The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has launched an intensive training programme for journalists in the Coast region, part of a national drive to prepare 4,000 media practitioners for coverage of the 2027 General Election.
The training, held for staff of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), Kenya News Agency (KNA) and Pwani FM in Mombasa, followed the launch that was held last week in Nakuru of the Elections Reporting Guidelines 2027, which drew more than 180 participants from across the media industry.
MCK Director for Media Training and Development, Victor Bwire, who led the session, said the training would run for close to a year ahead of the polls and would reach journalists in counties and media houses nationwide.
He said KBC’s Nairobi newsroom had already undergone two rounds of training this year, on defamation and safety and on election reporting.
Bwire urged journalists to embrace fairness in covering candidates, noting that broadcast frequencies are a national resource that must serve all contestants equally.
He said the growth of digital and social media platforms had transformed how Kenyans consume election news, with a significant share of the public now following campaigns on platforms such as Facebook and TikTok.
“What else will make someone listen to KBC or watch KTN on elections? It is only if we give more information, more angle, and more substance,” Bwire said, adding that journalists must move away from studio-based reporting and verify information generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools before publishing it.
He also called for conflict-sensitive and gender-sensitive reporting, cautioning against relying only on victims’ accounts in disputes and against publishing information likely to cause disproportionate harm to candidates or their families.
He further appealed to journalists to prioritise their safety while covering campaign events, saying no photograph or story was worth a life. “Don’t put your life at risk for a picture you have missed. Use your networks and your contacts among the security teams. If you’ve missed a shot, you’ve missed it. Don’t kill yourself over it,” he said.
Bwire disclosed that MCK was in talks with KBC management to establish a media hub in Mombasa to support journalists working remotely amid newsroom closures by some media houses, similar to hubs already operating in Kisumu, Kisii, Siaya, Malindi, Nakuru and Eldoret.
MCK Mombasa Regional Coordinator Maureen Mudi said the council was monitoring coverage patterns to flag journalists showing bias toward particular politicians. She cited past incidents, including one involving an NTV journalist and a case where police and media accounts of a shooting involving a governor conflicted, as examples of lapses that undermine public trust in the profession.
“You must make sure you are ethical and professional in your work. Whichever candidate you support is your private choice; it should not reflect in your reporting,” Mudi said.
KBC Controller of Programmes for the Coast Region, Joseph Cheruiyot, urged the trained journalists to cascade the knowledge to colleagues who missed the session, noting rising polarisation in political coverage and the need for journalists to distinguish between the “state” and the “government” in their reporting.
Pwani FM presenter Clemence Mkanyika, popularly known as DJ Tausi, acknowledged the Media Council, KNA and KBC for the engagement.
“This has been so insightful, it has been timely, and it will be beneficial for us in our day-to-day work. We really appreciate your effort and support, and we hope to have these engagements more and more,” Mkanyika said.
By Ramadhan Nassib
