Media and the Common Good

Rachel

Description

On 30th December 2008, the President of Kenya, His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, assented to the controversial Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act 2008 which commenced on 2nd January 2009. This Presidential move had a deep impact on the long discussions, arguments and negotiations that were already in high gear by October 2006, when the Fourth Annual Ethics Conference on Media and the Common Good was held at Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya. The essays in this book make a case for media freedom as well as media responsibility. Let the media create a culture of truth. Let the media not forsake the citizens; let them seek and disseminate the truth; let them not destroy the education, virtues and faith for which so many have shed their blood in Kenya, Africa and elsewhere. May reason prevail, guided by wisdom towards Truth.

Informations

• Publié par: LawAfrica Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 29 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789966031594
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Media and the Common Good Perspectives on media, democracy and responsibility

Editors Chaacha Mwita Luis G. Franceschi

M EDIA AND THE C OMMON G OOD : P ERSPECTIVES ON M EDIA , D EMOCRACY AND R ESPONSIBILITY

M EDIA AND THE C OMMON G OOD : P ERSPECTIVES ON M EDIA , D EMOCRACY AND R ESPONSIBILITY Editors Chaacha Mwita Luis G Franceschi

Published by:

LawAfrica Publishing (K) Ltd st Co-op Trust Plaza, 1 Floor Lower Hill Road P.O. Box 4260 - 00100 GPO Nairobi, Kenya Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

LawAfrica Publishing (T) Ltd th Co-Architecture Building, 7 Floor P.O. Box 38564 Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

LawAfrica Publishing (U) Ltd st Crown House, 1 Floor Plot 4A, Kampala Road P.O. Box 6198 Kampala, Uganda Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Website: www.lawafrica.com

© Strathmore University 2010

ISBN 9966-7384-8-7

T ABLE OF C ONTENTS

Contributors ............................................................................................ Foreword................................................................................................. Acknowledgements.................................................................................. Introduction ......................................................................................... Globalization: It’s Impact on the African Nations’ Media Systems – The Case of Kenya – Mustafa Y Ali .................................. Ethical Journalism: Individual Challenge and Collective Responsibility – Karen Sanders ......................................................... Media and the Common Good: Seeking the Truth and Reporting it – Elizabeth W Gachenga .............................................. Freedom of the Media in Kenya – Charles N Kanjama ......................... The Media, Truth and Human Dignity – Catherine Dean ................... Media and Responsibility – Oketch Kendo .......................................... Media and the Family: Reflections of a Mother – Maximillia Muninzwa ................................................................... The Media in Kenya: A Human Rights Context – Maina Kiai .............. Why the Media Doesn’t ‘Get’ Religion – Don Feder ........................... Framing the Constitutional Referendum of 2005: Did the Media Serve the Common Good? – Peter Oriare ............................. The Legal Implications of Libel in Kenya – PLO Lumumba ................. Media Language: Serving the Common Good – Martyn Drakard.......... Responsible Journalism and Promotion of the Common Good in Kenya: A Philosophical Appraisal – Michael Ntabo Mabururu and Philip Musi Nyongesa ................................................................

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C ONTRIBUTORS

Professor Karen Sandersstudied English and Philosophy at Durham University. She received her MA and PhD from the School of Public Communication, University of Navarra, Spain, where she is a visiting lecturer. She is based at the Faculty of Communication and Humanities, University of San Pablo – CEU, Madrid (Spain). Sanders is also the former head of the Press and Parliamentary Office at the British Chamber of Shipping. She has also conducted comparative research into media coverage of political corruption and prime ministers’ relations to news media. Don Feder is a 1969 graduate of the Boston University College of Liberal Arts and a 1972 graduate of the Boston University Law School. He was aBoston Herald editorial writer and syndicated columnist from June 1983 to June 2002. He has published more than 2,000 columns. His writings have appeared inThe Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, National Review, American Enterprise, Readers Digest, Front Page Magazine, Insight andHuman Events. Feder is the 1998 recipient of the International Communications Award of the Republic of China on Taiwan and the winner of the first-place prize in the Amy Foundation Writing Awards for 1993. Feder has lectured at Harvard, Dartmouth, Princeton, Hillsdale, Bates College, Carlton College, NYU, Regent University, UCLA, Hampshire College, The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Boston University, Boston College and Strathmore University. Peter Oriare Mbekeis a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Arts from the University of Western Ontario. He has researched and written widely about public relations, research monitoring and evaluation, opinion polling, political communication and quantitative data analysis. Dr Patrick Lumumbathe former Secretary of the Constitution of Kenya is Review Commission and a practicing advocate in Nairobi. He is a renowned speaker and TV host in Kenya and abroad on politics, law and ethics. Dr Mustafa Alithe Coordinator of the Media Taskforce for the Interfaith is Council on Ethics Education based in Geneva, Switzerland. He has made presentations in various conferences and facilitated workshops around the world, including in Japan, Switzerland, Spain, United Kingdom, United States of America, Sweden, India, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal and Ethiopia. Maina Kiaithe former Chairperson of the Kenya National Commission on is Human Rights (KNCHR), an independent state body charged with protecting and promoting human rights in Kenya. He also served as founding Executive Director

of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, and has been the Africa Director at Amnesty International in London, and at the International Human Rights Law Group (now Global Rights) based in Washington DC. He is a Research Fellow at TransAfrica Forum, Washington DC. Elizabeth W Gachenga is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and the Faculty Manager of the Institute of Humanities Education and Development Studies and an assistant Lecturer at Strathmore University, Nairobi. She holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Law and currently pursuing a PhD at UWS. Catherine Deana Lecturer at the Institute of Humanities, Education and is Development Studies of Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya. Oketch Kendoa Kenyan journalist and Managing Editor, Production and is Quality, at the Standard Group Limited in Nairobi, Kenya. Maximillia Muninzwais a renowned media personality and columnist in Kenya. She is the director of Heartbeat Kenya and an activist for the rights of women and children. Dr Michael M Ntaboholds aB.A., Gregorian Pontifical University, Rome, Italy, a Master of Arts (Philosophy) from the University of Nairobi and a D.Phil. from Moi University, Kenya. He is the Head, Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies, Moi University and a Senior Lecturer in the same department. Philip Musi Nyongesais a lecturer at the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. He holds a BA (Philosophy) from the Urbanian University, a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Moi University, 2005 and is a D.Phil. Candidate, Moi University. Charles Kanjamais a practicing advocate in Kenya and a columnist of theSunday Standard. He is also an editor with LawAfrica. Martyn Drakardis a columnist in Kenya and Uganda. He is a retired principal of Strathmore College and an experienced English teacher and educational instructor having lived and taught in many schools in Kenya and Uganda since 1965. He has travelled and worked in conflict areas in East and Central Africa studying the impact of conflict on education and seeking ways of redressing the problem. Chaacha Mwita is a journalist and writer, and a co-editor of this book. He has been a journalist with the most important media houses in Kenya. He was a senior editor at the Nation Media Group and the Group Managing Editor at the Standard Group Limited. He is the author ofCitizen Power, a publication of the Global Africa Corporation.

Luis G Franceschiis the Chairman of the Strathmore Annual Ethics Conference and a co-editor of this book. He has spent over 16 years in Kenya studying, lecturing and working. He is the former legal advisor of the President of the XX UNEP Governing Council and a member of the Council. He was a co-drafter of the United Nations Nairobi Declaration.