Why journalists’ union wants media blackout on Moses Kuria
A move by Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria to expose the cellphone number of a Standard Group journalist has angered the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ).
KUJ secretary general Eric Oduor slammed the legislator for taking a screenshot of a conversation he had with The Standard newspaper reporter Daniel Psirmoi, and posting it on his Facebook page, with the reporter’s number still available.
“It was wrong for Kuria who spits venom whenever he opens his mouth to dictate to journalists what they should write. The media should just give him a blackout; we don’t need him,” said Mr Oduor. “Journalists must refrain from promoting impunity and mediocrity from politicians.”
The screenshot shows that the reporter had sent Mr Kuria a SMS seeking a comment on a story he was doing about summons by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
NEGATIVE STORIES
“We want to know your experience and if you feel the summons are PR exercises as some people allege. Thanks in advance,” the reporter’s text read in part.
But Mr Kuria flipped and blasted the writer wondering why the reporter always sought his comments on negative stories.
“Can’t you call me for a positive story one day? You think I am in the business of filling your newspaper with yet another of the maggot infested negative stories? You can quote that,” wrote Mr Kuria.
He then took a caption of the conversation and posted it on his Facebook, captioning it: “We need to invest more in educating our media.”