Most Kenyans hold the press in very high esteem. In fact in the days to come the Kenyan media is set to rise in prominence and importance even more as we approach the general elections.
Although it is true that standards in Kenya are very high when compared to other African countries, Kenyans should be very careful about what they read in their newspapers. Always seek to carefully chew and digest what you read in your newspapers.
First of all there are always business considerations (see the other post that talks in great detail about the circulation side of the business amongst Kenyan newspapers.)
In the 1980s there was a major strike at one of Kenya's largest companies. A reporter who lived close to the factory noticed a commotion in the morning as he was preparing to go to work, he called his news editor and a photographer promptly arrived. The reporter knew that it was the kind of story that was capable of being a Page one splash and was very excited about it.
The story was never published. The company in question was one of the biggest advertisers at this particular newspaper and usually spent millions every year (a lot of money in those days). One call between the managing directors of the two companies effectively "killed" that story.
Then there was the time that a prominent reporter at one of Kenya's leading dailies died from Aids. There was panic at the newspaper and some very senior management staff at the paper almost went crazy. It emerged that there was a lot of "sleeping around" within the newspaper and the female reporter had hit the sack with a list that was effectively the who is who in that newspaper's top management team. Luckily there were only one other person who dies at the newspaper that could be linked to this sex scandal. But then Aids is said to have an incubation period of years, so let's give it another five years or so to make a conclusion on this one.
Talking of sex scandals, there is this very well known radio queen in Nairobi who shares a bed regularly with the owner of the station. Other staff members have noted that she is extremely powerful. By the way this particular radio outfit is viewed as very professionally run, so the big question is it possible for a management team to remain professional and focused when key members, some of them married are hopping into bed with each other. Many will say that it happens all the time. My belief is that inevitably cracks will emerge and maybe even crisis. One of the major things that brought down the mighty Roman empire was immorality.
Reporters usually get news by being sent out to cover press conferences and various functions that their news editor lines up for them. There are some politicians in Kenya who have understood this system for generating news very well and have compromised it. There are major politicians in Kenya today who rose to prominence by making sure that reporters would never miss their press conferences. They did this by issuing special "press releases" at the end of each press conference. These "press releases" rather than being statements from their good offices were actually small brown envelope containing cash. Kenyan reporters have been receiving them for years. The giver usually dismisses them as "transport money" or "soda money". Reporters laugh about it in news rooms and talk quietly (where the editor is unaware) about "press release" amounts dished out.
At times reporters have quietly pocketed the money and then editors have later reworked their story so that the final result ends up painting the reporter in negative light. You can understand why politicians sometimes get very angry as a result of newspaper articles. Sometimes they have spent money.
For years this blogger used to supply exclusive business stories to the daily newspapers. At one point, I had a detailed analysis to prove that the Uchumi Supermarket chain was in a serious financial crisis. I delivered my story but it was never used. Various excuses were given from lack of space to the story not having enough details. Later I discovered that the editor in question was a very close friend of the Uchumi Manager at the centre of the cash crisis.
(To be continued Next week with more shocking media scandals and little known secrets. Subscribe to my free email newsletter now and I'll alert you the minute I publish stories in this series on the Kenyan media scandals. This fascinating series will run for weeks to come. To receive my newsletter, send a blank email now to KUMEKUCHA-SUBSCRIBE@YAHOOGROUPS.COM)
================
Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life
Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity
Saturday, July 08, 2006
The Truth About The "Silly" Regular Debates About The Nation and Standard Newspapers Circulation Figures
Business Special
Too often I come across the following statement on the net, especially in the days before the Nation exposed Anglo-leasing and in effect silenced many of its' critics;
"Standard circulation is rising rapidly and will soon overtake that of the Nation."
In one particular discussion forum I came across the other day, there was this guy who insisted that they were very experienced and were already sure that the Standard newspapers circulation had overtaken that of the Nation. I read it and laughed, as you will when you are through reading this post.
The best way to understand anything really well is to dive back into its' historical background. That is the guiding principal of this blogger when writing about Kenyan politics and it has helped this blog stand out in terms of political commentary and sheer understanding of the Kenyan political scene today.
Started in 1901, the East African Standard was the only newspaper in Kenya for six decades (that's over half a century). The Nation only showed up in 1960 as the country was on the verge of getting its' independence. Its' founder the Aga Khan correctly read the winds of change blowing over colonial Kenya in those days and made one of the best investment decisions he has ever made. Already a few "local" publications mainly written in Kiswahili (the gutter press of those days) had started appearing on the scene and were enjoying brisk sales, especially in the estates where the Africans lived.
It was not surprising that the Aga Khan's new media company started off with a Swahili title called "Taifa". Naturally the English title that followed soon after was a direct English translation of this title and was called The Nation (to be more accurate the Sunday Nation).
It was a difficult start. The people with the cash (mainly the settler community) all read the East African Standard. Still the market the Sunday Nation was targeting was huge and set to start rapidly growing as soon as Kenya attained independence.
From the beginning the newspaper consultants brought in to help set up the new media company knew that they would have to target the masses and go for a very high circulation. So a system designed to do exactly that was set up. One of the ingenious ways of distributing the newspaper that the Nation came up with was that of setting up street vendors who hardly existed in those days. To this day the senior Nation management still behave like they own the newspaper vendors. Recently, there was a move by the Nation management in conjunction with the Nairobi City Council to legalize a standard newspaper stand designed for all newspaper vendors in the city that would make it impossible for them to display anything else other than the Daily newspapers. Studies clearly showed that the Nation was losing sales to magazines and the gutter press, not to the Standard or other rival dailies like the Kenya Times or People Daily.
This distribution system set up by the Nation circulation department reached well into remote parts of rural Kenya and has for years enabled the newspaper to enjoy unrivaled circulation and reach. The simple truth is that you cannot out-sell the Nation if it is available in many places where your newspaper is never seen.
So why doesn't the Standard just set up a distribution system that is equal or better than that of the Nation? Good question.
The truth is that they have tried many times but it has never quite worked. The concept in the minds of Kenyans that is virtually impossible to change is that The Nation is the leading newspaper. So picture this situation where the Standard sets up a new distribution point in a remote place where the Nation does not reach, they even finance the vendor to launch their business. But then everybody starts asking for the Nation, so you can guess what the vendor does. They dump the Standard and start selling The Nation. In effect the Standard helps its' rival to set up yet another new distribution outlet. This sort of thing has been going on for years.
While it is true that at the beginning of the Narc administration (right up to the Anglo-leasing episode) the Nation was reading more and more like a Narc government hand out, The East African Standard never came anywhere close to unseating The Nation. It did not matter that there was a time when it was clearer the better and more balanced newspaper as far as the local political scene was concerned. Marketers will tell you that you never outsell somebody who has more distributors than you do, especially when the difference is in the thousands.)
You can now laugh about that fairy tale concerning Standard newspaper sales rivaling those of the Nation.
(To be continued Next week, look out for an informative "Business Special" post about the Newspaper wars in Kenya and how this bloggers' thriving publishing business was a victim of dirty tactics from the staff at a leading Kenyan newspaper. Look out for Newspaper Wars. Subscribe to my free email newsletter now and I'll alert you the minute I publish stories in this series on the Kenyan media business. This fascinating series will run for weeks to come. Send a blank email now to KUMEKUCHA-SUBSCRIBE@YAHOOGROUPS.COM)
================
Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life
Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity
============
Nancy Burpee is a world class paralympic swimmer, who has set world records in the 50 and 100 yards freestyle but was disqualified and thus effectively locked out from the 2004 Paralympic Games held in Athens, Greece on a procedural technicality. Law firm simmons jannace & stagg represented her in an effort to have the disqualification overturned and argued that the Australian referee showed bias against Ms. Burpee by making various comments indicating that the Australian referee did not want Ms. Burpee competing against an Australian paralympic swimmer at the games.
Too often I come across the following statement on the net, especially in the days before the Nation exposed Anglo-leasing and in effect silenced many of its' critics;
"Standard circulation is rising rapidly and will soon overtake that of the Nation."
In one particular discussion forum I came across the other day, there was this guy who insisted that they were very experienced and were already sure that the Standard newspapers circulation had overtaken that of the Nation. I read it and laughed, as you will when you are through reading this post.
The best way to understand anything really well is to dive back into its' historical background. That is the guiding principal of this blogger when writing about Kenyan politics and it has helped this blog stand out in terms of political commentary and sheer understanding of the Kenyan political scene today.
Started in 1901, the East African Standard was the only newspaper in Kenya for six decades (that's over half a century). The Nation only showed up in 1960 as the country was on the verge of getting its' independence. Its' founder the Aga Khan correctly read the winds of change blowing over colonial Kenya in those days and made one of the best investment decisions he has ever made. Already a few "local" publications mainly written in Kiswahili (the gutter press of those days) had started appearing on the scene and were enjoying brisk sales, especially in the estates where the Africans lived.
It was not surprising that the Aga Khan's new media company started off with a Swahili title called "Taifa". Naturally the English title that followed soon after was a direct English translation of this title and was called The Nation (to be more accurate the Sunday Nation).
It was a difficult start. The people with the cash (mainly the settler community) all read the East African Standard. Still the market the Sunday Nation was targeting was huge and set to start rapidly growing as soon as Kenya attained independence.
From the beginning the newspaper consultants brought in to help set up the new media company knew that they would have to target the masses and go for a very high circulation. So a system designed to do exactly that was set up. One of the ingenious ways of distributing the newspaper that the Nation came up with was that of setting up street vendors who hardly existed in those days. To this day the senior Nation management still behave like they own the newspaper vendors. Recently, there was a move by the Nation management in conjunction with the Nairobi City Council to legalize a standard newspaper stand designed for all newspaper vendors in the city that would make it impossible for them to display anything else other than the Daily newspapers. Studies clearly showed that the Nation was losing sales to magazines and the gutter press, not to the Standard or other rival dailies like the Kenya Times or People Daily.
This distribution system set up by the Nation circulation department reached well into remote parts of rural Kenya and has for years enabled the newspaper to enjoy unrivaled circulation and reach. The simple truth is that you cannot out-sell the Nation if it is available in many places where your newspaper is never seen.
So why doesn't the Standard just set up a distribution system that is equal or better than that of the Nation? Good question.
The truth is that they have tried many times but it has never quite worked. The concept in the minds of Kenyans that is virtually impossible to change is that The Nation is the leading newspaper. So picture this situation where the Standard sets up a new distribution point in a remote place where the Nation does not reach, they even finance the vendor to launch their business. But then everybody starts asking for the Nation, so you can guess what the vendor does. They dump the Standard and start selling The Nation. In effect the Standard helps its' rival to set up yet another new distribution outlet. This sort of thing has been going on for years.
While it is true that at the beginning of the Narc administration (right up to the Anglo-leasing episode) the Nation was reading more and more like a Narc government hand out, The East African Standard never came anywhere close to unseating The Nation. It did not matter that there was a time when it was clearer the better and more balanced newspaper as far as the local political scene was concerned. Marketers will tell you that you never outsell somebody who has more distributors than you do, especially when the difference is in the thousands.)
You can now laugh about that fairy tale concerning Standard newspaper sales rivaling those of the Nation.
(To be continued Next week, look out for an informative "Business Special" post about the Newspaper wars in Kenya and how this bloggers' thriving publishing business was a victim of dirty tactics from the staff at a leading Kenyan newspaper. Look out for Newspaper Wars. Subscribe to my free email newsletter now and I'll alert you the minute I publish stories in this series on the Kenyan media business. This fascinating series will run for weeks to come. Send a blank email now to KUMEKUCHA-SUBSCRIBE@YAHOOGROUPS.COM)
================
Rape in a matatu that changed a married woman's life
Kumekucha's Presidential Campaign 2007: We Need One Priority, We Need Lots of Creativity
============
Nancy Burpee is a world class paralympic swimmer, who has set world records in the 50 and 100 yards freestyle but was disqualified and thus effectively locked out from the 2004 Paralympic Games held in Athens, Greece on a procedural technicality. Law firm simmons jannace & stagg represented her in an effort to have the disqualification overturned and argued that the Australian referee showed bias against Ms. Burpee by making various comments indicating that the Australian referee did not want Ms. Burpee competing against an Australian paralympic swimmer at the games.
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