An association of editors has warned that some media houses may soon shut down as the effects of COVID-19 Pandemic take a toll on the sector.
The Kenya Editors’ Guild notes with concern the difficulties facing the Kenyan media occasioned by shrinking revenue streams and now wants the government to bail out the sector.
However, the editors are more concerned that some media houses are taking advantage of the pandemic to unprocedural layoff media workers.
More than 300 journalists have lost their jobs in the past nine months with a hundred others getting pay-cuts. Media workers on the job are depressed unsure of their job security.
“We are also distressed by the unprofessional methods employed by some (media houses), such as notifying employees by SMS, that they have been retrenched,” regretted the editors’ body.
In a statement, the editors say laying off workers, in any industry, is not a matter to be treated casually but should involve a humane, caring and participatory process.
This comes days after Mediamax Networks Ltd notified hundreds of journalists of their retrenchment of via an SMS and asked to pick their termination letters at a Nairobi hotel.
The body cites that some of the anti-COVID-19 measures, however painful, are necessary during a period of drastic declines in revenue but may harm the practice of journalism in Kenya.
“As the watchdog of society, the media must itself be leading by example in regards to fairness and justice within its ranks,” reads a statement signed by KEG President Churchill Otieno and others.
He says the media sector is at crossroads calling for urgent stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the state of media in the COVID-19 Pandemic era.
Among other issues, the guild is proposing the waiver of all communications licence fees as well as county and national governments clear all pending bills owed to media houses for sustainability.