Unapologetic Senator Cheruiyot insists Kenyan media is a ‘cartel’
By Hilary KimuyuKericho Senator and Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot has sustained his onslaught on the Kenyan media, maintaining that it is a cartel.
The senator, through social media, on Tuesday said that he had merely stated the truth.
“So what’s NMG and RMS’ point? That we should allow the cartels therein to thrive uninterrupted? Even as they drag the practice of journalism to its lowest ethical standards ever. Really! Sometimes, the truth hurts but must still be said,” he tweeted. on Tuesday.
Earlier on the senator had singled out NTV which in their Monday evening news bulletin criticised him for his initial remarks about the media.
Cheruiyot had on Monday said the media and banking sectors in Kenya were run by cartels who would do anything to protect each other.
“So powerful are the cartels in our media houses, that when I called them out today @ntvkenya dedicated over 10 mins of prime time twisting on it. That’s how they buy their freedom & silence critics. Ethical media practice died in Kenya and we must fight to restore it,” he tweeted.
So powerful are the cartels in our media houses, that when I called them out today @ntvkenya dedicated over 10 mins of prime time twisting on it.
That's how they buy their freedom & silence critics.
Ethical media practice died in Kenya and we must fight to restore it.— Aaron Cheruiyot (@Aaroncheruiyot) March 6, 2023
Also read: Editors Guild slams Senator Cheruiyot for labelling media a cartel
Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) president Churchill Otieno in a statement on Monday said Cheruiyot’s utterances are an open threat to the media and a direct affront to media freedom while expressing alarm over the reckless and worrying post.
Mr Otieno said the senator’s remarks is a telling sign that President Ruto’s government is keen on muzzling the media, which he said is a key pillar of Kenya’s democracy and a catalyst of democratic discourse.
Get off your ivory tower, the practice of media is at its lowest ethical standard since we became a Republic because of gatekeepers like you who hide under the veil of media freedom to perpetuate evil in society. https://t.co/1nKSacv6k6
— Aaron Cheruiyot (@Aaroncheruiyot) March 7, 2023
“It is dumbfounding that the Senator sees the media as a cartel rather than a catalyst of Kenya’s democratic discourse without which, many politicians of his ilk would never have emerged to become anything worth quoting. If we are to take his comment seriously, the Senator is saying that the President is keen to crush the media. We hope he is wrong and that President Ruto and his government have no such designs,” said Otieno.
In response, Senator Cheruiyot scoffed at KEG for hiding under the veil of media freedom to perpetuate evil in the society.
“Get off your ivory tower, the practice of media is at its lowest ethical standard since we became a Republic because of gatekeepers like you who hide under the veil of media freedom to perpetuate evil in society.”
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