The Daily IIJ » Charles Kimani

Where Journalists invite Government!

Charles Kimani — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:37:56 +0000

The world celebrated the 90th birthday of the iconic former South African leader Nelson Mandela, and Germany is expecting to receive the American presidential candidate Barack Obama who is expected to give a speech on German soil. Our visit to the Bundespressekonferenz could not have come at a better time when the eyes of the world will for a moment focus on Germany, as American election hots up and the tour knocks. Most of the questions revolved around this topic and as a Kenyan my interest was even higher.

Never mind I was relegated to be a guest in the press conference which is rather strange, me and my colleagues were called upon to listen and forever remain silent. Nothing is taken for grant in this conference even my phone had to be switched off which is something rather strange for a journalist, and did I mention that questions and answers were all in German but thanks to the IIJ team who translated the questions for us and we once again felt at least as part of the participants. After the conference Angela Wefers who was the moderator for this session later came to explain to us that journalists who report on German politics in the capital see it necessary to join the organisation of the Bundespressekonferenz if at all they want to keep their work going. However this conference which gives the government view on various issues does not stand in the way for ministers who want to call conferences in their offices.

The interesting thing was the punctuality of the spokespersons who were even earlier than the journalists, they also did so well in answering the questions though some questions had to be asked in two different ways as I was told that spokespersons tried to evade some of them.

When my colleague Reagan asked about the attendance of the various spokespersons in all their meetings Ms. Wefers said ‘The relationship between the Journalists from the organisation and the government is good and the government sees it as an obligation to attend and answer questions posed to them.’

The Bundespessekonferenz I would admit is one of its kind and also a very nice way of getting information and goverment views on various issues presenting one of the best examples of engagement of the two parties.

Dealing with the past – a job for journalists?

Charles Kimani — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:27:18 +0000

Sometimes, we hate choices. Its not just about the decision-making
process but whether or not we make the right one. It was a similar
situation ten days back when we had three two-day workshops
to choose from.
The topics ranged from methods to pursue challenging stories,
tackling gender issues and whether dealing with the past was a job for
the press. After much deliberation and confusion, a group of seven
journalists chose the third one. It was not so much in order to find
out what journalists should do but because we thought its was a great
way to understand how societies work.
Moreover, the group had participants from countries where the
traditional role of a journalist was being redefined. In countries
such as Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Armenia, reporters apart from
being professional observers are also an important instrument of
change in society.

Ms Sigrid Thomsen made the sessions interesting through a
combination of video clips, group discussions and assignments – for
example, about the case of South Africa’s truth and reconciliation commision.
There was this clip where Fort Calata’s widow (Calata was killed by
the Apartheid police in Cradock) came eye to eye with the man who
killed her husband and it was an emotional encounter, where she later
said it was easier for her to live knowing who did it than without
knowing what happened to her husband.
Over the next two days, we discussed the major issues in each country
and the role of the journalist in that particular society. Should they
stick to reporting the facts or play a more active role in
reconciliation and building peace? And there were so many disparate
views coming in. I think the two-day workshop was one of the few
occasions when I wasn’t constantly looking at my watch awaiting the
lunch or coffee break. (But I do that also because I like looking at
my new watch
As part of an assignment, some of the group members interviewed each
other. However, Charles and I had the chance to interview Mr Martin
Schmidt, a historian and former politician, who works towards building
German-Jew ties. Interestingly, he told us that the house we stay in -
Elsa Brandström-Haus – was a stopover for Jewish orphans who stayed
here before heading to Israel after the war. (For those interested in
knowing more about Mr Schmidt, we’ve added his profile in a separate
post).
After two days of debating and discussion the group is still divided
on whether dealing with the past is a job for the press. Also, whether
a journalist personally affected by a conflict or issue is the best
person to do the job (For example, some of the reporters covering the
TRC proceedings in South Africa were victims of Apartheid themselves).
If yes, won’t the reporter’s views become one-sided and emotional?
But our biggest takeaway from the sessions were the diverse opinions
that sparked off so much of knowledge transfer.

Chandra and Charles

Kenyan regional media accused of fueling violence

Charles Kimani — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:02:30 +0000

By Charles Kimani

In the interest of development and growth of society a free media must exist not only to inform the citizens what is happening but also to drive different agendas in society.

When we were discussing different modes of media, we found out that there are more regional media and broadcasters across different economies. During times of crisis in different nation these media have more often been accused of instigating violence and playing hate messages, which have lead to death of fellow citizens. During the 1994 Rwandan Genocide for example the media house, which was claimed to be owned by the Fugitive Felicien Kabuga is said to have caused the rise of the two major communities there namely Hutus and Tutsis.

Recently In Kenya after the 2007 post election violence, regional media houses have come under more scrutiny than ever before in the history of the media in independent Kenya, they are being accused of fuelling violence in the region that they broadcast.

This leaves me thinking, is it interference with the freedom of the media when government acts against media houses – even if it is for the benefit of the larger majority?