Why Nairobi Journalists Don’t Understand The Common Man These Days?

I still remember the days when senior newspaper editors in Nairobi would mix freely with ordinary wananchi. You would find them in all sorts of seedy places. And their newspapers reflected a deep understanding of the masses and the basic problems they faced in those days. That was how newspapers like the Daily Nation built their reputation and huge circulation, especially in those days.

Alas, things changed. First of all very few Kenyans can afford to buy a newspaper these days – mostly the rich and upper middle income.

The ordinary Kenyan lives in some slum, struggles to make ends meet and can hardly indulge in the luxury of buying a newspaper daily. Lifestyles of senior editors have also changed with the times. They no longer live in estates like Jericho and Shauri Moyo and they now enjoy the sort of salaries that put them up there with the more privileged in society.

There is nothing wrong with that of course, except that the masses have no voice left. We do not have a newspaper in Nairobi like the UK tabloid, The Sun, which is targeted at the masses. Maybe the big boys, Nation and Standard should seriously look into this idea.

The internet and Prime time TV news have complicated things a little but there is still a huge market out there amongst voices that are not being heard.