Nation readers and viewers don’t accept mediocrity

Larry Madowo, in his Wednesday “Front Row” potpourri of comments on various topics, had as his lead item the “mindset Kenyans have” in accepting low standards and mediocrity. He gave examples ranging from State broadcaster KBC airing “a 90-minute friendly match without a timer” to installation of “unreliable” CCTV cameras in Nairobi.

However, the headline, “Why do Kenyans accept such low standards in everything?” would be rejected outright by Nation readers who are busy every day writing or calling to complain about mediocrity in journalism, lapses, or mistakes in news reporting. They text or call any hour of the day to complain about such things as NTV news 9 o’clock news starting late or early. Typical comment: “Starting 9pm news at 9.02pm or 8.58pm is seemingly a minor issue but for me it matters. I want certainty. Besides, I could be doing other things or watching other stations.”

They call to complain about NTV flashing spelling errors such as spelling “sheria” as “sheia” and limbs as “limps”. They call about the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the screen showing information inconsistent with what is presented in the news, and so on.

They call or text to complain about a DailyNation front page headline story brief that has no page number to guide them where to turn to read the story. They complain about typographical and fact-based errors, mistakes in names, titles, ages, addresses, places, times, and dates. They complain about errors of meaning, giving the wrong impression, incorrect information, incomplete or unbalanced stories, or wrong pictures assigned the right names, and so on.

TO COMPLAIN

They text or call any hour of the day to complain about errors in crossword puzzles, crediting letters to the editor to the wrong writer, and so on. They complain about the use of unacceptable images. They text or call to complain about inability to access the e-paper despite having paid their subscription.

For NMG readers and viewers there is no such thing as a small error, and they are right. The value of journalism depends on its accuracy and reliability. It is, therefore, expected that readers and viewers would demand an explanation where there are lapses and mistakes in the presentation of news.

They even demand an explanation when there are technical failures such as a voiceless NTV screen or delayed delivery of newspapers. They also complain aloud when NMG gives the wrong email addresses or telephone numbers.

They simply do not accept mediocrity in the journalism business. It is not that they do not expect mistakes to be made. They expect mistakes to be acknowledged and corrected and they are miffed if this is not done. NMG readers who write or call to complain, I have come to learn, do not fall into that category of Kenyans whom Larry Madowo said have a mindset for mediocrity. They do not let editors get away with errors without letting them know they know they have made a mistake.

ONE READER

Here is the mindset of at least one reader who called on Thursday. The Daily Nation had under its front-page headline “Scandals: See no evil, hear no evil”, with an unusual graphic on the front page of a newspaper — the drawing of a monkey covering his eyes. A reader called to say there should have been another monkey covering his ears. I asked him why. “For the hearing part in the headline,” he replied without hesitation.

But he quickly added that it was a good graphic, full of symbolic meaning, which could be ascribed to different situations. “Its meaning could also be ascribed to editors who refuse to see or hear about editorial mistakes,” he said casually.

The moral of the story is that NMG readers and viewers care about editorial errors, big and small, and they want them corrected when they point them out — to acknowledge their worth as readers.Postscript: Another reader called to say there should have been a third monkey covering his mouth — for a more balanced front-page story!

Send your complaints to [email protected]; call or text 0721989264.