Why you were ignored, even if you fought alongside Matiba

Mourners convene at All Saints' Cathedral, Nairobi, on April 25, 2018 to commemorate veteran politician Kenneth Matiba. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Readers look for extremes and superlatives. The Matiba story draws more emotions.
  • Readers are more interested in people like Mr Matiba, who are involved in hot conflicts, disagreements, arguments and rivalries.

Acres of newsprint and hours of airtime have been devoted to Second Liberation hero Kenneth Matiba, who died on April 15.

Rumba Kinuthia has taken umbrage against the media coverage that has ignored others who fought alongside Matiba. And he is absolutely right.

“As we mourn the passing on of the great patriot and Second Liberation hero Kenneth Njindo Matiba, I wish to express disappointment at the skewed coverage by the press, both print and electronic, of other patriots who fought side by side with Kenneth Matiba for multiparty democracy during those dark days of Kanu’s absolute and brutal dictatorship,” he e-mailed on Wednesday.

“I was personally locked up at the infamous Nyayo House Torture Chambers, where I was brutally tortured for over two weeks in October 1990.

KAMITI PRISON

"Thereafter, I was locked up at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison with Koigi wa Wamwere, the late Mirugi Kariuki and five others up to 1993 on trumped-up treason charges.

"Two close relatives, Margaret Wangui Kinuthia and Mary Warurie Mwaura, were also locked up at Lang'ata Women’s Prison.

“During this period and a few years before, quite a number of well-known and ordinary Kenyans went through the brutal torture system.

“Why is the press distorting history by deliberately leaving us out of the picture, plus the likes of the late Dr Mukaru Ng’ang’a, Wanyiri Kihoro, Prof Edward Oyugi, Njeru Kathangu, Dr John Khaminwa, Dr Gibson Kamau Kuria and others?

“I think it would be only fair that these patriots are recognised and mentioned in press coverage during such tragic transitional periods.

"Or is it that it is now so long ago that some of the younger reporters are not aware that such people existed?”

COMPENSATION
It’s true other liberation heroes have been largely ignored.

In particular, and arguably, there’s no other lawyer who suffered as much as Mr Kinuthia did.

In fact, as a recognition of his suffering, and that of his family, High Court judge Isaac Lenaola in December 2013 awarded his family Sh2.75 million for illegal detention.

But there’s a journalistic explanation for it.

I hate to use the phrase “Nothing personal, it’s just business”, popularised in Mario Puzo’s classic novel, The Godfather, and related blockbuster movie of the same title.

However, it’s the way journalism operates: It’s a question of what is newsworthy.

TIMELY
There are many elements that make a story newsworthy. I will note those that are relevant.

Prominence: Mr Matiba is a well-known person, who is more newsworthy than the other Second Liberation heroes and resonates more with readers.

Timeliness: What is current — in this case Matiba’s death — is more newsworthy than the history.

People are more interested in what is current, fresh, than what is historical.

Oddity: Readers are more interested in what’s unusual, shocking, bizarre or strange.

Mr Matiba’s case is more unusual, shocking, bizarre and strange.

For example, he had a stroke in detention. He was a minister, he conquered Mt Kenya, was wealthy and visionary and he nearly became the president of Kenya.

HUMAN INTEREST
Consequence: His story directly affected the body politic more than those of the others.

Conflict: Readers are more interested in people like Mr Matiba, who are involved in hot conflicts, disagreements, arguments and rivalries.

Human interest: Readers look for extremes and superlatives. The Matiba story draws more emotions.

Scandal: Readers like an honest-to-goodness scandal — such as the predators who came for his business empire.

Impact: None of the people mentioned by Mr Kinuthia can claim the kind of social, economic and political impact that Mr Matiba had.

I say all this not to deny that the Matiba story could have been better contexted.

I’m only saying journalism is very much like law, where we rely on the main arguments, not sideshows.

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