Journalists in Kakamega have formed a Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (SACCO) to support themselves in the ever-changing media environment that is leading to massive job losses.
The Sacco, to be known as Kakamega Media Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (KAMSACCO), will provide savings and investment opportunities for journalists with irregular incomes.
The Chairperson of the Kakamega Rural Media Gatekeepers (RUMEG), Cyrus Akhonya, noted that with the Sacco, journalists will not strain to look for finances for their own empowerment when they face challenges.
“You know what is happening to media houses. Media business is a bit challenging right now; every media house is facing financial shocks, so we have to prepare ourselves as Kakamega journalists and be ready to face these challenges,” he noted.
Speaking during a meeting with journalists from Kakamega County, the Chairperson of the Kakamega Journalists Welfare Association, Hilton Otenyo, said that journalists will be able to borrow funds from the Sacco according to their shares and benefit from other products that would be introduced as the Sacco expands.
“Majority of journalists are employed on contract terms. Salaries nowadays delay even up to a year. These contract employment terms make it impossible for journalists to look for loans from financial institutions and start income-generating activities due to lack of collateral,” he said.
He urged journalists to come up with ideas for self-empowerment and stop overreliance on incomes from their media jobs for stability, as they will not be able to survive in the tough economy.
“We have been missing a lot of empowerment funds from both the county and the national government. The Sacco will enable us to get a lot of support that will transform the lives of journalists in this county,” he noted.
Otenyo also asked journalists to adapt to the changing media landscape with the increasing social media usage, citizen journalism, and the current use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
He warned that artificial intelligence might push many journalists out of the field unless they are able to perform tasks that AI would not be able to do.
“The media space is shrinking, and soon the arrival of AI is going to push many out of journalism careers. Unless you can move a step further, you are all going to be irrelevant. We therefore need to move towards what we are calling solution journalism so that you infuse in your copies aspects that AI may not, to remain relevant,” he explained.
Otenyo also said that plans are underway to seek support from the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) to establish a media center in Kakamega, a space that all journalists can use to file their stories.
by Moses Wekesa
