“No story is worth dying for” is a common phrase we hear of in the field of Journalism and Media; right from training classrooms to the practical field of employment. Yes, Journalists should consider their safety and security first before, during and covering stories. The question is, are our Media Houses prepared to face the harsh reality of life in protecting their employees against external attacks inside and outside the stations? There are circumstances whereby the safety of Journalists is beyond their capacity.
Thursday night attacks on Mwinjoyo FM – a Gospel Radio Station in Nakuru – should serve as a wake-up call to the Media owners, the Media Council of Kenya and the government in General to protect journalists from both public and private companies. It’s not the first barbaric act meted on journalists and the media at large but it brings raises the question of Media Companies’ preparedness to safety and security of their employees and property.
Mwinjoyo presenters were attacked by armed robbers while on air. The two men who stormed the station, threatened the presenters, robbed them of their valuables and walked away with equipment. The presenters lost property, the company lost too. The security deployed at the station, if any, wasn’t upto the task of thwarting the robbery.
Are these mushrooming Radio and Television stations especially community-based radios ready to repel even a lone attacker? Kindly do your Independent research and you will confirm my worries.
As journalists, we need protection. In our line of duty, we may not rhyme well with the community we work in. It may be because of the nature of the programs we run, our ethnic diversity or simply someone doesn’t like us.
Community stations
In one of the community radio station in Nairobi where I worked in the past, a colleague of mine narrated of a life-threatening incident where armed locals stormed it in an escalated management wrangle. Thank God they were not baying for someone’s blood. It would have been a different story. In the same organization, my colleague was stabbed to death while heading home from job. The motive of the attackers was not established.
Community media stations are the most vulnerable to attacks from some of the members of the society because of various reasons. For example, they are not well guarded or no security at all and they are very close to the people on the ground. They are easily accessible both to good and ‘bad people.’
As the DCI launches investigations into the attacks, I call upon the Media Companies to liase with the government towards providing a safe and secure environment for the media practitioners. We have seen journalists being attacked in broad daylight during public occasions and recently during the anti-government protests.
Ghanaian Journalist attacked
As Journalists and the world at large was marking Press Freedom Day on May 3 this year, an unfortunate incident happened to a radio presenter at Dagbon FM in Tamale, Ghana. The scribe, Sidiq Gariba, was attacked while on air. A video showed him being held by his shirt at the neck level while exchanging words with his two attackers.
One of the attackers was a known political commentator in the city. It was reported that the politician was angered by some of the comments made by the presenter.
In Cameroon, 3 journalists have been killed this year. According to Committee to Protect Journalists, 67 members of the press were killed in 2022. It was reported that 41 of them were killed in retaliation to their work.
UNESCO reported that between 2020-2021 117 journalists were killed worldwide. The figures are alarming and calls for immediate intervention by organizations tasked with the mandate of protecting the fourth estate.
The theme for this year’s World Press Freedom Day was “Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights.” If journalism is under attack then the freedom of expression is maimed hence human rights are violated.
Media Houses should be declared Protected Areas. The journalists should be well taken care of and insured in the event of the unexpected. Journalism is the voice of the people.
by: Trend_Times_News