were apparently intended to have an emotive impact on readers, and they did. It was a horrifying story of domestic violence. The story included her father’s telephone numbers and in no time contributions and assistance started pouring in.

Packaging stories in such a way that they touch and move readers is a legitimate form of advocacy journalism. But not everybody was happy with the choice of headline. At least one reader questioned its legitimacy. The headline was, however, technically accurate. 

The words came from the victim’s mouth and referred to “my pastor”, not all pastors. But what is also true is that Jackline Mwende said many other things that the editor could have chosen to highlight instead, although you or me cannot argue what the editor highlighted was wrong merely because we would have chosen a different headline. However, the insinuation of the headline is that Jackline Mwende’s pastor was to blame for the tragedy. There was also the insinuation that pastors are to blame because they all, like her pastor, pray for marriage. The question then is whether the editor, by choosing that headline, was being fair to pastors.

The headline is not neutral. Its actual meaning is derived from the accompanying disturbing image of Jackline Mwende. If you substitute a happy picture of Jackline Mwende and husband Stephen Ngila Nthenge in their wedding ceremony, or in a love embrace, the insinuation would be the opposite: the pastor blessed or saved the marriage (at least for a time).

ASSOCIATION OR CONTEXT

So what matters, in this case, is the association or context of the headline. The headline is associated with indiscriminate counselling by the clergy. Collins Kiptoo, who first raised the issue explains: “My perception is that the editors were making deductive reasoning that pastors lack the competence to offer marital advice as confirmed by the incident. They seem to suggest that the lady would not be in the current state had she not taken heed to the pastor’s advice,” he said. “Even if the report originated from the lady, it is the editors who chose the sentence from the long narration and gave it prominence based on their pre-existing opinion. Placing it as the headline is a clear demonstration of prejudice by the Daily Nation against pastors. Truthfully, was the advice the leading cause of the incident, or was it even among the major causes if they were several? Daily Nation should be more objective in their reporting.”

Mr Kiptoo is not a pastor but believes in the divine authority of pastors to provide spiritual and social guidance to their flock. “I also understand that most mainstream Christian denominations require their pastors to undergo training in Theology, and that Counselling and Psychology form part of the course outline,” he says. “I, therefore, believe that pastors have the competence to offer counselling and sound marital advice. I acknowledge, though, that there are exceptions but they should not be used for generalisation.”

The Daily Nation’s managing editor Mutuma Mathiu explained the choice of the headline thus: “We have nothing against pastors. We wanted to highlight a very serious issue: abused women get the same advice wherever they turn, ‘Go back to your (abusive) husband’. Family counsellors, not just pastors, set out to keep the family together. It is a sad, friendless situation for these poor women who are given encouragement to stay when what they need is to run”.

At the same time, I must add, it’s difficult to control how readers decode headlines. The more reason why editors should not deploy headlines that have the potential of being misunderstood.

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