What We Learnt In The 3 Weeks The Four TV Stations Were Off Air: The Merits And Demerits
Call it three weeks of ‘blackout’ or switch off or whatever term that suits your description of the days four major TV stations in the country were unavailable for viewership thanks to the self-switch off that three media houses owning these stations imposed on themselves to protest forced digital migration.
The country literally relied on two TV stations for information. K24 and KBC enjoyed three weeks of religious viewership, with viewership having no choice but to rely entirely on the two for local news.
However, the switch off had merits and demerits , with Kenyans benefiting and losing in almost equal measure. Ghafla! Kenya delves deep into what happened over the three weeks of what some call blackout and brings you what we learnt over the whole saga.
Merits Of The Switch Off
Peace- Sincerely speaking, it has been long since Kenyans got a break from wrangles and hatemongering and propaganda thrown from one ethnic group to another with stereotypes about tribes and ethnic backgrounds taking centre-stage. A keen look into the social media and other platforms will tell you that in the three weeks the media houses were off air, these vices have significantly dropped, begging the rhetorical question, is main stream media the main cause of all the ethnic ills perpetrated on social media? This question is rhetorical because we all have an answer to it. Media is an agenda setter, and the main agendas our mainstream media set are inclined towards ethnic discrimination and tribalism. This they do in a way that they leave Kenyans throwing tantrums at each other as they sit back and enjoy the number of followers and likes they have on social media platforms. With their switch-off, the four have been greatly inactive not only from our screens but also on the social media. My bonafide presence on the social media tells me that this is the time most Kenyans have come together for a common course: telling off the TV stations for hawking lies about digital migration.
Politics- Kenyans desperately needed a big break from the murky waters of politics. They say politics is a dirty game and when you get into it, be ready to be mottled. Well, the four TV stations these days are so much into politics and funny enough they have been desperately trying to drag Kenyans into the political swamps. Newsrooms are on the run to impress politicians with comprehensive coverage of not-so-important political events. Editors have pocketed colossal amounts of money to sell political policies to the masses, effectively annoying Kenyans who want more than just politics. These three weeks have been so peaceful. Ask any Kenyan out there and they will tell you why they never missed KTN, NTV, Citizen TV and QTV. Politic, politics, politics.
Importance Of The Social Media Was Underlined- Founders of the social media platforms (Mark Zuckerberg-Facebook, Evan Williams, Noah Glass, Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone-Twitter, John Koum-Whatsapp, Larry Page and Sergey Brin- Google) are a blessing that God ever put on this world. Have you ever imagined how the world was before social media and other platforms? Horrible, right? Well, the social media defines all of us these days. Things have become cheaper and faster these days thanks to the social media. This was even manifested further when the four TV stations were off air. Information reached us faster and even in its raw form. No one trimmed it or gave it a different perspective that proved ambiguous and warped. The social media proved to be the most up-to-date source of information. Even the three media houses turned to the social media to reach out to the audiences.
Unity Among Kenyans- with the self-switch off, Kenyans became even more united than ever before. This was the first time we saw all Kenyans uniting for one common course: to tell off the four TV stations for lying to Kenyans about digital migration. In fact this was the first time most Kenyans from both sides of the political divide united against the four TV stations. I guess it was one of the reasons why they hurriedly returned to air because they were seriously losing ground to their competitors who remained on air. It showed that Kenyans can at times come together for a common course, unlike the perception many have that Kenyans can never unite.
Demerits Of The Switch-Off
Job Loss- Many professions earn their living by working in the three media houses- RMS, NMG and SMG. In fact, it is justified to say that the three media houses have the highest number of employees in the media industry in Kenya, three times the number of those that remained on air. The switch off meant that there was no income and therefore job security was at stake. What remained was a massive lay off in the three media houses, leading to massive loss of jobs. Oh, thank God they are back on air, re-energised and strong.
Monopoly and Poor Services- Someone was already enjoying the monopoly of being on air without stiff competition from a serious competitor. K24 and KBC were shallow in their coverage because they probably knew they were the only TV stations available for Kenyans. And even if they did it perfectly, we couldn’t tell because we had no other channel to compare their stories with. With the availability of the four major TV stations, Kenyans are spoilt for choices.
Information Deficiency- The three weeks have been horrible for those who care to know what is happening. Kenyans have been literally in the dark informationwise and this has been a horrible experience. A society deprived of information automatically becomes an endangered society. With the coming back of the TV stations, the social media will be complemented to give Kenyans a comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the happenings within and without.
Economy- The three media houses greatly boost the economy of the country. With their switch off, many things stalled, the economy got a major setback as taxes could not be paid and employees were threatened with a sack. With their availability, we are assured that everything will get back to normal.
