Jun 2011 17The 2007 elections demonstrated how the media can be used to instigate violence. Vernacular radio stations were amongst those named as key instigators of the violence and television stations were seen to be biased towards particular political personalities and players.
Noelina Nabwire asks in her article “How Can Media Owned by Politicians Promote State Stability?”:
Jun 2011 15Can Our Media Get Better? (Part One)16
Posted In Sights
There are more than 90 FM stations, 14 TV stations and unconfirmed number of print newspapers and magazines in Kenya. The radio show with the highest ratings in Kenya right now is Classic 105 FM’s Breakfast show with Maina and King’ang’i. We spent a week (Monday 6th June – Friday 11th June) listening to the show, and these were their topics:
MONDAY: Drinking wives – women who enjoy their drink. Are men OK with this?
TUESDAY: Has your brother or sister had an affair with your partner? How did you deal with it? Is blood thicker than water? Who do you keep and who goes?
WEDNESDAY: At what point are in-laws fair game? Has it ever happened to you? How do we deal with it?
THURSDAY: Ladies who are attracted to their fathers-in-law. What qualities or traits do ladies see in their fathers-in-law? Do these make their fathers-in-law attractive?
FRIDAY: Couples who book hotel rooms during the day for midday sex.
Maina – host of the show – has been quoted explaining the station’s strategy:
“It is not about sex. It is about relationships, and they always touch on sex. There was an unfulfilled market and we went for it. We realised that whenever we did relationship stuff on Wednesdays and Fridays, the response was huge. So we thought, ‘why not do this full time?’. I am glad we did.”
The Plan B team sat down with Jeff Mote and Dr. Mike Kuria to discuss the proliferation of sex-talk in Kenyan radio breakfast shows. What do you think? Do you listen to the show? Is this simple entertainment or can our media work better?
Jun 2011 10When the Arab Uprisings began, we heard over and over again that social media was a key factor in the revolutions. Many wistful Kenyans were also heard wondering out loud whether something like that would ever be possible in Kenya courtesy of our vibrant social media community.
Whether or not you believe such a revolution is warranted in Kenya (a whole other matter), it made us wonder whether there was anything on Facebook that could amount to something like a precursor to those revolutions. Here then, is the result of that research – a collection of six of the biggest issues Kenyans on Facebook are angry about (ranked according to number of members as at 10th June).
Will any of these groups spark a revolution? Read and find out…
Jun 2011 04Can Things Get Better?
Posted In Sights
As well as asking people what they thought was wrong, we also wanted to find out what our guests thought about the future. This is what our guests had to say when asked – “Can Things Get Better?”
What do you think, do you believe that future generations will wonder what we were complaining about?
Jun 2011 02What’s the Matter with Kenya?
Posted In Sights
The Plan B team spent a couple of weeks asking young Kenyans what they think could be better in their country. Featuring responses from visual artists, musicians, poets, youth workers, journalists and more, this is what they had to say.
What do you think? What bugs you about Kenya? What do you like about Kenya? Let us know!
