THE EFFECT OF PRESS FREEDOM ON MEDIA OPERATIONS IN KENYA

EVELINE ATIENO

IN12/00080/19

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO KISII UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF

INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN
COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA

APRIL, 2022
 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

1.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Press freedom is a principle that accords journalists the right to communicate and relay
information through various media including print, broadcast and the internet freely and without
government control. The media ensures circulation and flow of news and information in the
society by educating, informing and entertaining the public. Individuals in the society cannot get
sufficient information on their own in order to make informed decisions on public matters so
they rely on media to provide information. The media is also a plug for public opinions,
discussions and educating the public. It also takes part in seeking the truth and serves as a
watchdog over the government and without the freedom the media cannot operate with ease and
achieve all these duties.

Altshuler (2020) everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes
freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Stopping the spread of misinformation is
undoubtedly a worthy goal in a time of crisis.

A free press is able to hold those in power accountable and if media are generally free to engage
in watchdog reporting, then media are Free and are able to safely criticize political and economic
elites at both the national and local levels (Kenny, 2020).

A free press and informed public opinions are appointed as measures of quality of a democratic
State The combination of a free press and an enlightened public opinion guarantee the quality of
democracy (Chomsky, 2017).

Keane (2013) argues that the press and the public bring light to the modern world. The freedom
to express thoughts without censorship and the freedom of the press have been basic rights.
However, the powers to say or write whatever you see fit is proving a stern test of democratic
ideals. Over time, other laws have been enacted laws of libel, slander, contempt, privacy and
confidentiality to balance the greater good inherent in the right to free speech with the equally
necessary rights of the individuals to protect themselves from falsehoods and malicious attacks.

Freedom House (2017), the ability of journalists to report freely on matters of public interest is a
crucial indicator of democracy. A free press can inform citizens of their leaders’ successes or
failures, convey the people’s needs and desires to government bodies, and provide a platform for
the open exchange of information and ideas.
OZTUNC (2021), Media freedom and independence are the pillars of a given democratic
society. Since the media makes up bridge between the political authority and public opinion, its
independence is crucial for survival of democracy. The media makes up one of the most
important mediation institutions in a state of law. To maintain harmonious relationships between
citizens and the leaders of a given society, the media must be free from economic and political
interference.

Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights declares that freedom of expression also
includes freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without
interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.

Media, as a term, is ambiguous. ‘Media’ refers to institutions and infrastructures that make and
distribute particular contents in forms that are more or less fixed and carry their context with
them, but ‘media’ are also those contents themselves. Either way, the term links fundamentally
to the institutional dimensions of communication, whether as infrastructure or content,
production or circulation. Media are fundamental to our sense of living in a social world. Since
the beginning of modernity, media have transformed the scale on which we act as social beings,
and now in the era of digital media, media themselves are being transformed as platforms,
content and producers multiply (Couldry, 2012).

According to Zuniga (2020), undoubtedly, the media exercise a significant influence on public
opinion. For this reason some authoritarian governments intervene in the media industry. The
governments can directly control the media sector by touching media ownership and censoring
content, or indirectly control the media by pressuring them to favorably cover government
issues.

According Hoffman et al (2013), press freedom provides coverage opportunities that are
unavailable in states that restrict media reporting. Press freedom exerts little influence on attacks
by domestic perpetrators, however. The results also suggest that the more capable a state is
relative to others the more likely it is to suffer repeated attacks from abroad.

If there is a stage of freedom in any country, then it is the freedom of expression. If the person
will not have the freedom to speak, then surely there is no other freedom for him. The right to
express itself gives birth to all other rights. The whole world looks at the media to have access
the true and correct information. But with increase of paid news and yellow journalism, the
legitimacy of information given by the media is vulnerable. As the unethical characters are
coming out of media industry and forced the policy makers to think about it to introduce new
laws and regulations to maintain its place in the hearts of a common man. Media information has
a wide impact. If the media gives misleading information, then it can definitely play an explosive
role in the society. Media false information or misinformation can damage a person’s reputation.
Social reputation is not a one-day earning thing. It takes a life to earn and a mistake in the media
can end a person’s lifetime earnings. It does not make up (Chaudhary, 2020).
According to Jamil (2019), the freedom of expression and freedom of information are
indispensable components of free media. Without these two basic rights, an informed, active, and
participatory citizenry is impossible. Members of the media require special protections to enable
them to operate freely in order to advocate for human rights, public discourse, and the plurality
of ideas. Media systems and their content and the degree of freedom of expression and freedom
of the press are reflections of dominant cultural elements in society.

Freedom of expression and press freedom are influenced by economic and power arrangements
in the society, and the information age is not altering that fundamental principle. The social,
economic and technical changes underlying information society are altering some existing
structural arrangements and are redistributing power, but they are not eliminating systemic
organization and control. These changes are affecting freedoms in different parts of
communication processes and systems, making necessary new understanding and approaches to
promoting and ensuring freedom (Picard, 2014).

According to Freedom House (2017), the ability of journalists to report freely on matters of
public interest is a crucial indicator of democracy. A free press can inform citizens of their
leaders’ successes or failures, convey the people’s needs and desires to government bodies, and
provide a platform for the open exchange of information and ideas. When media freedom is
restricted, these vital functions breakdown leading to poor decision making and harmful
outcomes for leaders and citizens alike

According to Sturges (2015), freedom of speech protects all types of media, irrespective of
whether it publishes innocuous images or pornography, which is a huge business with the
internet as its chief disseminating source. With the availability of a fast pace internet that allows
an anonymous access to inappropriate websites, children and younger generation have access to
harmful material. The promise of anonymity opens more opportunities to children to consume
pornographic content.

Contemporary techniques such as the coordinated use of internet “trolls” to drown out and
threaten government critics should also count as an erosion of media freedom and freedom of
speech (Tsui 2015).

According to Alam and Shah (2013), the press and media more generally shape public opinion
and are factors in political decision making process. Many governments pass laws that constrain
the media and their reporting capabilities. In these instances, governments may use the press as
propaganda channels. In other cases, governments use overly restrictive laws to control press
reporting. An independent and a fair press play a role in the development of a society. Policy
makers should recognize that a free and fair press enhances the growth of economy and policies
should be devised that promote and propagate a more fair and unbiased press. The press also
‘shortens’ the gap between government and general public (due to the information flow), thereby
helping the implementation of policies effectively and more efficiently.
The press provides a forum in which all sorts of ideas are presented. It becomes the market place
of ideas. If the audience is concerned about an issue and conveys this concern through press,
perhaps something can be done. The agenda setting function of a journalist is to have a large
influence on audiences by choosing newsworthy stories through mass media. They don’t have to
tell an audience what to think, but they could tell an audience what to think about. The media
puts things on a country’s radar. The press is considered to be the watchdog of government
which means that the press will cover in detail the activities of the government. It will watch for
scandal and wrongdoing (Riley, 2012).

According to Salt and Paper (2018), sending and sharing of information is the major function of
media. Since information is knowledge and knowledge is power, media offer authentic and
timely facts and opinions about various event and situations to mass audience as informative
items. Information provided by mass media can be opinionated, objective, subjective, primary
and secondary. Informative functions of media also lets the audience knows about the happening
around them and come to truth. Media disseminates information mostly through news broadcast
on radio, TV, as well as columns of the newspaper or magazines.

The first function of mass communication is to serve as the eyes and ears for those seeking
information about the world. The internet, televisions, and newspapers are the main sources of
finding out what’s going around you. Society relies on mass communication for news and
information about our daily lives; it reports the weather, current issues, and the latest celebrity
gossip and even start times for games. Most mass communication simultaneously entertains and
informs. People often turn to media during our leisure time to provide an escape from boredom
and relief from the predictability of our everyday lives. We rely on media to take us to places we
could not afford to go or imagine, acquaints us with bits of culture, and make us think or cry.
Entertainment can have the secondary effect of providing companionship and/or catharsis
through the media we consume (Paynton and Hahn, 2015).

Media freedom is instrumental. It is not an end in itself but a means to other ends, in particular
the facilitation of the search for truth, democratic self-government, and individual autonomy and
self-expression. Therefore, media freedom is conditional: it depends on the media serving truth,
democratic self-government and human autonomy. It follows that freedom can be limited and
that institutions might cease to benefit from media freedom if they do not serve those ends. Such
conditionality should be transparent. Accountability should be to the public and civil society, not
the state. (O’Neil, 2018)
 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Press is the news industry of mass media that gathers and disseminates news to the general
public through print, broadcast and the internet. The press keeps the public informed, educated
and entertained. The media also acts as watchdogs of the government and provides the platform
for multiplicity of voices to be heard at national, regional and local level.

Press freedom is the fundamental principle right of the press to communicate and relay
information through the internet, broadcast and print freely without government control and
interference. A free press is important to any free society as it helps in dissemination of
information on public matters and criticizing the wrong doings of the government which cannot
be achieved easily by a citizen journalist.

Since the press has the freedom to relay news and information to the public through any media
platform without any interference from the government, many media practitioners have diverted
their media operations which are aimed at achieving their respective media stations’ objectives
and serving the public interests to unimportant issues which are not part of their station’s
objectives. The rising concerns of misinformation and data manipulation by the media which is
mostly caused by the media practitioners taking advantage of the media freedom has brought
about drawbacks in the media operations and has made the public lose trust in the media.
 1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH

1.3.1 Main Objective

The main objective of this study is to establish the impact that press freedom has imposed on
various media activities and operations.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of this research will be:

(ⅰ) To determine how press freedom right has enabled media practitioners operate smoothly

(ⅱ) To establish how the press misuse the press freedom right

(ⅲ) To determine how the freedom right of the press affect media activities

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study will be guided by the following questions:

(ⅰ) How has the press freedom right enabled media practitioners operate smoothly?

(ⅱ) How has the press misused the press freedom right?

(ⅲ) How does freedom right of the press affect media activities?
 1.5 JUSTIFICATION FOR STUDY

A free and independent press that keeps the public informed, educated and entertained is crucial
to any free society however, this freedom sometimes make the press irresponsible when they
relay incorrect and inaccurate news and information to their audience since they have the right
to relay these information without being questioned for their actions of misinformation.

Several studies have been conducted in regards to press freedom right and how it has enabled
journalists conduct their duties of ensuring news circulation and flow in the society with ease,
but the researchers have failed to address the issue of the impact the press freedom has had on
their operations. As much as press freedom has accorded journalists freedom to operate freely in
the society without any interference from the government, it has greatly affected various
operations of the press since most of the journalists have diverted from their duties of supplying
correct and accurate information to their audience to relaying misleading information and gossip
which makes the integrity of the press questionable.

This research will aim at addressing the hindrances that press freedom has on different
operations of the media, and how it has affected media practitioners’ integrity and audiences’
trust on their content and productions.
 1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The knowledge from this research will aid the policy makers in the field of communications and
media to adjust the necessary regulations in regards to press freedom since absolute freedom of
the press has contributed to the rising issues of misinformation, fake news and data manipulation
in the field of media which has greatly affected their operations.

The findings of this study will also add to existing knowledge in the education sector. This
includes media students and communication instructors so as to inform them more on press
freedom and the impacts of press freedom has on media content if misused.

The information in this study will also be of great importance to media practitioners on the issue
of press freedom, how important it is for their daily media operations and how if they misuse
this freedom right it might affect their operations.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will be based in Kisii town and will run for a period of one year to enable a thorough,
accurate and substantive research. Kisii town has a manageable population which includes media
stations like Kisii Fm radio, media practitioners and media students from education institutions
like Kisii University who will contribute hugely on this research since they are all in the field of
communication and media.
 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any
media and regardless of frontiers. Stopping the spread of misinformation is undoubtedly a
worthy goal in a time of crisis (Altshuler, 2020). However, this brings about the issue of media
censorship whereby governments have suppressed expression from citizens under the intention
of stopping dangerous rumors, objectionable, harmful or sensitive information. They have also
targeted media outlets under the impression of stopping the spread of false information or news.
Free media is critical to dispelling lies, without it, false information inevitably spread but again,
the press cannot be responsible without the government keeping an eye on them and ensuring
that they operate by the rules and regulations in delivering authentic and fact checked
information to the public and not just for fame.

Nam (2012) argues that the erosion of media freedom includes a variety of actions taken by a
government ranging from the harassment and prosecution of critical journalists, the censoring of
press output, the closure through legal or illegal means of opposition-aligned media outlets, and
the saturation of the media environment through state-owned or sympathetic private media.
Journalists go through a lot when performing their duties of relaying news and information to
serve the public interest and with the freedom; many journalists have been harassed and
assaulted whenever they try to unveil wrong doings of those in authority. He defines freedom of
expression more broadly as to the ability of private individuals as well as those in the broadcast
or print media to openly express their political views without fear of sanction. A free press,
because of its ability to monitor and publicize the activities of government, especially if they are
contrary to legal or ethical standards, has long been regarded as a core requirement of
democracy.

Contemporary techniques such as the coordinated use of internet “trolls” to drown out and
threaten government critics should also count as an erosion of media freedom and freedom of
speech (Tsui, 2015). Many media practitioners nowadays create anonymous social media
accounts and use them to ‘troll” authorities by posting inflammatory, irrelevant and offensive
information about them which is against the principles of professional journalism and since they
have the freedom to express themselves without being held accountable. This has made the
public question journalists’ integrity.

In the modern conception, the press is often regarded as an institutional check on the integrity of
government, providing a decentralized mechanism to monitor agents (the government) on behalf
of principals (the public). Today, some demographics reject the idea of “objective” media
altogether (Marchi 2012). Media is essential in informing the public about the doings of the
government and ensures the government stays within the eye of the public, informs them about
new policies and how they are of benefit to the public.
According to OZTUNC (2021), Media freedom and independence are the pillars of a given
democratic society. Since the media makes up bridge between the political authority and public
opinion, its independence is crucial for survival of democracy. The media makes up one of the
most important mediation institutions in a state of law. To maintain harmonious relationships
between citizens and the leaders of a given society, the media must be free from economic and
political interference. However, most times the media is not actually free from these
interferences.

Allcott and Gentzkow (2017) assert that a partisan media environment can still be democracy-
enhancing. They state that what matters most is that the media environment is open and
competitive. Media freedom also relates to democracy in a more diffuse sense. The freedom to
express dissenting political views in public is necessary to a functioning democracy even in the
minimalist sense, not to mention the fully liberal sense in that case, an open media environment
opens up opportunities for media easy operations and a competitive media environment enables
the press to deliver the best services to the public with an aim of gaining their trust through
supply of accurate news and information.

Ideally, a democracy presupposes the freedom of the press and a well informed public opinion,
that participates actively in the State's affairs in which is integrated. The role of media is to bring
accurate information to citizens, working as a messenger of news, a connection point with the
world and a democratic counterweight. The media hold a vital role in the health of democracy. In
a pluralistic and democratic society, citizens can express their opinions (Kenny, 2020).He asserts
that a free press is able to hold those in power accountable and if media are generally free to
engage in watchdog reporting, then media are Free and are able to safely criticize political and
economic elites at both the national and local levels. A free press and informed public opinions
are appointed as measures of quality of a democratic State The combination of a free press and
an enlightened public opinion guarantee the quality of democracy (Chomsky, 2017).

Keane (2013) argues that the press and the public bring light to the modern world. The freedom
to express thoughts without censorship and the freedom of the press have been basic rights.
However, the powers to say or write whatever you see fit is proving a stern test of democratic
ideals. Over time, other laws have been enacted laws of libel, slander, contempt, privacy and
confidentiality to balance the greater good inherent in the right to free speech with the equally
necessary rights of the individuals to protect themselves from falsehoods and malicious attacks.
These laws ensure that the press does not relay false information that can cause damage to
people’s reputations or disclosing their source’s information that may put them in harm.

According to Freedom House (2017), the ability of journalists to report freely on matters of
public interest is a crucial indicator of democracy. A free press can inform citizens of their
leaders’ successes or failures, convey the people’s needs and desires to government bodies, and
provide a platform for the open exchange of information and ideas. When media. However,
absolute media freedom can also bring about media irresponsibility.
Serafeim (2012) argues that for hundreds of years, journalists around the world have been
harassed, imprisoned, and killed in their efforts to search for trustworthy information. Digital
media environment seems to have generated a series of limitations for press freedom and
journalists around the world, with the most notable one being the high level of online harassment
of journalists in terms of press censorship. Waisbord (2020) refers to the harassment of
journalists as ‘mob censorship’, defined as ‘bottom up, citizen vigilantism aimed at ‘disciplining’
journalism, which severely threatens the level of press freedom in western countries.

Self-censorship can, in certain cases, have some value for professional journalists but codes of
ethics tend to encourage it only as regards sensitive issues for example; transmission of
unnecessarily violent images, publication of redundant intimate details regarding criminal
attacks. In all other cases, self-censorship can be a severe obstacle to a healthy media system and
affect the dynamics of influence on press freedom (Serafeim 2012).

Freedom of expression is most often interpreted as the right for freely conveying information,
opinion, ideas and images. In many situations, access to information may be even more crucial
factor for journalism. Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights declares that freedom
of expression also includes freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and
ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.

Media freedom is not absolute. It is curtailed by other rights and the rights of others (unlike, for
example, freedom of opinion) and by the public interest as defined by the public. Where
regulation is necessary, behaviors rather than content should be regulated. Media freedom is
instrumental. It is not an end in itself but a means to other ends, in particular the facilitation of
the search for truth, democratic self-government, and individual autonomy and self-expression.
Therefore, media freedom is conditional: it depends on the media serving truth, democratic self-
government and human autonomy. It follows that freedom can be limited and that institutions
might cease to benefit from media freedom if they do not serve those ends. Such conditionality
should be transparent. Accountability should be to the public and civil society, not the state.
(O’Neil, 2018)

The press provides a forum in which all sorts of ideas are presented. It becomes the market place
of ideas. If the audience is concerned about an issue and conveys this concern through press,
perhaps something can be done. The agenda setting function of a journalist is to have a large
influence on audiences by choosing newsworthy stories through mass media. They don’t have to
tell an audience what to think, but they could tell an audience what to think about. The media
puts things on a country’s radar. The press is considered to be the watchdog of government
which means that the press will cover in detail the activities of the government. It will watch for
scandal and wrongdoing (Riley, 2012).
According to Sturges (2015), freedom of speech protects all types of media, irrespective of
whether it publishes innocuous images or pornography, which is a huge business with the
internet as its chief disseminating source. With the availability of a fast pace internet that allows
an anonymous access to inappropriate websites, children and younger generation have access to
harmful material. The promise of anonymity opens more opportunities to children to consume
pornographic content.

According to Salt and Paper (2018), sending and sharing of information is the major function of
media. Since information is knowledge and knowledge is power, media offer authentic and
timely facts and opinions about various event and situations to mass audience as informative
items. Information provided by mass media can be opinionated, objective, subjective, primary
and secondary. Informative functions of media also lets the audience knows about the happening
around them and come to truth. Media disseminates information mostly through news broadcast
on radio, TV, as well as columns of the newspaper or magazines.

The first function of mass communication is to serve as the eyes and ears for those seeking
information about the world. The internet, televisions, and newspapers are the main sources of
finding out what’s going around you. Society relies on mass communication for news and
information about our daily lives; it reports the weather, current issues, and the latest celebrity
gossip and even start times for games. Most mass communication simultaneously entertains and
informs. People often turn to media during our leisure time to provide an escape from boredom
and relief from the predictability of our everyday lives. We rely on media to take us to places we
could not afford to go or imagine, acquaints us with bits of culture, and make us think or cry.
Entertainment can have the secondary effect of providing companionship and/or catharsis
through the media we consume (Paynton and Hahn, 2015). However the media sometimes
influence how people think negatively and this is due to the media freedom and irresponsibility.
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