When the media can’t tell who is telling the truth in disputed poll

Kawangare slum residents read newspapers in Nairobi on August 10, 2017. A jittery Kenya awaits final poll results, with President Uhuru Kenyatta holding a strong lead after a vote marred by opposition claims of rigging. PHOTO | MARCO LONGARI | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The reader is made aware of the conflict; dispute makes news even when there is no real attempt to assess the truth.
  • In political reporting, it’s also important to recognise that all politicians do everything in their power to advance their political careers.

Readers, rightly or wrongly, expect the media to provide judgment on what is true in political controversies.

However, in political reporting, especially on disputed elections such as the one that unexpectedly broke out on Tuesday night when Nasa called a press conference to reject the preliminary election results as fraudulent, it’s often not possible to fact-check on the fly.

In such cases, reporters are justified in resorting to “he said, she said” without provision of evidence.

In “he said, she said” journalism reporters simply report a dispute without telling the reader where the truth lies --- very much like what happens when we gossip, shout, or in a dispute between a man and a woman on a matter where there are no other witnesses.  

In “he said, she said” journalism the reader would not know what really happened.

The reader is made aware of the conflict; dispute makes news even when there is no real attempt to assess the truth.

POLITICAL REPORTING

In “he said, she said” journalism, the reader may, however, know someone is lying about something but may not be able to tell who.

In political reporting, it’s also important to recognise that all politicians do everything in their power to advance their political careers.

They undermine their opponents. They tell lies and spin facts to gain political mileage. In such cases, when everybody knows what’s going on, it may not be necessary to go beyond “he said, she said”.

In such cases, the media can report the claims and responses from both sides as equally valid.

However, the dispute that broke out on Tuesday goes beyond normal political posturing and bickering.

The Tuesday night bombshell is a threat to the democratic will of the people of Kenya and, given our political history, to the peace and security of the nation.

In this case, the media, may need to go beyond the “he said, she said” journalism and weigh in on the side of the truth.

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‘From millionaire playboy to Kenyan president’

Dr Patrick Mbataru of the Department of Public Policy and Administration, Kenyatta University, wrote to question the use of the term “millionaire playboy” in a headline on a story on the rise of Uhuru Kenyatta to the presidency of Kenya.

The story was published in the online Nation on Saturday (and in scores of other newspapers around the world).

The story was by the French newsagency AFP but by publishing it NMG owns the story.

 Normally, newspapers write their own headlines even on stories they get from external sources. Strangely, all the papers that I have seen used the same headline: “Uhuru Kenyatta: From millionaire playboy to Kenyan president”.

Dr Mbataru said the word “playboy” has derogative connotation. “Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines playboy as a wealthy man who lives a life of expensive pleasure.

WEALTHY

Oxford Living Dictionary defines playboy as a wealthy man who spends his time enjoying himself, especially one who behaves irresponsibly or has many casual sexual relationships.

Collins English Dictionary gives synonyms of playboy as womaniser, philanderer, rake, socialite,” he said, Dr Mbataru is right.

The use of the word “playboy” is sensationalist and inappropriate. It’s not even supported in the story.

The story offers only 71 feeble words in a story that’s some 700 words long to justify the use of the word “playboy”: “He easily mixes it up with ordinary Kenyans, eagerly gets down on the dance floor and joshes in the local youth slang and, in his younger years, earned a persistent reputation for partying hard.

A leaked 2009 US diplomatic cable described him as “bright and charming, even charismatic” but warned that “Kenyatta’s liabilities are at least as important as his strengths. He drinks too much and is not a hard worker.”

The story was shortly afterwards taken down -- without explanation to the reader—but it’s still available on the online version of The Citizen, the NMG English-language newspaper in Tanzania.

 Send your complaints to [email protected]. Text or call 0721 989 264.