On the borderline: the blurred lines between PR and news reporting

On the borderline: the blurred lines between PR and news reporting

By MUSYOKA NGUI

In our media WhatsApp group we often get leads from news sources. The police, politicians, doctors, citizen journalists and fellow news editors and reporters.

At other times we get news from public relations officers and strategists keen on planting stories in various publications which we gate keep. Luckily, our nose for news can tell PRish stuff from public interest stories. That is why we ignore politicians and give human interest stories prominence. Non-negotiable matters of security, health, education resonate well with wananchi than mere bickering of politicians dancing on the graves of victims of maladministration.

For instance, there is no way a right thinking reporter would publish what is actually a press release passing for soft news and ignore the citizens who are seeking audience with county government on why water taps are dry. Nor would I ignore the plight of a potential squatters and publish the side of story of a private developer seeking to grab Mui Coal deposits or Ngaaie limestone gold just because the wananchi do not have access to media handlers.

UhuruRuto seems to get the workings of PR like no one else. Their vibrant presidential presses send stories to the media and get published. The “humble” presidential pair is able to be cast as accessible to the wananchi like in the case where both Uhuru and Ruto dined with the common people in their respective backyards.

They understand that image is important in dressing, public speaking and posturing on Twitter. But how should the reporters cut through the rhetoric of these barbs? Among the most compelling reporters able to pin down these fellows who “interview journalists” is Hussein Mohamed of Citizen TV’s Big Question program. He singlehandedly made Moses Kuria leave the show in a huff forgetting to even return the mic.

The media and PR swing both ways. As a matter of professional ethics, journalists should not be seen to work for commercial and political establishments. Media Council of Kenya CEO Dr. Haroun Mwangi has said as much.

Media firms must pay their staff well to be above brown and white envelopes. As Kenya heads to the electioneering period, the media will increasingly come under sharp focus. In 2007/8 they were indicted as fanning the flames of Post-Election Violence. In 2013 they self-censored. In 2017 they are likely to tread carefully even as they push the public agenda. Once bitten twice shy.