599950
research-article2015
JOU0010.1177/1464884915599950JournalismIreri
Article
A national survey of demographics composition of Kenyan journalists
Journalism 2017, Vol. 18(2) 241–261 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1464884915599950 journals.sagepub.com/home/jou
Kioko Ireri
United States International University – Africa, Kenya
Abstract This national survey conducted in 2012–2013 (N = 504) examines demographic characteristics of the Kenyan journalists. Findings indicate that the typical Kenyan journalist is male (66%), married (57%), and in his mid-30s (M = 34 years). He tends to have a Bachelor’s degree (46%) and has received college-level training in journalism or communication (91%). However, when it comes to majoring in journalism or communication, most of the journalists were trained at the level of associate degree (45%), followed by Bachelor’s degree (38.5%) and Master’s degree (13.6%). Thirty-three percent of the Kenyan journalists work in daily newspapers, with 73 percent of them employed on full-time basis. In ethnic grouping, about a quarter (24.9%) of Kenyan news people belong to the Kikuyu tribe, followed by Luhya tribe (20%). The results also indicate that the majority of the journalists are from the Rift Valley province (21.4%) – Kenya’s largest administrative unit – followed by Western (19.5%) and Central (15.5%). By religion affiliation, 62.3 percent of the journalists are Protestants and 22.5 percent Roman Catholic. While the majority of the Kenyan journalists (22%) fall in the monthly salary bracket of $375–$625, a significant number of them (17%) earn less than $375 a month. Keywords Demographics, journalists, journalists’ survey, Kenya, Kenyan journalists, survey research
Introduction The present national study investigates various demographic backgrounds of the Kenyan journalists. It is the first representative research on demographic characteristics of news people in Kenya and Africa in general. Specifically, the study examines the demographic Corresponding author: Kioko Ireri, United States International University – Africa, P.O. BOX 14634, 00800 Nairobi, Kenya. Email:
[email protected];
[email protected]
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composition of the Kenyan journalists in relation to age, education, contract type, ethnicity, gender, income, marital status, media type, region of origin, and religion. Therefore, this research provides a comprehensive picture of the demographic make-up in the Kenyan media. Because there is no literature on demographic characteristics of news people in Kenya, this research helps construct a comprehensive demographic portrait of the Kenyan journalists. Examining demographic backgrounds will help to understand the main characteristics of the Kenyan journalists. Additionally, mapping out the demographic backgrounds is vital for understanding whether Kenyan journalists’ characteristics match the demographic distribution of other citizens. In fact, Weaver’s (2005) experience in studying the journalists led him to conclude that news people are demographically representative of their larger societies. While the demographic backgrounds of the Kenyan journalists would define who they are in relation to the rest of the population, their characteristics are likely to influence how they go about their work. For instance, if their demographics represent an elitist status in society, they also might put less weight on issues affecting ordinary Kenyans. Consequently, several studies have investigated who journalists are in different countries by asking them about their basic backgrounds (e.g. Chen et al., 1998; Henningham and Delano, 1998; Johnstone et al., 1976; Weaver and Wilhoit, 1996; Weaver and Willnat, 2012). Many studies on journalistic demographics have been undertaken in various countries such as Australia (Josephi and Richards, 2012), United Arab Emirates (Kirat, 2012), Chile (Mellado, 2012), Sweden (Stromback et al., 2012), and Unites States (Weaver and Wilhoit, 1986), to name a few. However, such research is seldom in Africa, a fact acknowledged by Mwesige (2004) who notes that studies on African journalists are scarce. The lack of research on African journalists is also evidenced in the latest book, The Global Journalist in the 21st Century (Weaver and Willnat, 2012), which carries no data from any African country. These examples confirm the existence of a huge research gap on demographic composition of the journalists in Africa. Therefore, this study strives to not only provide useful insights on the demographic collage of the Kenyan journalists but also helps understand how their background characteristics affect news content. This is important because research shows that journalists’ demographics are likely to affect how they write their stories. Armstrong (2004), for example, found that newspaper articles written by women were more likely to showcase women within the stories. This study also makes an important contribution to the growing body of research on journalists’ demographics in various countries. The findings also are of great value to journalists, journalism schools, media scholars, media practitioners, and policymakers in the media industry. For example, Kenyan journalism schools could use the findings as a basis for admitting more female students to address gender imbalance among the Kenyan journalists.
The media system in Kenya The origin of Kenya’s media is traced to the 19th and the 20th centuries – for print and broadcast, respectively. The missionaries and British settlers started the modern Kenyan
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press in the 19th century (Ochilo, 1993). Later in 1927, the first radio was launched. The development of the Kenyan press can be classified into three phases: the colonial era (1895–1962), the post-independence era (1963–1990), and the multiparty era (1991–present) (Ireri, 2012). During the colonial period, the Kenyan press was grouped into a three-tier system: the European press, the Indian press, and the African press (Faringer, 1991). The European press was at the top and was the most prestigious, followed by the Indian press in the middle. The African press was at the bottom. The objective of the European press was to provide information for the missionaries and settlers from England and to legitimize the rights of the colonial masters (Ochilo, 1993). The Indian press contributed in ending the colonial rule in East Africa after the First World War (Bhushan, n.d.). The African press mostly focused on the independence agenda. The Kenyan press in post-independence epoch remained dormant until the restoration of the pluralistic politics in 1991. The media also operated in a harsh legal and political environment (Aling’o, 2007). This changed after 1992 when the Kenyan media industry underwent tremendous changes and growth (Ibelema and Bosch, 2009). Kenya’s newspaper industry is still relatively small and urban-based (Mbeke and Mshindi, 2008). Only 55 percent of the urban dwellers read newspapers compared to 36 percent in rural areas (Media Council of Kenya, 2005). The print media is dominated by the Nation Media Group and the Standard Group. Obonyo (2003) classifies the Kenyan print media into four sub-sectors: daily newspapers, magazines, regional newspapers, and the printed sheets that also seek to pass for newspapers in urban centers. There are six daily newspapers – namely, Daily Nation, The Standard, The People, The Star, Taifa Leo, and Business Daily. The Standard is the oldest newspaper, established in 1902. Owned by Nation Media Group; Taifa Leo and Daily Nation were founded in 1958 and 1960, respectively. The latter is the most influential newspaper in the region. The People was established in 1993 – and positioned as the voice of the opposition politics to report materials that Daily Nation and The Standard feared to touch (Obonyo, 2003). Business Daily and The Star are the youngest, launched in 2006 and 2007. In the broadcast sub-sector, Kenya was among the earliest African countries to set up a national television system in 1963 (Ainslie, 1966). Though efforts were made to provide the audience with locally produced television content, 90 percent of the programs in 1960s were imported (Bourgault, 1995). Today, the Kenyan government requires television broadcasters to produce 40 percent local content (Mzekandaba, 2013). Currently, there are 20 television stations in Kenya (Communications Commission of Kenya, 2012). Television programming is mainly dominated by locally produced programs and news – with a viewership of 48.8 percent (Kenya Film Commission, 2010). One concern is the fact that television is not universally available in rural Kenya (Mbeke and Mshindi, 2008). Today, exposure to television viewership among Kenyans stands at 59 percent (Kenya Film Commission, 2010). However, television sets are still not ubiquitous in Kenya (Bowen, 2010), with only 30 percent of the households owning a television set (Nyabuga and Booker, 2013). Kenya Broadcasting Corporation television (KBC TV) dominated Kenya’s television scene until 1990 when the Kenya Television Network (KTN) was licensed to broadcast
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(Ali, 2009). Next to go on air was Citizen TV in 1999, followed by Nation Television (NTV) in December of the same year. Citizen TV controls 50 percent of television viewership in Kenya (Bosire, 2012). Nearly all Kenyans regularly use radio as a source of news and information (Bowen, 2010). Specifically, 89 percent of the Kenyan adults get their news and information via radio (Allen and Gagliardone, 2011). At the same time, the proportion of the Kenyan population that listens to radio in the urban and the rural areas are close to each other – 88.1 percent and 84.6 percent, respectively (Media Council of Kenya, 2005). Notable is that Kenya’s radio broadcasting industry has grown exponentially in the last decade. There are more than 90 radio stations on air today (Communications Commission of Kenya, 2012), with Royal Media Services controlling 70 percent of radio listenership (Bosire, 2012). The majority (68%) of the Kenyans listen to local language radio (Mbeke et al., 2010), where each of the 42 ethnic languages is served by at least one radio station. Mbeke et al. (2010) explain that the ethnic radio stations have given ‘erstwhile marginalized communities a voice to articulate and champion their interests’ (p. 53). Something to note is that the Kenyan media is dominated by the commercial media – a reflection of the profit motive behind their establishment and existence. The country’s good economic performance is responsible for thriving of the commercial media. This is reflected in the media advertising revenue which has grown since 2003 – standing at $193 million in 2007 – from $73 million in 2003 (Mbeke and Mshindi, 2008). Media ownership in Kenya is characterized by extensive cross-media ownership and media concentration within the market (Mbeke, 2010). The ownership is classified into five broad categories: state-owned, private-owned, community-owned, religious organization– owned, and educational institution–owned. The government controls the majority stake in the state-owned media, which reports government affairs in a favorable manner. Kenya’s major media groups are under the private ownership. Unlike the state-owned media, privately owned media organizations are known to provide a more balanced coverage of news events. One of the most notable trends in the private media is the rate at which politicians hold major stakes in the media ownership. Nyamnjoh (2010) points out that for political reasons, politicians have increasingly taken advantage of media liberalization to acquire media interests with which to secure their place in politics. However, politicians’ involvement in media ownership has put into question the norm of news objectivity in the Kenyan journalism, where according to Ireri (2015) media owners influence the work of the journalists.
Journalistic demographics and literature review Media scholars have devoted a great deal of time to study demographic characteristics of news people. Journalists’ demographics have been examined as a way of constructing national portraits of news people in different countries. This is important because there is a tendency of journalists’ background to affect how they write their stories. Importantly, studies on journalists’ demographics have mainly aimed at realizing three major findings highlighted by Weaver (2005): (1) journalists have multiple characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors that depend on the specific setting; (2) journalists have similarities that cut across the boundaries of geography, culture, language, society, religion, race, and
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ethnicity; and (3) journalists are generally more demographically representative of their own societies. Therefore, one of the aims of this study is to understand the place of Weaver’s (2005) findings among the Kenyan journalists. Research indicates that there are journalistic demographics that cut across different nations. Weaver and Willnat (2012) have identified age, education, and gender as the main journalistic demographics that cut across nations. This literature review focuses on these three important journalistic characteristics. These are important demographics to examine as they are likely to affect news content. In gender, for example, research has shown differences in how male and female journalists cover certain topics. Rodgers and Thorson (2003) found that women journalists used more diverse sources, reported more positively, and were less likely to employ stereotypes. Desmond and Danilewicz (2010) found that female reporters covered more human interest and health stories, while their male counterparts reported on politics. In age, Armstrong et al. (2010) reported that age impacts the length of news segments where younger women are often in shorter news segments than other more experienced female journalists. Weibel et al. (2008) found that older journalists were considered to be the most credible than their younger colleagues. The education of the journalists also does affect the media content, with a potentially far-reaching effect on what is selected to report and how it is reported (Shoemaker and Reese, 1991). Similarly, well-educated journalists are likely to write quality stories with better insights and analysis than poorly educated reporters.
Gender Weaver and Willnat (2012) found that the population of female journalists in the world had increased from 33 percent in 1998 to 41 percent to 2012. But, despite this rise in the proportion of women journalists, research indicates that men dominate journalism population in various countries (e.g. Bonfadelli et al., 2012; Brownlee and Beam, 2012; Farias et al., 2012; Oi et al., 2012; Son et al., 2012). Japan is an example of a nation where male journalists dominate the media population. Oi et al. (2012) found that male constituted 97.6 percent of Japanese journalists. South Korea also has a high number of male journalists, according to Son et al. (2012). They reported that women constituted 17.8 percent. This percentage, the researchers said, was more than double the 8.2 percent found in a 1993 study. In the United States, the gender proportions of women in 2002 remained steady from the previous two studies (Weaver and Wilhoit, 1986, 1996), with 31 percent of the journalist workforce being women (Brownlee and Beam, 2012). Notable is that the increase in American women journalists has been in the youngest age category under 25 years (Brownlee and Beam, 2012). However, Brownlee and Beam (2012) note that since 1980 there has been an increase in the percentage of women 55–64 years of age. Surveying 1000 Spanish journalists, Farias et al. (2012) found that 54 percent of news people were men. A 2006–2007 study of 449 journalists in Switzerland reported that women constituted 35 percent of the population (Bonfadelli et al., 2012). The findings supported previous studies that found the proportion of female journalists in the country to have been
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increasing steadily. In 1980, women journalists in Switzerland constituted 17 percent. This figure increased to 32 percent in 1998. In contrast, studies in Russia (Pasti et al., 2012), Malaysia (Tamam et al., 2012), Singapore (Hao and George, 2012), and Slovenia (Lah and Zilic-Fiser, 2012) – to name a few examples – show that women have dominated journalism profession. Based on this literature review, it will be interesting to know which gender dominates the Kenyan media.
Age There is similarity across nations in that young people dominate journalism. Weaver and Willnat (2012) found the age of the journalists in various countries to be between 25 and 45 years. According to the 29 journalist surveys reported by Weaver and Willnat (2012), the average age of the journalists ranges from 32 to 53 years. The pattern around the world is that young people join journalism to gain some experience and then leave for more lucrative jobs elsewhere (Weaver and Willnat, 2012). In all the studies reported by Weaver and Willnat (2012), Japan has the oldest journalists age (M = 53.3 years) (Oi et al., 2012), while Hong Kong has the youngest journalists (M = 32.0 years) (Chan et al., 2012). As such, one of the objectives of this study is to understand which age group dominates the Kenyan media.
Education Journalists’ education also has been examined in various studies. Based on the latest figures in Weaver and Willnat (2012), there is one major trend which cuts across 25 countries: most of the journalists have a college degree not related to journalism. It means that most of the journalists across nations are not trained in journalism. To use Weaver and Willnat’s (2012) words, it is less typical for the journalists to be graduates of journalism programs in college. Analyzed by world regions, the high concentrations of the journalists with a college degree not related to journalism are in South America (M = 96.3%). The Asian continent has a mean of 90.3 percent journalists holding college degree not related to journalism. The United States also has a high number of journalists holding college degree other than in journalism (89%). When journalism majors are analyzed, findings from different studies reported in Weaver and Willnat (2012) show that safe for South America (Chile = 86.2%; Brazil = 100%); other regions have very average figures of journalists who have majored in journalism. The number of US journalists who have majored in journalism stands at an average of 36 percent. In Germany, this figure stands at 31 percent and in Japan 15 percent. As noted above, these figures demonstrate that in different countries a major in journalism is not a prerequisite to join journalism profession. In France, for example, a diploma from a recognized journalism school is not a requirement for working as a journalist (McMane, 2012). Similarly, in Switzerland, formal journalism education is also not required to become a journalist (Bonfadelli et al., 2012). Therefore, this study will help to know whether most of the Kenyan journalists majored in journalism. This literature review leads to this study’s only research question:
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RQ. What are the demographic backgrounds of Kenyan journalists in terms of age, education, contract type, ethnicity, gender, income, marital status, media type, region of origin, and religion?
Methods This national demographics study surveyed 765 Kenyan journalists working in public and private media organizations. The study covered full-time, contract, and part-time journalists. All types of journalists participated in the survey: correspondents, reporters, editors, senior editors, sub-editors, bureau chiefs, television and radio producers, radio presenters, television news anchors, television camera journalists, and photojournalists.
Sampling Before administering the survey, the researcher compiled a list of all media organizations in Kenya. The Media Council of Kenya provided the lists for the Kenyan print media organizations and the international news agencies with offices in Kenya. The list for broadcast media was obtained from the Communications Commission of Kenya. The three lists resulted in a total of 99 media organizations. These included 52 radio stations, 13 television stations, 11 international news agencies, 8 magazines, 6 dailies, 5 weekly newspapers, 1 monthly newspaper, Kenya News Agency (KNA), KBC, and the Presidential Press Service (PPS). Because there is no complete list of all Kenyan journalists, this researcher personally compiled the names of news people working for the 99 media organizations. This was by contacting each media organization and asking for a complete list of the journalists working for them. During this process, 62 organizations agreed to participate in the study, while 37 media houses declined to cooperate in this study, citing company policies that restrict them from releasing the identity of their workers. The 62 media organizations that cooperated were categorized as follows: 31 radio stations (50%), six television stations (9.7%), six magazines (9.7%), six dailies (9.7%), five weekly newspapers (8.1%), four international news agencies (6.4%), one monthly newspaper (1.6%), KBC 1.6%), KNA (1.6%), and the PPS (1.6%). Appendix 1 provides a list of the organizations that participated in this survey. The 62 organizations were then asked to provide the names and e-mail addresses of all the journalists who worked for them. The researcher, a former reporter in Nairobi with an elaborate network of journalist friends within the Kenyan media, contacted senior editorial managers and journalists known to him. He then requested help in compiling the names of their editorial staff members. The process of compiling the names started on 20 June 2012 and continued throughout the study period. Overall, a total of 1532 journalists were identified by the 62 Kenyan media organizations included in the study. This number reflects well the population of news people in Kenya, because all the major and the most influential media organizations in the country participated in the study (see Appendix 1). As the names of the journalists became available from the various media houses, half of the names in each media entity were selected for inclusion in the survey sample. The
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names were first randomized to avoid listing bias. Then, using systematic random sampling, every second name was selected from each of the 62 media organizations that agreed to participate. The systematic random sampling, which resulted in a final sample of 765 journalists, ensured that the journalists from the 62 media houses would be represented proportionally in the final sample. The 765 journalists included in the sample were then contacted to participate in the survey.
Data collection This study’s data were collected using online and printed questionnaires. Poindexter and McCombs (2000) define surveys as a research technique that uses a standardized questionnaire to collect information about attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and backgrounds and lifestyle characteristics from a sample of respondents. Survey questionnaires have been used successfully in other studies (e.g. Johnstone et al., 1976; Weaver and Willnat, 2012) of the journalists around the world. One of the most fundamental objectives in research is the generalizability of the results. Therefore, the use of a survey in this study allowed for the use of a probability sample. The representative sample creates confidence in this study as it ensures that the findings are generalizable to the entire Kenyan journalist population. In addition, the use of a standardized questionnaire ensured uniformity in measuring the data gathered from the respondents. To ensure credibility in the answering of the online questionnaires – first – a courtesy e-mail was sent to the respondents explaining the study and requesting their participation. This courtesy e-mail was followed a few minutes later by an e-mail that contained a link to the actual online questionnaire (hosted by Qualtrics). For the printed version, the researcher visited the media organizations and waited for the questionnaires to be filled out. The survey questionnaire employed in the study was based on the questionnaire used by Weaver et al. (2007) which contained questions about journalistic demographics. The Weaver et al. questionnaire is based on the 1982 (Weaver and Wilhoit, 1986) and the 1992 (Weaver and Wilhoit, 1986) national telephone surveys of US journalists. For many years, these questionnaires have served as the standard-bearer in national survey of the journalists in different nations (e.g. Herscovitz, 2012). Before administering the survey, a pretest was conducted with 13 Kenyan journalists to ensure that the questionnaire was adequately designed. The journalists who participated in the pretest were subsequently excluded from the main survey. No incentives were offered to the participants. The survey was approved by the university Institutional Review Board. The online survey ran between 23 July 2012 and 26 February 2013 – resulting in 351 completed questionnaires. The data collection using the printed questionnaire ran between 2 January 2013 and 22 February 2013 – resulting in 153 completed questionnaires. Overall, of the 765 journalists who were contacted to participate in the study, 504 completed either the online or the printed questionnaire. This represents a healthy overall response rate of 66 percent. The final sample analyzed in this study represents about onethird of the entire (estimated) Kenyan journalism population and is, therefore, highly
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representative. Appendix 1 provides a list of the response rate for each of the 62 media organizations. From the 503 journalists who reported their job titles (one refused), 34.4 percent were reporters (n = 173), 17.9 percent editors (n = 90), 11.1 percent correspondents (n = 56), 8.3 percent sub-editors (n = 42), 7.5 percent radio presenters and producers (n = 38), 6.4 percent news anchors (n = 32), 4.4 percent bureau chiefs (n = 22), 1.8 percent photojournalists (n = 9), and 8.2 percent other titles (n = 41). For many years, demographic backgrounds have remained a central variable in journalist studies in various nations (e.g. Deprez and Raeymaeckers, 2012; Weaver and Willnat, 2012). Research on journalists’ demographics is important because their background characteristics are likely to influence their work. The demographic characteristics of Kenyan journalists were measured using 10 variables: age, education, contract type, ethnicity, gender, income, marital status, media type, region of origin, and religion. To assess the journalists’ age, respondents were asked to state their year of birth. This is an important variable to examine because age can significantly influence the work of the journalists. Education is likely to influence the work of the journalists on issues such as professional values, journalistic ethics, and journalistic excellence. Education was measured in a 6-point scale: primary school graduate (=1), high school graduate (=2), associate degree graduate (=3), undergraduate (=4), MA graduate (=5), and Ph.D. graduate (=6). Ethnicity was included in the study because it is an important element of identity in Kenya’s multi-ethnic population. In this regard, in a country where covert tribalism is deeply entrenched in institutions, journalists’ ethnicity is likely to influence their work. To measure ethnicity, respondents were asked to select their tribe from the five largest ethnic groups (Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin, and Kamba), plus ‘other’ (for smaller tribes). Because Kenyan tribes cluster in various geographic regions, respondents were asked to name the regions where they originally were from. They were provided with the eight administrative provinces of Kenya: Easter, Central, Coast, Nairobi, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, and Western. Marital status was measured by asking journalists whether they were ‘married’, ‘single’, ‘divorced’, or ‘other’. The marital status can influence the work of Kenyan journalists because as Nyambate (2012) observes, family responsibilities constrain the performance of married female journalists in Kenya. The media type which Kenyan journalists work for was measured on a 6-point scale: daily newspaper, radio, television, Kenya News Agency, weekly newspaper, and international news agencies. Contract type was measured by asking respondents whether their terms of employment were ‘contract’, ‘full-time’, ‘part-time’, or ‘other’. Religion was examined because it can affect the work of the Kenyan journalists. White (1997), for example, found that individual journalists brought their own religious biases to the process of news gatekeeping. Respondents were provided with six options for religion affiliation: ‘Hindu’, ‘Muslim’, ‘Protestant’, ‘Roman Catholic’, ‘no domination’, and ‘other’. Income was measured on a 10-point scale ranging from 1 (=less than $375) to 10 (=more than $4375). This variable can affect journalists’ work because research shows that low income was responsible for job dissatisfaction among journalists
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or less commitment to the journalism profession (e.g. Mwesige, 2004; Weaver and Wilhoit, 1991).
Findings This research explored demographic composition of Kenyan journalists – focusing on 10 demographic characteristics: age, contract type, education, ethnicity, gender, income, marital status, media type, region of origin, and religion. The goal was to investigate how similar or dissimilar Kenyan news people might be from average Kenyan citizens and whether there might be specific demographic characteristics that could influence their work as news people. As shown in Table 1, the typical Kenyan journalist is a male (66%), married (57%), and in his mid-30s (M = 34 years). He tends to have a Bachelor’s degree (46%) and has majored in journalism or mass communication (91%). However, of the 91 percent majoring in journalism or communication, trained at the level of associate degree (45%), and Bachelor’s degree (38.5%). Findings also indicate that 33 percent of the Kenyan journalists work in daily newspapers, followed by radio (24.7%) and television (14.7%), as shown in Table 2. About 1 in 10 journalists (9.9%) in Kenya works for the Kenyan News Agency, while in international news agencies it is 2.2 percent. This implies that the print media are the major employers of Kenyan journalists. By contract type, the vast majority (73%) of Kenyan news people are employed on full-time basis. This ensures organizational stability (in workforce) in Kenya’s media organizations. Table 2 shows that about a quarter (24.9%) of the Kenyan journalists belong to the Kikuyu ethnic group. The Luhya tribe has the second largest population of the Kenyan journalists (20%), followed by Luo (13.3%), Kalenjin (10%), and Kamba (6%). Other smaller tribes constitute 26 percent of the journalism population. This research also found that the majority of the journalists are from the Rift Valley province (21.4%) – the country’s largest administrative unit. The second largest group of the journalists comes from the Western province (19.5%), followed by Central (15.5%) and Eastern (15%). By religion affiliation, 62.3 percent of the Kenyan journalists are Protestants, followed by Roman Catholic 22.5 percent. Only 9.6 percent have no denomination. Income is another important demographic characteristic examined in this study. The results indicate that most of the Kenyan journalists earn between $375 and $625 (22%) per month, followed by those earning between $625 and $875 (19%) and those earning between $875 and $1250 (16%). However, as Table 3 shows, a significant number (17%) of the Kenyan journalists actually earn less than $375 per month, while only 6 percent earn more than $2000 per month.
Discussion The main objective of this research was to construct a portrait of a typical Kenyan journalist. Though the findings demonstrate that the typical Kenyan journalist is a mosaic of characteristics, it is also true that in many ways the Kenyan journalists are pretty similar to the rest of the population. For example, the Kenyan journalists reflect the rest of the
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Ireri Table 1. Demographics of Kenyan journalists by gender, age, marital status, and education. Demographic Gender Male Female Total Age (years) 18–29 30–49 50–64 Total Marital status Married Single Other Divorced Total Education High school Associate degree Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree PhD degree Total Journalism major Yes No Total Journalism training level Associate degree Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree Certificate PhD degree Total
Number of responses
Percent
328 171 499
66.0 34.0 100.0
118 292 15 425
27.8 68.7 3.5 100.0
277 192 10 3 482
57.0 40.0 2.0 1.0 100.0
17 165 225 76 5 488
3.0 34.0 46.0 16.0 1.0 100.0
447 43 490
91.0 9.0 100.0
202 173 61 11 2 449
45.0 38.5 13.6 2.5 0.4 100.0
population in gender, ethnicity, religion, region of origin, and income. This finding reflects Weaver’s (2005) observation that journalists of the 21st century are more demographically representative of their larger societies than those of the past century. Findings revealed that Kenyan journalism is dominated by men – 66 percent against 34 percent for women – a ratio of 2:1. This reflects the patriarchal nature of the Kenyan society, where men dominate almost everything – including leadership and the workforce. It is because of the male dominance that the new Kenyan constitution adopted in 2010 contains provisions for affirmative action to bring to an end the marginalization of
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Table 2. Demographics of Kenyan journalists by media type, contract type, tribe, region of origin, and religion. Demographic Media type Daily newspaper Radio Television Kenya News Agency Weekly newspaper Other Magazine International news agency Total Contract type Full-time Contract Other Part-time Total Tribe Kikuyu Luhya Luo Kalenjin Kamba Other Total Region of origin Rift Valley Western Central Eastern Nyanza Nairobi Coast North eastern Total Religion Protestant Roman Catholic Muslim Christian No denomination Total
Number of respondents
Percent
166 124 74 50 40 25 13 11 503
33.0 24.7 14.7 9.9 7.9 5.0 2.6 2.2 100.0
367 92 25 18 502
73.0 18.0 5.0 4.0 100.0
120 96 64 48 29 124 481
24.9 20.0 13.3 10.0 6.0 25.8 100.0
105 96 76 74 69 40 31 1 492
21.4 19.5 15.5 15.0 14.0 8.1 6.0 0.5 100.0
300 108 15 12 46 481
62.3 22.5 3.1 2.5 9.6 100.0
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Ireri Table 3. Monthly salary of Kenyan journalists. Monthly income in US$
Monthly income in KSH
Percent
Less than $375 Between $375 and $625 Between $625 and $875 Between $875 and $1250 Between $1250 and $1875 Between $1875 and $2500 Between $2500 and $3125 Between $3125 and $3750 Between $3750 and $4375 Over $4375
Less than Ksh 30,000 Between Ksh 30,000 and 50,000 Between Ksh 50,000 and 70,000 Between Ksh 70,000 and Ksh 100,000 Between Ksh 100,000 and Ksh 150,000 Between Ksh 150,000 and Ksh 200,000 Between Ksh 200,000 and Ksh 250,000 Between Ksh 250,000 and Ksh 300,000 Between Ksh 300,000 and Ksh 350,000 Over Ksh 350,000
17 22 19 16 15 5 1 2 1 2
women in employment and leadership. To understand Kenyan men dominance in leadership and employment, one needs to refer to a 2013 Kenya Institute of Management study. The research found that 34 percent of the 57 companies listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) do not have a woman on their board (Herbling, 2013). The study also shows that women take a 12 percent share of directorship seats on the boards of the NSElisted companies. What this suggests is that the Kenyan media news content is more likely to report less on female issues across different fields. There is also a likelihood of lack of plurality of sources in news content, with news sources tilted in favor of men. With dominant male news sources, it means the Kenyan people are made to see issues of national importance through the thinking and views of men sources. Though no concrete empirical evidence is available to this effect, Ireri (2012) in a study examining the visibility of Kenyan Members of Parliament (MPs) on four national newspapers found that of the 18 female MPs only 1 appeared in the top 10 category and only 3 in the top 20 list. That the journalist population in Kenya is 84.8 percent Christian mirrors the distribution of religion affiliation in the country. Christians constitute 82.5 percent of the Kenyan population, according to the Central Intelligence Agency (2014). The implication of this is that issues affecting Christians in Kenya are likely to receive more media attention, than issues pertinent to minority religion groups who constitute a mere 3.1 percent of the Kenyan journalists’ population. Relatedly, this domination of the Kenyan media by Christian journalists is likely to result in a biased reporting against minority religions – for example, Muslims. For sure, this bias reporting against Muslims is witnessed in the current fight against al-Shabaab, an Islamist terror group based in Somalia responsible for a spate of terror attacks on the Kenya soil. For example, a 2014 Media Council of Kenya report castigated the Kenyan journalists for framing Muslims as ‘terrorists’ in their coverage of Al-shabaab terror attacks in Kenya (Media Council of Kenya, 2014). Reacting to the same report, Sheikh Abdallah Kheir, a Muslim scholar noted that the use of such catchphrases as ‘Islamic terrorism’, or ‘radical Islam’ by the Kenyan media promoted Islamophobia by linking crime with Islam and Muslim (Jamal, 2014).
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Kenyan journalists’ ethnic composition also reflects the contours of the country’s ethnic distribution. The five tribes (Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin, and Kamba), which dominate the Kenyan media, are also the most dominant ethnic groups. These communities wield enormous influence in the country’s socioeconomic and political affairs. Their dominance might explain why ethnicity is one of the factors, which influence media political leanings in Kenya. Because of the pervasive nature of ethnicity in the Kenyan culture, the journalists are likely to bring ethnic biases in their work. The assumed biases are likely to influence their news selection – especially in political reporting. For instance, Ireri (2012) found that Kenyan daily newspapers gave more coverage to politicians from the five dominant tribes. He concluded that the newspapers’ coverage of politicians from dominant communities ‘encapsulates “political parallelism” in which the African media products mirror ethnicity’ (p. 728). The ethnic bias in reporting political events was evidenced during the 2007 elections where the Kenyan journalists were accused of taking ethnic partisan positions in covering the disputed 2007 presidential poll (Ohito, 2008). This ethnic-biased coverage of the election campaigns is one of the factors that triggered the 2007 post-election violence that left over 1000 people dead. The five major tribes also are the predominant inhabitants of Rift Valley, Western, Central, Nyanza, and Eastern provinces – the reason why 87 percent of the Kenyan journalists originate from these regions. Though the Kalenjin community largely inhabits Rift Valley, Kikuyus are the second largest tribe in the province’s population. Western is a Luhya-dominated region, the same as Central province – dominated by the Kikuyus. The Kambas occupy the lower part of Eastern province, while Luos are the most populous ethnic group in Luo-Nyanza part of the Nyanza province. Therefore, the same way the Kenyan journalists are likely to show bias in covering politicians from their tribes; they also might be biased when reporting on issues affecting the regions where they come from. Most of the Kenyan journalists who majored in journalism or communication were trained at the level of associate degree (diploma) – 45 percent. This confirms why the majority of journalists (26.3%) pursued their journalism training at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC), an institution strongly grounded in offering education at the associate degree level (Ireri, 2015). Being the oldest journalism and mass communication college in the country explains why KIMC remains the sultan of journalism education in Kenya. The finding that the majority of the journalists were trained at the level of associate degree reflects the larger population, where majority of the Kenyans are associate degree graduates. However, with the ongoing expansion of the education sector, these statistics are going to change soon. Diploma or associate degrees are fast losing their relevance in the Kenyan job market. Currently, Kenya’s education sector is experiencing a high demand for undergraduate education. More Kenyans (including journalists) are enrolling in Bachelor’s degree programs than during any other period in the history of independent Kenya. Gudo et al. (2011) point out that the demand for higher education in Kenya has continued to increase. Therefore, with the current high quest for higher-level education, future generations of the Kenyan journalists will be better educated. As such, this suggests that with bettereducated journalists, Kenya is likely to have a more developed journalism profession in
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near future. This would benefit the larger public because well-educated journalists are likely to do a better job – for example – producing well-researched stories. Still, bettereducated journalists are more likely to challenge authorities when investigating social evils perpetuated by government officials or other influential members in society. The fact that the vast majority of the Kenyan journalists (91%) majored in journalism or communication means that training in these two fields is the main entry avenue to the journalism profession in Kenya. Therefore, training in journalism or communication means that the Kenyan journalists are trained on the observance of the basic tenets in the practice of journalism, something which results in better-produced news content. Generally, the emphasis on journalism training might explain why Kenyan media is one of the most developed on the African content. In income, the results show that the Kenyan journalists are poorly paid – with a significant 17 percent earning less than $375 per month, and around a quarter taking home a monthly income of between $375 and $625. There are also glaring disparities between top and low earners – with the former earning over $4375 a month, compared to the latter’s less than $375. The poor remuneration has far-reaching ramifications. The poor pay leaves the Kenyan journalists open to manipulation by powerful elites who offer them a wide range of favors – including cash, paid trips, free meals, and job opportunities, to mention a few. Because whoever pays the piper calls the tune; it means that the poorly paid Kenyan journalists produce stories that favor news sources who offer them extra income or other favors. Because of poor pay, Ireri (2015) reported that the Kenyan journalists engage in unethical behaviors – such as – corruption, bribery, and extortion. A Kenyan journalist says: ‘One reason why corruption is common has to do with poor remuneration. Most of media houses don’t pay well. So to supplement the poor pay, we journalists look for other alternative sources of income’ (Ireri, 2015). The end result of the corruption among Kenyan journalists is that it does compromise objective reporting. According to Ireri (2015), an overwhelming majority of the Kenyan journalists (77.4%) admit that corruption in the media kills objective reporting. Hence, the Kenyan media content carries views of elites who can afford bribes at the expense of impartial coverage of public issues. This means that Kenyan news consumers are fed with content that is not based on the principle of objective journalism. Poor pay is also responsible for the Kenyan journalists’ average commitment (53%) to the profession and their high mobility from one media house to another, which stands at 57 percent (Ireri, 2015). For the same reason, Ireri (2015) found that slightly over a quarter (26.8%) of the Kenyan journalists who plan to quit the journalism profession in the next 5 years prefer to pursue a career in public relations. This is because of better income and working conditions. Similarly, Weaver and Wilhoit (1991) found that the issue of low salary was the main reason why the US journalists were leaving the profession.
Conclusion This study examined the demographic composition of the Kenyan journalists. The study is highly representative because it included journalists from all the major media
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organizations in Kenya. Findings indicate that the typical Kenyan journalist is male, married, and in his mid-30s. He tends to have a Bachelor’s degree and has received college-level training in journalism or communication. However, the majority of the Kenyan journalists were trained at the level of associate degree. While 34 percent of news people in Kenya work in daily newspapers, the vast majority of them are employed on full-time basis. In ethnic grouping, about a quarter of the Kenyan journalists belong to the Kikuyu ethnic community. This study’s results also indicate that the Kenyan journalists are poorly paid – with majority of them earning between $375 and $625 per month. Despite the fact that the research provides very useful insights and information about demographic backgrounds of the journalists in Kenya, the study suffers from some limitations. For instance, some media organizations declined to participate in such an important national study. Future research should, however, include all media organizations in the country. Doing so would provide more useful data and findings – resulting in a more complete composition of the Kenyan journalist population – in relation to their demographic characteristics. Future research should also strive to include freelance journalists who were omitted in this research. Their inclusion would provide a more complete demographic picture of Kenyan news people. Acknowledgements The author thanks Professor Lars Willnat for his insightful feedback on the article.
Funding This research was funded by The Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications, Nairobi, Kenya.
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Author biography Kioko Ireri is an Assistant Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication in the Journalism Department at the United States International University-Africa, Kenya. His research interests include political communication, international communication, media effects on political attitudes, theoretical aspects of public opinion formation, and journalist studies. He has published in such journals as Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, International Journal of Communication, and African Journalism Studies.
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Appendix 1 Media organizations and response rates.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
Media organization
Media type
Biblia Husema Fish FM German TV Horticultural News Laikipia Times Management Meru FM Mulembe FM Musyi FM Nairobi Law Monthly PPS China Radio Sulwe FM Sunday Express Western Times Kass FM Taifa Leo Bahari FM Capital FM KNA CEO Africa Kameme FM Easy FM QFM Sunday Nation The Standard Business Daily KBC Daily Nation Financial Post K24 Kiss TV Reuters Muuga FM Maa FM Ramogi FM The People Daily Sheki FM Radio Citizen Wimwaro FM The Star
Radio Radio International News Agency Magazine Newspaper Magazine Radio Radio Radio Magazine Presidential Press Service International News Agency Radio Magazine Weekly Newspaper Radio Daily Newspaper Radio Radio Kenya News Agency Magazine Radio Radio Radio Weekly Newspaper Daily Newspaper Daily Newspaper National Broadcaster Daily Newspaper Weekly Newspaper Television Television International News Agency Radio Radio Radio Daily Newspaper Radio Radio Radio Daily Newspaper
Sample Sample Number of Response frame size responses rate (%) 4 4 2 3 6 7 3 10 8 3 4 4 11 6 13 24 29 13 23 132 9 10 7 8 21 132 36 97 207 7 38 7 12 15 10 12 80 15 36 18 81
2 2 1 2 3 3 1 5 4 2 2 2 6 3 7 12 14 6 12 66 5 5 4 4 11 64 17 51 105 3 18 3 6 8 5 5 40 7 18 9 40
2 2 1 2 3 3 1 5 4 2 2 2 6 3 7 11 12 5 10 54 4 4 3 3 8 47 12 36 73 2 12 2 4 5 3 3 24 4 10 5 21
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 92 86 83 83 82 80 80 75 75 73 73 71 71 70 67 67 67 67 63 60 60 60 57 56 55 53
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42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62
Media organization
Media type
Sample Sample Number of Response frame size responses rate (%)
Chamgei FM Classic 105 East FM Egesa FM Inooro FM Kiss 100 Pregnanat Radio Jambo Radio Umoja The East African Vuuka FM X-FM KTN Citizen TV QTV BBC NTV Baraka FM Mbaitu FM Radio Maisha Weekly Citizen Total
Radio Radio Radio Radio Radio Radio Magazine Radio Radio Weekly Newspaper Radio Radio Television Television Television International News Agency Television Radio Radio Radio Weekly Newspaper
24 8 7 17 21 8 4 9 5 15 12 7 40 36 18 30 44 19 10 20 11 1532
12 4 4 8 10 4 2 4 2 8 6 4 20 18 9 15 22 10 5 10 5 765
6 2 2 4 5 2 1 2 1 4 3 2 9 8 4 6 9 4 2 4 2 504
50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 45 44 44 43 41 40 40 40 40 66
