Performance of journalists in Kenya: An assessment of the working conditions.

Abstract

Journalism is an exciting and challenging career where journalists work long and irregular hours with evening and late night work a common feature. This is because an assignment cannot be dropped just because a shift has finished. When an unexpected development takes place, a journalist is called back to work when other people are not working such as at night, weekend, and public holidays thus making their social life very difficult. Apart from these, there are pressures to meet deadlines and ensure that facts are presented accurately. This study investigates the working conditions of journalists in Kenya and its impact on their performance in view of their role as facilitators of the sharing of information for good governance, promotion of accountability and the creation of a participatory citizenry. It identifies the conditions that prevail concerning journalists' work relations, physical environment, capacity building, social services and remuneration in relation to their performance. The inquiry opens by looking at the working conditions of journalists in other parts of the world before narrowing down to Kenya. The key objectives of the study were: to explore the working conditions of journalists in Kenya, to examine how the conditions affect the performance of the journalists and, to find out issues that threaten the free function of the journalists. The survey method was used to collect data for the study where journalists were given a questionnaire to complete. The data thus collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). The Social Responsibility Theory and the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory were used to carry out the study. These theories come in handy because, journalists have a responsibility to their society to pursue the facts and the truth behind the facts while at the same time they have their needs to fulfill. This calls for a balancing act on the part of the journalists in order to perform their task adequately. The study seems to suggest that timidity due to harassment from disgruntled members of the public leads to the practice of self-censorship which militates against full enjoyment of the freedom of the press in Kenya. Having examined the working conditions of journalists III Kenya, the study concludes that harassment, victimization, censorship both at self and management levels, and lack of incentives are some of the conditions that bedevil journalism in Kenya.