The Clay Court Affair Part II

Well, as weeks go, this one has been an interesting one. Most of you seem to feel deeply in the matter of the Nation's usage of material sourced from here. I seem to have become an unofficial revolutionary of sorts!

The Global Voices have raised the issue in this post (Good looking out Ory)


Let me answer the most asked questions today.

Q: Did you know your material was going to be used?
A: No. I was just as surprised

Q: Did you write or call The Columnist concerning this matter?
A: Yes. Details of our communication are here

Q: Have any of the Nation's editors been in touch with you?
A: No.

Q: What do you think of all the furore that has been raised
A: Well, to be honest, I didn't think quite so many people passed through here! I'm flattered.

Q: Will this affair make you reconsider putting your writings online
A: NO!

I've also just received a mail from the extremely energetic Truphena

From: Truphena
To: M, Lucy Oriang (Managing Editor)
Cc: Clay Muganda (Columnist) , Betty Muriuki (Friday Nation Editor), Charles Onyango Obbo (Managing Editor, Products)

I notice with disappointment that in your Friday 4 March issue of the Daily Nation you have failed to mention the matter of sourcing material from alternative sources and failing to credit the source, as was the case with the issue of Clay Court on the 25th of February.

I regret to say that this matter cannot be swept under the carpet and ignored. Continued silence will only lead to further erosion of the reputation of the Nation, which continues to happen the longer you ignore the matter

For instance the matter has now grown beyond the active web community of Kenyan diaspora, and has now caught the attention of the international web fraternity and is the subject of discussion in The Global Village, a Harvard University sponsored initiative. The issue is raised here http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/index.php?p=60, and again the credibility of the paper is taking a beating

I believe that the Kenyan Media is signatory to the Ethical codes of the World Free Press, as outlined in the East Africa Free Press Assembly Nairobi, Kenya 2000, and Ethics in the media has been discussed at length.

My interest in this matter lies in the fact that:
- Such practice is harmful to the Nation, and the Kenyan media at large, because if they lose credibility their role as a watchdog of society will suffer
- Such practice will stile the development of alternative modes of expression, such as web logs, which again is bad for the public
- Such practices will also stifle the abundance of talent out there who write not for the money but for the love if it.

I hope the Nation will at the end of the day do the right thing, not only for its own benefit, but that of the media as a whole.

Regards

Truphena

The responses to this ought to make for some interesting reading. I'll keep you posted

Nyota Ndogo - Mambo Kombo