Unbiased media coverage is important and all angles of the story should be covered

 Unbiased media coverage is important and all angles of the story should be covered

Apart from covering the traditional 5Ws and H, today’s media ought to include a seventh question of “Why now”?

By MUSYOKA NGUI

musyokangui.blogspot.com

News sources are the people interviewed by reporters when they write news stories. By writing here I mean digital, audio, video and paper channels.  

Some media sources are quoted while others are seek confidentiality when conveying sensitive information to reporters. This could be junior employees of an organization, or unauthorized people with access to sensitive material worth reporting et cetera.

Sources trust media that they will convey the news as is. Journalism is not activism or PR. All angles to a story should be covered. Some sources are mainstreamed and others marginalized depending on the independence of a reporter. All reporters should be unbiased and convey news as is.

Apart from covering the traditional 5Ws and H, today’s media ought to include a seventh question of “Why now”?

It’s disgusting to read amateurish news coverage from respected press. The public are intelligent enough to give a judgement of the independence or lack of journalists covering a story concerning them.

Media practitioners have privilege of speaking the truth to power. They get access to thoughts of senior people in the society. This privilege should not be abused. The media should, in my view, give special consideration to the marginalized people in the society. Those who are disadvantaged, the system is stacked against them and therefore can’t win against the establishment. These people include the poor, the junior rank, the victims of various social ills both natural and human made and the like.

Since media isn’t an 8-5 job, the media houses ought to pay their staff well. This will guard against brown envelope journalism that news sources plant stories in the media after paying bribes and other kickbacks.

But better still, there is a great need for a right of reply for the persons accused in the court of public opinion of various sins. The media should promote discourse by enriching their stories with opposing sources rather than running stories that are one sided and devoid of opinion of other concerned parties.

The media is, in my view, the last frontier of democracy. Free speech, media freedom and right of the alternative and opposing opinion of dissent should be cultivated.