CAN WE REALLY TRUST THE MEDIA?

Many Kenyans doubt what they read and hear in the news.When asked how much confidence and trust in the accuracy and fairness of the news reports of our local newspapers, TV and radio ,your guess is as good as mine to what people said.
Many journalists and the media houses they work for have expressed a commitment to producing accurate and informative reports.There is still a reason for concern though.Consider the following factors.
Media Owners
A small but very powerful number of corporations own the mainstream media.These main media houses are the agenda setters.They influence which stories get covered, how they are covered and to what extent they are covered.Take the Mpeketoni killings for example, the media prominently covered it for a week after which it was all toned down so Kenyans could forget.
Most of our media houses are for profit purposes only and major decisions made are motivated by financial gain.Stories that may interfere with the organizations' profit most likely will go unreported.For instance, a story about Safaricom's illegal dealings will not be reported for fear of losing advertisement revenue.
 Government
Journalists get most of their contacts and sources from government officials.Most of what we watch on NTV, Citizen or KTN is politics and affairs of the government.A media house can not risk reporting negatives about the governnment as they fear being victimized or having their licence revoked.
Dishonesty
Not all reporters are honest.Most of them fabricate stories.Take the example of the NTV reporter who made up the Campus Diva story.He did such a shoddy job that even amateurs were complaining.Photos can also be manipulated to deceive the public.Photo-altering technology such as Photoshop have made it practically impossible to detect manipulations.
Assumptions
Accurate reporting is often not easy.What seems to be a fact today may be a lie tomorrow because of technological advances.Once we all thought that the earth was at the center of the solar system but we now know that the earth moves around the sun.
Competition
In the past KBC was the only TV station one could watch but as TV stations multiplied, the amount of time viewers spent watching just one station dropped.To keep the numbers of viewers up, stations are compelled to offer unique programs.Prime time TV news has become a fashion show where the female anchors dress up in really tight clothes and put on lots of makeup to keep the viewers tuned.

All these aside, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt.Journalists are also human and they make mistakes.A misspelled word, a misplaced comma or an error in grammar can also distort the meaning of a sentence.Facts are not always carefully checked, especially when a journalist is struggling to meet a deadline.
Have a journalistic day, won't you?