Once thriving, prosperous and full of promise, the private media industry in Kenya today is literally grasping for breath. 

From the oldest, the Standard Group, to the hitherto most profitable, the Nation Media Group (NMG), gloom looms large. The modus operandi today are a resort to desperate measures, if only to survive another year. 

Hordes of quality journalists have been laid off and the few who have been retained have to contend with salary cuts and delays. The employees at the Standard Group and Mediamax, the publishers of the People Daily, have had to threaten industrial action to get a fraction of their salary arrears cleared. Newspaper paginations have been cut and so have been the print orders. 

But what is ailing the media in the East Africa Community’s leading economy? Three things easily stand out. 

First is the digital disruption that has laid waste to the business models that had been trusted for decades globally. Legacy media houses no longer hold sway, especially on breaking news, and the previously massive but near-captive audiences today are spoiled for choice. 

Many have voted with their feet and fingers, opting particularly for news on the go on their gadgets. Inevitably, the advertisers have followed the audiences to the new platforms, occasioning the plummeting of the commercial advertising revenue. 

Then came the Coronavirus ravage, which though has largely dissipated, has left in its wake repercussions that may take decades to recover from. 

Thirdly, and perhaps most devastating is the sustained government onslaught on the private media. No longer able to leverage on oppressive laws, thanks to the promulgation of the more progressive 2010 Kenya Constitution, the latter has become more innovative and resorted to a legion of subtle, but probably even more lethal ways of crippling the media.

From the day of President Mwai Kibaki, who ceded office way back in 2013, the Nairobi government has, for no plausible reasons, failed to settle billions of shilling owed to the Kenyan media houses, particularly the NMG and the Standard Group, for advertising services. 

Consequently, the media houses have had to contend with serious cash flow problems against fading hopes that the bills will finally be settled. Kibaki’s successor Uhuru Kenyatta, though an investor in the media, was never a friend of the latter. 

Uhuru often made disparaging remarks about the media. He is particularly remembered for his gazeti ni ya kufunga nyama (newspapers are only suitable for wrapping meat) assertion. 

Uhuru equally lumped the media with what he called the evil (as opposed civil) society, for standing up to his government. The holder of the highest office in the land had set the tone for the anti-media crusade. His clincher was the 2015 circular that centralised public sector advertising. 

The document communicated a Cabinet decision creating the Government Advertising Agency (GAA), as the coordinating institution, ostensibly to manage costs. 

Two years later, another circular from the Office of the President established MyGov newspaper as not only the official government medium for all public sector print advertisement, but also as a mouthpiece for propagating government development agenda through ‘in-depth editorial content’. 

Loaded with all the state ads, MyGov, would be printed and distributed by four daily newspapers; the Nation, the Standard, the Star and the People Daily. 

Exit Uhuru, enter William Ruto and onslaught continued, though with a change of tack. An early 2024 notice from the Ministry of ICT, Innovations and Youth Affairs to all Principal Secretaries, CEOs of state corporations, independent commissions and vice chancellors of public universities, directed that all the adverts be printed and distributed by the Star newspaper only. 

The initial two-year contract will certainly starve the Daily Nation, The Standard and The People Daily millions of shillings they previously enjoyed from printing and circulating the government adverts through MyGov. 

It is noteworthy that the payments for the services already rendered were being made in a trickle. By March last year, for instance, the government owed the print media outlets $2.4 million in pending bills for circulating MyGov. Some $6.3 million was owed to the media houses as at June 30, 2021, of which $389,934 had been settled by February last year.

And in what looks like yet another nail on the coffin of the independent media, a new policy has directed all government agencies, independent commissions and public universities to exclusively air their TV and radio advertisements through state-owned broadcaster KBC. 

Principal Secretary in the State Department of Broadcasting and Telecommunications Edward Kisiang’ani, made the announcement, highlighting that it aims to revive and change the fortunes of the struggling broadcaster. The directive, Kisiang’ani asserted, was in line with the July 10, 2015 circular that centralised public sector advertising.

It should be noted that the same government continues to lure journalists from the media houses with lucrative state appointments, in what looks like killing two birds with one stone, depriving the independent media of their services, while also using the latter as a conduit through the private media secrets. The approach has been deployed by both the central and the county governments. 

Then there is the verbal assault that has been sustained. Senior government officials, particularly the Public Service Cabinet Secretary, Moses Kuria, have used every platform to threaten or make disparaging remarks about the independent media. Contrary to public expectation, President Ruto has always appeared to commend them for ‘a job well done’.

With the existential threats all around, Kenya’s media sector has now united to condemn the government assault. The umbrella Kenya Media Sector Working Group has, in addition to coming out strongly against the state onslaught, has urged the international community to take a stand against the systemic state affront and to advocate the protection of media freedom. 

The appeal, no doubt, resonates with the majority Kenyans, but trust the Ruto government to always ignore the popular will.