Media Council's Call was hypocritical

Media Council’s call was hypocritical

By Chrispory Juma Ombuya

This month has been greeted by the reality of how sexual immorality has grounded itself in the structures of our society to an extent that we can shamelessly have sex in open places. We appreciate the media for always being the public’s moral watchdog.

Impunitive sexual expeditions by the people at Kakamega’s Muliro Gardens have been the talk of everyone, thanks to walalahoi.com which posted pictures of those who had turned a park named after a hero into a brothel. The Nairobi Star, true to its motto, lamented over our moral decadence in its pages and went ahead to post some of the pictures.

But in a dramatically ridiculous twist, The Media Council joined the government in condemning this bold move. Lead by the Council’s chairman, Dr. Levy Obong’o this council that has failed to totally regulate media content termed this move as contempt of social order, family values, journalism codes and Kenya’s historical sites.

If such acts could be done unabated in Muliro Gardens, how many may be going on in Kisumus’s Kenyatta grounds or Nairobi’s Uhuru Park. Isn’t it the media’s role to expose these social indecencies? Or must they not be exposed completely? What constitutes media information? I believe it is both words and pictures. The Nairobi Star was journalistically and morally justified to ridicule the society in words and pictures. Or maybe the Media should tell us where these acts should be exposed or we should just be quiet.

Media Council has blatantly refused or failed to control pornographic material in Kenya. I believe the media constitutes both electronic and print. Sexually explicit pictures and lude pornographic videos can be accessed by anybody; one just needs internet connection and the relevant sites. Or these are beyond the councils jurisdictions? Our own print media outlets throughout the country sell pornographic magazines or booklets. My point is that sexually explicit pictures are rampant everywhere. What then is wrong with using a real situation picture to highlight the society’s moral problems?

We must not live a lie if in any case we want to change the society’s moral character moreso the youth’s. These are issues we can’t afford to keep quite over as if we leave in some traditional society where discussions on sexual issues are forbidden. This would be archaic and forbidden.

Indecent sexual behaviour is a real social problem just as corruption. The way we capture corrupt traffic officers taking bribes on our roads is the same way we need to expose other indecent acts. What the council is portraying is that it only wants the media houses to report what makes the family and the general public happy. We must be made to feel embarrassed for our actions. That is my opinion.

The writer is a final year Environmental Health student at Moi University. He is currently on attachment in Kakamega Central District.