Politicians must leave the newsrooms Media Council

Politicians must leave the newsrooms  Media Council

The Media Council of Kenya has now explicitly barred all journalists wishing to contend in the 2017 General Election from working in the media.

In a statement, the council advised media houses to let go off journalists and media practitioners that have declared affiliation to political parties, movements, groupings or indicated their intentions to vie for elective positions in 2017 terming them as “politicians in newsrooms”.

The MCK, which is mandated to accredit all media practitioners in Kenya, also announced that it will withdraw the accreditation of journalists who want to work for political parties saying that all parties in a political contest, in the lead up to the elections, deserve to be covered fairly by the media.

While referring to the Code of Ethics for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya on conflict of interest, the council cautioned journalists and media practitioners against openly affiliating with political parties saying that they must always remain neutral.

“The Media Council of Kenya urges all media houses to be cognizant of the welfare of their reporters and correspondents, and to facilitate them adequately in their coverage of political events,” read the statement in part.

“The culture of brown envelop journalism, where news sources spend money to obtain favorable coverage, should be highly discouraged through firm action against those breaking the law.”

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journalist 2017 general election Politics Media Council warned affiliated contest political party

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