BEYOND MAINSTREAM:
ADVANCING PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA PROGRAM
Prepared for the Ford Foundation Office of Eastern Africa
Kimani Njogu, Ph.D.
Twaweza Communications
Box 66872-0800
NAIROBI
Table of Content
Grantees Covered in this Report ----------------------------------------------------------------------i
SECTION ONE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
What is Alternative Media? -----------------------------------------------------------------------1
Key Attributes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2
What is the Relationship Between Alternative Media and Memory? -----------------------6
How do Alternative Media Relate to Mainstream Media -------------------------------------8
SECTION TWO: FORD FOUNDATION SUPPORT TO
ALTERNATIVE MEDIA -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12
NEW MEDIA AND CITIZEN JOURNALISM ---------------------------------------------------- 13
ALTERNATIVE PUBLISHING --------------------------------------------------------------------- 15
FILM, VIDEO, TELEVISION AND PHOTOGRAPHY ----------------------------------------- 19
GROWING FROM INITIATIVES FROM IIE ---------------------------------------------------- 25
RADIO AND COMMUNITIES ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 28
MUSIC AND PERFORMANCE --------------------------------------------------------------------- 31
SPORTS BIOGRAPHIES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35
SECTION THREE: CONCLUSION
INVESTING IN ALTERNATIVE MEDIA ---------------------------------------------------------- 37
SECTION FOUR:
PUBLICATIONS BY FORD GRANTEES: 2007 – 2012 ---------------------------------------- 41
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GRANTEES COVERED IN THIS REPORT
African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWC)
Established in 1994, AWC focuses on the interface between gender, media and development.
It works within and outside the media and at national, regional, and international levels.
AWC is also involved in training, advocacy and monitoring. It publishes Reject and Kenyan
Woman.
Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK)
The Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) launched its first community radio
listening session in the year 2004. It works with existing community groups who use radio
handsets to listen to pre-recorded messages and thereafter hold discussion sessions and come
up with action points or resolutions.
Buni Ltd.
Buni Ltd harnesses Africa’s wealth of skills and creativity to produce innovative, thoughtprovoking, inspiring, and visually arresting content. Buni was founded in 2009 as the
production vehicle for The XYZ Show, Africa’s first ever puppet political satire, now in its
fifth season.
Capital Radio Uganda
Established in 1998, Capital Radio Uganda started off as ‘independent’ because it offered a
different platform from that offered by the state broadcaster. While the state broadcaster
would air communiqués issued by various governments, Capital Radio aired popular content
and audience interpretation of news events and the ‘new newsmakers’- the celebrities.
CineArts Africa
CineArts Afrika is a communication and publicity firm with experience in the production of
feature films, documentaries and television programmes. Established in 1990, Cinearts is an
indigenous, pioneering Kenyan filmmaking company.
CODE-IP Trust
Established in 2011, CODE-IP seeks to develop local content for new media. It also identifies
innovations by youth and ICT entrepreneurs for development and works with Kenya
Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), Kenya Copyright Board and other related Intellectual
Property institutions on potential patenting and copyrighting.
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Content House
Content House Education Initiative Trust is for the "Kenya and the Olympics" multimedia
project to unite Kenyans in 2012, the year of the Olympics and a watershed national election,
through stories on the history and future of Kenyan Olympics.
Go Sheng
Registered in 2008, Go Sheng Services is a social enterprise that rides on the Kenyan Sheng
culture to celebrate Kenya and advance national unity by building platforms for discourse,
expression, and broadcasting.
Twaweza Communications
Underpinned by the principle of collective and individual efficacy, Twaweza
Communications was established in 2000 and works in the areas of art, culture, and media.
The organization has over the years sought to enhance the well-being of citizens through
responsible media, advocacy, leadership training, linkages, documentation and archiving of
knowledge. It publishes the Jahazi Journal.
Kwani? Trust
Since 2003 Kwani Trust has creatively crafted a critical space for the appreciation and
development of culture and the nurturing of creative talent in Africa. Through rigorous and
sensitive engagement with youth lifestyle, Kwani? (Swahili for ‘So What?’) is transforming
creative literary production in Africa.
University of Nairobi School of Journalism
The University of Nairobi School of Journalism teaches, mentors and carries out research and
documentation on media and women in public space. It is being developed to become a
Centre of Excellence in Journalism.
Picha Mtaani
Picha Mtaani is a youth-led and youth driven national reconciliation initiative established to
engage Kenyan youth in finding lasting solutions to attaining peace and reconciliation, and to
heal the nation following the post-election violence of 2007-2008.
MEDEVA
MEDEVA is a registered Kenyan media NGO founded in 2001 for the purpose of training
and mentoring underprivileged youth in modern aspects of TV and Radio production. It runs
the Agenda Kenya Television Show.
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Seven Productions Ltd
Seven Productions researches and produces film. It has recorded key moments in Kenyan
history on film including From the Ashes - a factual film which captures of Kenya’s journey
from independence in 1963 to the post election violence of 2007- as well as Peace Wanted
Alive- a film that documented inspirational youth leaders who emerged from the chaos after
2007.
Pamoja FM
Pamoja Radio 99.9 is a community radio station formed in 2007 as an an instrument of
peace and a medium of community development. It targets audiences in the Kibera area,
notably: Kianda, Soweto, Gatwekera, Kisumu Ndogo, Mashimoni, Laini Saba, Lindi,
Makina, Karanja Kambi-Muru, Makongeni, Silanga, DC, Karanja, Ayany, Olympic.
Women’s Legal Aid Centre (WLAC)
The Women’s Legal Aid Centre (WLAC), is an NGO founded in 1989 as a SUWATA Legal
Aid Scheme for Women and registered in 1994 as Women’s Legal Aid Centre. WLAC
promotes and protects the rights of women and children by improving access to justice
through the provision of legal aid services, legal literacy and education campaigns, human
rights awareness campaigns, and advocating for gender responsive policies at the local,
regional, national, and international. It promotes access to justice and advocate for gender
responsive policies for women and children.
Media Policy Research Centre (MPRC)
Media Policy Research Centre (MPRC) is an organization formed in 2010 to enhance the
state of the media through the use of policy level interventions that interrogate and provoke
discussion about the media. A key element of this has been the use of digital technologies to
bring to light unreported stories as a means of catalyzing the expansion of expression.
Performing and Visual Arts Center (The GoDown)
The Performing & Visual Arts Centre is a registered Kenyan non-profit company, limited by
shares. It trades under the name 'The GoDown Arts Centre' and also goes by the acronym
'PVACL'. It was officially registered in April 2001 and became fully operational from
January 2003.
Ketebul Music
Ketebul (‘drum sticks’) is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization based at the
GoDown Arts Centre in Nairobi. Ketebul Music was established in early 2007 with the
ambitious vision to carry out research and promote the diverse fusion of traditional sounds of
Kenya and East Africa through the documentation and archiving of the work of musicians
who have shaped the various genres of music from the region over the past six decades.
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BEYOND MAINSTREAM: ADVANCING PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA PROGRAM
SECTION ONE
1.1.
What is Alternative Media?
The Advancing Public Service Media Program at the Ford Foundation has, between 20072012, worked with a wide range of grantees to create content from diverse and independent
perspectives, strengthen technologies and distribution systems to increase access and
contribution in content generation and enhance public discussion and research on how media
can better serve citizens. The Program is contributing to increasing the presence of public
counter-narratives to those perpetuated by State and privately owned commercial media by
opening up spaces for alternative voices from the public. Bearing this in mind and drawing
from the 2006 Forum on Media and Social Change: Perspectives From Civil Society, the
Ford Foundation supported Kwani? Trust to organize an alternative media Forum.
Consequently, Kwani Trust collaborated with Africa Women and Child Features, Twaweza
Communications and Go-Sheng Services to organize the 2011 Beyond Mainstream:
Conversations on Alternative Media on 25th -27th November 2011 at the Aberdare Country
Club.
The goal of the Workshop was to build synergies between alternative media
practitioners, especially Ford Foundation grantees and explore inter-grantee collaborations. In
creating a space for the participants to engage in discussions about the work they do in
publishing, animation, broadcasting, filmmaking and fine art among other arenas, the Forum
also provided an environment where interdisciplinary partnerships could be forged. Further, it
allowed participants to move beyond their individual spaces to acquire insights into different
forms of alternative media. The Workshop sought to understand in greater detail the workings
of alternative media in East Africa and in doing so participants shared experiences in
moderated plenary and group discussion Sessions. This Report draws heavily from the
Beyond Mainstream Workshop but goes further to underline the role that alternative media
can play in serving the public.
As will be evident, the Advancing Public Service Media Program has gone ‘beyond
mainstream’ media and brought in other ways of public expression on radio, film, television,
publishing, music, performance, community dialogues and new media in what may be
referred to, following Foucault (1980:81) ‘the insurrection of subjugated knowledges.” In this
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process of insurrection, ‘the Other” is able to represent itself in its heterogeneous voices. The
public-centred approach has been informed by an understanding that it is within ‘alternative
media’ that most citizen voices are genuinely located and democratic communication resides.
This is unlike in state run and privately owned commercial media which are dominated by the
elite and citizen voices are minimized and occasionally muted.
The basis for alternative media ought to be located within the development media theory and
democratic participation media theory (see for example McQuail, 1987) both of which
emphasize the political purpose of alternative media. Alternative media are a response to
‘exclusionary’ and ‘marginalization’ tendencies of mainstream media and an urge to bring
into play other actors and voices into the public arena. It is underpinned by the understanding
that individual citizens and minority groups have the right to access and be served by media.
But this fundamental right to information can be denied if media content are elitist,
centralized, bureaucratic, and urban based. In addition, media principally exist to serve their
audiences and not the interests of a few individuals or organizations. In other words, the
consumer is a key participant in the determination of the content carried or transmitted by
media outlets.
Alternative media are best defined in terms of the processes used in bringing them to fruition
as well as in the final product. They offer the means for democratic communication to
individuals and groups that would normally be excluded from the production process of
media content. Additionally, they represent new participatory, inclusive, democratic and
interactive forms of media so that those who are often under represented in mainstream get an
opportunity to share their narratives about the world.
1.2 Key Attributes of Alternative Media
Without doubt, alternative media have existed and been expressed since time immemorial in
oral performances or alternative press contesting dominant discourses under feudalism or
colonialism.
They are a crucial resource for the growth of social movements and the
articulation of the rights of marginalized groups. In the United States, for example, radical
pamphleteers contributed in sensitization and agitation for independence against the British
and the anti-slavery press was central
to the eventual eradication of the slave trade.
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Similarly the labour and civil rights movements were kept alive by alternative media in the
1950s and 1960s.
In Kenya as the British colonial government sought to entrench itself it published the Official
Gazettes to transmit state information to subjects and encouraged the growth of privately
owned press to serve the needs of immigrant races.
The first documented newspaper
publication The Taveta Chronicle was published in 1895 by Reverend Albert Stegal of the
Church Missionary Society (CMS) and circulated among Europeans in the colony and Britain
(Nyabuga & Kiai 2011: 18). The Taveta Chronicle was later followed in 1899 by The Leader
of British East Africa and The Uganda Mail which sought to protect the interest of the settler
community. Both were published in Mombasa.
The interests of the business community and the opinions, anxieties and desires of settlers
were also articulated through The African Standard [later renamed The East African
Standard], founded in 1902 by Alibhoy Mulla Jeevanjee. Other papers in support of settler
interests included the short-lived Fort Ternan Times published from 1905 and The Nairobi
News. Soon after, The Times of East Africa was founded in 1906 and The Nairobi Star and
The Advertiser in 1908, but folded soon after. These papers were significant to the extent that
they articulated the needs of the settler community.
There were also other alternative media mainly initiated by missionaries which responded to
colonialism such Kikuyu News, a monthly publication of the Church of Scotland Mission
(CSM) launched in 1908 in Thogoto. Other earlier alternative media included the Nyeri
Diocese Consolata Missionaries magazine Wathiomo Mukinyu [The True Friend] started in
1913; Lenga Juu [Aim High] launched by the Anglican Church in 1916; the Roman
Catholic magazine Rafiki Yetu [Our Friend] launched in Mombasa in 1925; Osiepwa
magazine started by the Roman Catholics in 1927 to cater for followers in Nyanza. These
newspapers and magazines sought to consolidate Christianity in East Africa.
The political and social concerns of Africans and Asians started being expressed
systematically with the launch of The East African Chronicle in 1919 by the Asian
industrialist M.A Desai. By interrogating racial discrimination, the paper set the stage of
political activism and the emergence of politically inclined alternative press. Harry Thuku,
through the Young Kikuyu Association [later the East African Association]
launched
Tangazo Letu [ Our Declaration] in 1921 to contest land alienation, forced labour and
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political exclusion. Because of the appeal that Tangazo Letu had among East Africans, the
Native Affairs Department started the monthly newspaper Habari [News] to provide a
counter narrative to that of Tangazo Letu.
Other earlier alternative media of the time
included Luo Magazine launched in 1928 by Luo Union;; Muthithu [Treasures] launched by
James Beauttah in 1933; Sauti ya Mwafrika [The African Voice]; the Gujerati newspaper
Samachar News; The Indian Voice; Hindi Prakash [Hindi Light]; Sauti ya Pwani [Voice
from the Coast] and Muiguithania [the Reconciler] founded in 1928 and published by the
Kikuyu Central Association [later Kenya African Union] and edited by Jomo Kenyatta after
the banning The East African Association. Between 1945 and 1952, Mumenyereri [The
Guardian] was published by Henry Mworia, the ‘public moralist’ (Lonsdale, 2009) to express
African resistance to colonial rule.
In the post colonial period, alternative voices have been expressed through
analytical
political commentary in publications such as Joe Magazine published in the 1970s by Hilary
Ng’weno and Terry Hirst; Nairobi Law Monthly whose editor in chief, Gitobu Imanyara, was
constantly arrested by the Moi regime; Society published by Pius Nyamora; The Weekly
Review owned and published by Hilary Ng’weno; and Finance owned and published by
Njehu Gatabaki as well as alternative music, theatre and film. These media have served to
challenge political authority and to provide an alternative way of looking at the world.
Clearly, a closer look at alternative media of the colonial and postcolonial era is illuminating
as it shows the co-existence of vibrant and at times subversive voices challenging official
state discourse.
Although there are inalienable intersections between alternative and mainstream media, it is
possible to delineate attributes that distinguish alternative media from mainstream media
even if the differences are provisional and relativistic. The first characteristic of alternative
media is participation by members of ‘the community’ in the production of content and in the
workings of media organizations. In this perspective, communities are not mere recipients
and consumers; they are active contributors of valuable knowledge. Whereas content from
mainstream media is quite often driven by the elite who are viewed as ‘important’ individuals
located in politics and business ventures with little regard to the periphery, alternative media
puts ‘the people’ at the centre of its generation of content. Furthermore, content in alternative
media tends to be socially and culturally radical as it challenges the status quo by bringing on
board multiple voices beyond those of the powerful and influential members of society. In
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alternative media, citizens construct their own content based on alternative values and
frameworks and challenge the hierarchy of access that is dominant in mainstream media.
Second, the content and discourse in alternative media tends to be independent, nonhierarchical and non-dominant in contrast to the provision of content in mainstream media
which are generally state owned or commercial, hierarchical and represent the dominant
discourse. The niche occupied by alternative demands that it be targeted to the community
who are the producers and consumers of its content. Third, the alternative media approach
may be viewed as counter-hegemonic, in the Gramcian sense, to the extent that it is
associated with civil society and is a ‘third voice’ articulated between the state and
commercial media. This view of the alternative as counter-hegemonic tends to present
alternative media appear as ‘radical’ because of their commitment to social change.
Moreover, the media’s interest in ‘the news that didn’t make the news’ ensures that they
challenge what is viewed as ‘important’ in mainstream cycles. Finally, alternative media are
relational; they link rebellious and protest voices, connect the local with the global and set in
motion at times alternative relationships with the state and markets.
Although these attributes are useful in the delineation of alternative media generally they do
not fully capture in totality the full nature of the sector. As will become evident, there is a
sense of coexistence, slippage, malleability and fluidity in the relationship between
‘mainstream’ and ‘alternative’ media content: indeed, the two spaces resist a strong
differentiation. For example, Google could be viewed as mainstream if we consider its
circulation and profit margins but has enabled people with alternative views to bring down
states, as was witnessed in the uprising in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya in 2011. Through
facebook, tweeter and youtube (initially viewed as alternative media) google has made citizen
journalism to flourish in fundamental ways and increased freedom of expression globally.
Because they are embedded in society, alternative media are able to stimulate and direct
debate on a wide range of national and local issues. Quite often, they interrogate and
challenge dominant forms of media production, structures, content, distribution and
reception. As manifestations of citizen journalism (and not elite journalism), they carry
critical and experimental forms and content; they are linked to particular communities;
utilize alternative modes of distribution; and have a direct connection with their target
audiences who are co-creators and co-producers of content. Anyone can be an author in
alternative media because they are embedded in society and the distinction between users and
5
producers is significantly blurred. One may indeed be tempted to talk of ‘produsers’ in order
to capture the dialogic nature of this mutuality. The hybrid co-existence between users and
producers generates vital energy for the sustenance of the sector.
More often than not, alternative media are a challenge to dominant and excluding discourses
reflected in the pursuit of profit, power and intolerance of ‘otherness’.
They provide
oppositional positioning and question dominance and in doing so give voice to the underrepresented; transcending the constraints imposed under censorship of the state and media
owners. Alternatives are anchored in non-commercial collective ownership and inclusive
decision making processes. In sum, in order to understand the operations of alternative
media, it is important to pay attention to the content they carry; their form and aesthetics;
their innovations and adaptations in reprographic considerations; how they disseminate and
distribute content; the ways in which they define relations, roles and responsibilities of
creators and audiences; and their communication process. Alternative media serve an
immensely important role in society by increasing opportunities for multi-voicedness. By
their very nature, alternative media are polyphonic.
1.3 What is the Relationship Between Alternative Media and Memory?
Remembering, forgetting and reinterpreting past events is a uniquely human capability and
experience. Furthermore, sharing memories with other people is a learnt social activity.
Through sharing, human beings are able to build a body of memories which may be
complete, partial or contradictory. Memory is both about the past and the present because
what we remember determines how we relate with the present. Media play a major role in
preserving and/or influencing the collective memory of a society and are key in the
determination of what is remembered and how it is remembered because memory can be
(re)shaped and revised to meet certain ends.
More particularly, alternative media are
instrumental in documenting that which the mainstream chooses to forget either because it is
viewed as ‘minimally’ valuable or because, in the view of media owners, it subverts their
interests. Put differently, ownership and control of media largely determines what is
remembered or forgotten by mainstream media. The more diverse and plural the media, the
wider the memory bank from which society can draw.
Alternative media play a key role in the (re)construction of a society’s memory as society
sets out structures that control not only what people see, but also what they remember.
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Schools, the church and state are examples of such mainstream structures and stepping out of
the confines of the edicts of these domains, as alternative media often do, may be viewed by
some as subversive and transgressive. These socializing institutions also condition what is
remembered because they determine what constitutes ‘knowledge’, who has the power to
impart it and the preferred mode of its dissemination. In other words, what is viewed as
knowledge is assumed to be located in these pre-determined frames and is ‘discovered’ and
purveyed through selective processes.
To understand what is remembered, it is important to think about both active memory and
latent memory and to appreciate that forgetting is merely the editing of memory.
For
example, how are we to read the postponed laughter of a presidential bodyguard who
suppresses mirth when the president cracks a public joke but breaks into rib-cracking laughter
when he later remembers the event in the privacy of his home? Social expectations demand
that the bodyguard suppresses emotion in public but has liberty to choose ‘when to
remember’; when to activate and respond to memory. Also, how are we to assess the
‘forgetting’ of the Mau Mau freedom struggle by sections of Kenyan society who, on seeing
the betrayal of the freedom fighters by the state, form the view that ‘remembering’ the
liberation struggle is harmful to their current beliefs about the world? Or how are we to
explain the political assassinations and detentions without trial in post-colonial Kenya? This
refusal to recall and the deliberate suppression of memory is not an erasure of a painful past
but rather an effort to make sense of the present. Clearly, memory is not merely a selective
recuperation of the past - it is an active summoning of signifiers that enable users to make
sense of the present. Viewed in this light, memory is not about the past; it is clearly about the
present. In other words, the past in itself is not sufficiently useful if it is just that; it becomes
more significant if and when it is summoned and refashioned to speak to some present.
Media are critically vital in the recall of the past. Popular expressions in social media, the
matatu, the kanga, popular music, murals and graffiti are responses to past experiences even
as they shade light to present circumstances.
When media determine what constitutes
knowledge for society, they shape what is worth remembering and in the process determine
the present and the future. With the rise of citizen journalism, it is possible to broaden the
purview of ‘remembering’ due to the diversity of perspectives and ‘readings’ of particular
events. Instructively, a substantial percentage of youth follow news and events on facebook
and twitter rather than get this information from mainstream print media because - amongst
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other reasons – the online access gives them a better perspective of the world through
exposure to multiple interpretations. Additionally, social media such as facebook, twitter and
blogs have made it easier to archive recent memory because the recording is immediate:
events are recorded instantaneously as they occur. However, these alternative media sites
may not be fully trusted as sources of memory because they are not guided by professional
demands and ethics of journalism. Nonetheless, they do form points of reference for further
research and follow up. Quite often, they inform stories and perspectives in mainstream
media.
Educational systems through the chosen curricula and text books contribute in what can be
remembered. For example, Scholastic's Children's Book Publishing and Distribution, a
mainstream educational publisher in Britain, publishes a series of history books for children
called Horrible Histories, which ‘reveal’ all the aspects of British history deliberately
excluded from the national history curriculum. A mainstream publisher participates in
entrenching content often associated with alternative media to inscribe an alternative
memory. Closer home, the political satire, Redykulass, demystified Kenya’s political elite by
using mainstream television stations to provide an alternative view of Kenya’s leadership
through parody.
1.4 How do Alternative Media Relate to Mainstream Media?
There exists a symbiotic relationship between alternative and mainstream media. Generally,
although alternative media share characteristics and formats associated with the mainstream
(for example newspapers, radio, television, magazines, films and the Internet), they are more
concerned with targeting specific communities and less with capital and profit. In other
words, they are largely considered to be ‘non-commercial, participatory and critical media’
offering a broad audience “critical content” either for free or at rates affordable to many.
Additionally, although alternative media do present alternative content, they may use
mainstream strategies and structures to reach their audiences. In addition, if alternative media
find a gap in the mainstream, they seize the gap and convert it into an opportunity to come
up with something new. Moreover, though alternative media are not profit driven, they may
use existing commercial tactics and professionalized marketing and distribution channels to
reach wider audiences.
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Alternative media contribute to a rich and vibrant mainstream media. Quite often, they
generate and provide content to mainstream media and in the process increase diversity and
voices. Alternative media can also set in motion more creative news gathering approaches as
well as contribute in determining what constitutes ‘news’.
For example Ushahidi, an
alternative platform that used google maps to monitor where violence was occurring during
the 2007/2008 post election violence (PEV) in Kenya influenced mainstream media as
outlets such as the CNN and Al-Jazeera picked up this content from the site to enrich their
news bulletins. The platform was also used during the Haiti earthquake to save victims and
the elections in Nigeria. Clearly, alternative media can be a major source of news for
mainstream and may trigger more in-depth investigation of events that could easily have been
ignored if they were not ‘flagged’.
Further, alternative media can have an impact on the curriculum used for training mainstream
journalists. If mainstream media think that the skills available in alternative media are of
higher standards, they might improve on their own curriculum and teaching methods. Put
differently, mainstream training institutions are conscious of events in alternative media and
may be influenced to change their own curriculum so that it is in harmony with products
emanating from alternative media.
Generally, alternative media outlets seek a bigger space to convey their message but cannot
do so due to infrastructural limitations. In contrast, mainstream media have a bigger space but
not wide enough to accommodate all informational needs. Therefore, mainstream media
depend on alternative media to provide other news and content which would otherwise be
ignored due to policy constraints and professional considerations. Because alternative media
is taken to have a varied and dynamic agenda and ideology as it is not fully controlled by the
dominant ideology perpetuated by the political and economic elite, it is viewed as more
spontaneous and tends to be more ‘trusted’. Mainstream media on the other hand is seen as
static, less accessible, substantially controlled by owners and the dominant ideology and
therefore less trusted. Despite this, it is widely consumed by the masses due to its production
and marketing strategy.
Clearly, mainstream and alternative media have a symbiotic relationship and cannot be
strictly compartmentalised in absolute terms. There are several overlaps and slippages
between the two and the difference lies largely in what they express and how it is expressed.
In Uganda, the Red Pepper newspaper is read widely but few buy it due to its explicit adult
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content.
It uses the distribution infrastructure of the mainstream media but remains
alternative because it carries ‘what the editors have thrown away;’ the behind the scenes
content.
Alternative media can innovatively craft dissemination channels such as showing social
justice messages in public transport as Twaweza Communications and Buni Ltd have done
carrying Kenyan film trailers and XYZ shows in public commuter service buses in Nairobi
through a partnership with Roma Media Ltd. Additionally, mainstream may provide a
distribution infrastructure for alternative products. Within print media for example,
alternative publications could become ‘inserts’ in mainstream media. Reject, the Kenyan
newspaper produced by Africa Woman and Child Features which carries stories from less
covered communities of Kenya and/or ‘declined’ by mainstream media, is distributed as a
pullout in the The Star newspaper.
Similarly, the award winning Shujaaz comic book
targeting Kenyan youth in urban areas is an insert in the Saturday Nation newspaper.
Further, alternative film productions could be aired through mainstream television stations.
For instance, XYZ Shows are viewed through KISS TV. But alternative may pose a danger
and contribute in the destabilisation the mainstream when the later views the former as
attempting to ‘eat into its turf.’
When that happens mainstream may ‘muzzle’ alternative
media by either buying them off or sabotaging their production and distribution outlets.
Without doubt, alternative media offer the means for democratic production as well as
creative engagement and participation of people who would otherwise be excluded from
media production. They enable participation and reflexivity and whereas mainstream media
often exclude the non-professional, alternative media are more flexible and open to those
interested in using media to advance issues of the ordinary and marginalized people often
ignored by corporate media. In other words, alternative media increase diversity of opinion
and representation; are able to circumvent vested interests of the media owners, advertisers
and other elite in society; and empower the marginalized in society. This is not to suggest
that mainstream media do not carry the views of the marginalised and disempowered. They
are interested in public interest issues but only to a limited degree; their fundamental interest
is large audiences and markets and maximization of profit.
The Ford Foundation strategy of going beyond mainstream does provide the critical space
needed for alternative voices to be heard. It also enhances freedom of expression among
citizens by entrenching democratic practice and other ways of seeing the world. The strategy
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is a worthwhile and smart investment in the growth of media and democracy in Africa. By
allowing stories that may have been suppressed to come out and individuals who may have
been muted are facilitated to articulate themselves, the strategy shows value to multiple sites
of knowledge creation. Because they not obsessed by profitability and are in tune with their
constituencies, alternative media allow for consumers to become producers and co-creators in
the telling of human experiences. Their direct connection with communities make them
occasional sources of news and content for mainstream media.
Having explored the intersection of alternative and mainstream media , we now turn the ways
in which Ford Foundation grantees have appropriated alternative media to increase diversity
of opinion, entrench democratic practice and consolidate freedom of expression in East
Africa.
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2.0 SECTION TWO: FORD FOUNDATION SUPPORT TO ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
Ford Foundation grantees use a wide range of approaches to fulfil their mandate. These
include building the capacity of citizens through trainings and dialogues; developing content
for electronic, print and new media; recording and archiving community music; learning
through training, publishing, public performances and documentaries; research and policy
analysis.
Approaches
Capacity Building of
Communities and
Institutions
Content Development
for Media Channels
Alternative Media
Network Building and
Convening
Knowledge Sharing
and Learning
Research, Public
Policy Analysis and
Documentation
These approaches are used in the realization of the following Outputs.
OUTPUT 1: Alternative content for social change and democratic practice increased
OUTPUT 2: Community participation and ownership of media enhanced
OUTPUT 3: Alternative sites of public engagement with the state and commercial interests
increased
OUTPUT 4: Professionalism and ethical journalism enhanced
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In all cases, grantees enhance each other’s capacities through information sharing and
collaborative activities. In this Section we draw attention to the contributions made the Ford
Foundation grantees in alternative media.
2.1. NEW MEDIA AND CITIZEN JOURNALISM
New Media has been expanding fast in Kenya over the last decade. Unfortunately, not
enough content is generated for this technology and the representation of Kenyan voices is on
the digital platform is minimal. While data indicates that 65 per cent of Internet users search
for information that is local to them, as of June 2011, Africa contributed only 2 per cent of
global online content; therefore 98 per cent of online content did not relate to Africa. There
is much that East Africa can offer to the world and the Ford Foundation has committed itself
to supporting institutions that can develop online content and expand opportunities for the
growth of creativity and the mushrooming of a knowledge based economy in the region.
One of the features that define youth in Kenya is the use of Sheng, a slang based on Swahili
but with lexical borrowing from English, Luo, Gikuyu, Somali and other local languages.
Sheng started gaining prominence in the 1990s as youth sought to mark their identity and
inscribe themselves in national discourse. Through Sheng as a communicative code, youth
are able to craft a culture that is distinct from that of the older generation and which defines
what it means to be a youth in Kenya. Sheng both a code for the transfer of information and a
style that defines youth music, fashion, art and mode of transport (the ‘matatu’). Without
doubt, the emergence of Sheng as a sociolinguistic phenomenon can be viewed as the pursuit
of inclusion and an affirmation of the right to freedom of expression
by youth previously
marginalized by mainstream institutions. The fluidity and hybridity of Sheng is consonant
with the nature of new media; the convergence of producers and users in this singular space.
Recognizing the popularity of digital media and the use of Sheng slang among the youth in
Kenya, the Ford Foundation has supported Go Sheng Services. Go Sheng is a social
enterprise that rides on the Kenyan Sheng culture to celebrate creativity among the youth and
advance national unity by building platforms for discourse, expression, and broadcasting.
The Go-Sheng web portal is a space for young people on the go. It is a platform from which
youth express themselves in a language they understand and connect with other young
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people. The ever-changing nature of sheng, captured in the portal, is reflective of the fluidity
of the lives of youth. The space is also a crowd sourcing platform that allows young people
in different places to contribute content about events around them and in the language that
resonates with their lives.
Go-Sheng services seeks to engage a demographic that no one specifically attends to, in a
way that they connect with. However, it not so much the website that is the alternative
platform, but rather, the language spoken by youth. Although advertisers who are mainstream
use Sheng to identify with youth, generally mainstream media looks down upon this youth
slang. The Sheng online dictionary (www.sheng.co.ke) is Go Sheng’s biggest and most
valued resource; it is the single most comprehensive and detailed dictionary of its kind,
boasting over 2,000 words, idioms and phrases. The structure of its content is well presented
and, most importantly, the authenticating system ensures credibility: capturing origin,
etymology, use, and type of Sheng words therein. Mchongoano (www.mchongoano.co.ke) is
another website that caters for youth creativity. It is highly detailed and contains information
about the origin and style of Mchongoano verbal duels. Users can relate and understand the
meaning of a mchongoano, regardless of the competence of the viewer, because of the
support given by the Sheng dictionary.
Additionally, Sheng Nation (www.bonga.sheng.co.ke) is an online discussion forum that
provides an open, free and clear channel for debate. In this forum, issues of governance,
society, the Constitution, and many more are open for discussion by members. This forum is
also the largest of its kind with over 6,000 members. Entertainment pages like Lyrics
(lyrics.Sheng.co.ke) and Crossword (crossword.sheng.co.ke) contain fun games and content
that further show the diversity and dynamism of the Sheng culture, as well as its integration
into everyday life through music and other media. With the support of Ford Foundation, GoSheng also took the initiative of producing “katiba mbichi”, a Sheng version of the Draft
Constitution of Kenya that was translated for the Sheng speaking population.
Moreover, in order to facilitate the visibility of Kenya content online, Ford Foundation has
also begun to support Content Development and Intellectual Property (or “CODE-IP”) Trust
to undertake a pilot project for the generation of local content. CODE-IP Trust is a Kenyan
non-profit organization whose interventions focus on catalyzing an enabling environment for
local content development and its intellectual property protection. Code IP is also involved in
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internet governance discourse towards advancing local interests over the inter-connected
digital space. Established in 2011, CODE-IP seeks to develop local content for new media
by building partnerships with players in the creative industries. The institution also identifies
innovations by youth and ICT entrepreneurs for development and works with Kenya
Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), Kenya Copyright Board and other related Intellectual
Property institutions on potential patenting and copyrighting. Moreover, CODE-IP nurtures
and incubates talent and provides linkages with industry; develops, archives and promotes
indigenous knowledge systems, languages, culture and traditions; trains on different aspects
of new media and networked communications environment; documents lessons learnt about
the industry; engages government, private sector and other stakeholders in the creation of a
conducive environment for content and industry development; collaborates with local,
regional and international partners on internet related matters; and undertakes research on
ICT in Kenya. Through CODE-IP interventions, the protection of the intellectual property
rights of Kenyan innovators are ensured. Moreover, the institution is contributing to the
creation of an environment in which innovators are equitably compensated for their
inventions. CODE-IP is contributing in the implementation of the Constitution of Kenya
especially with reference to freedom of expression and the protection of linguistic, cultural
and traditional marks and the promotion of creative local content.
But it is not just CODE-IP increasing online content from Kenya. Separately, a wide range of
Ford Grantees are also involved in generating online content through blogging, video
streaming and e-publishing while others are developing capabilities for monitoring online
content for responsible citizen journalism.
2.2 RESEARCH AND ALTERNATIVE PUBLISHING
Mainstream publishing is driven by commercial interests and will not carry content which is
important but unlikely to sell widely. In fact, most mainstream publishers are only interested
in school textbooks. Through alternative publishing however it is possible to release
publications that are in the public interest and which constitute an alternative expression and
reading of the world because they are socially and culturally ‘radical’. Alternative publishing
allows for content which is diverse, has a different aesthetic feel and utilizes alternative
distribution channels.
The Ford Foundation has supported research and publishing of
alternative content through grantees such as the African Woman and Child Feature Service,
15
Kwani? Trust, Twaweza
Communications and the University of Nairobi School of
Journalism.
The African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWC) uses development communication
approaches to uncover and share quality information on the gender issues affecting women,
children and the rest of society. In this way, the institution ensures that voices and issues of
women and children are better represented in mainstream media. AWC produces Kenyan
Woman, a monthly newspaper which advocates for the rights of women.
Further, the
institution undertakes research and designs campaigns for promoting the rights of women,
children and marginalized groups. It also runs programmes on gender and justice covering
issues such as land rights and HIV and AIDS in order to encourage community dialogue on
socially and culturally pertinent issues.
With the support of the Ford Foundation, AWC has established the Media Diversity Centre
(MDC) whose mission is to promote diversity, gender equity, social justice and development
through media, training and research. MDC is currently working with over 80 journalists
from different marginalized areas in Kenya and has two flagship activities: the establishment
of Media Content Development Centres and the production of the bi-monthly Reject
Newspaper. Working with strategic partners, MDC conducts training workshops for
journalists from a wide range of interests and gives voice to marginalized people in rural
communities and informal settlements, unavailable in mainstream media.
Furthermore,
through the Content Centers, MDC endeavors to highlight and set agenda on the various
issues that are of priority to local communities. The Content Centers are strategically situated
in places where mainstream media may not have a presence; namely, Garissa, Nanyuki,
Murang’a, Kitale, Busia, Migori, Malindi, Mwingi, Narok and Isiolo.
The Reject is a bi-monthly newspaper committed to providing an alternative platform for
stories from the community. By giving voice to marginalized communities, The Reject serves
as a voice to communities that may viewed as insignificant news sources. The Reject was first
published in September 2009 and from May 2010, through a partnership forged with the Star,
a mainstream newspaper, The Reject is distributed countrywide as an eight page insert. This
collaboration between mainstream media and alternative media is a signal of the co-existence
between commercial media and public interest media. The Reject newspaper also goes out to
subscribers in soft copy.
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Another institution undertaking research and increasing voices for the under-represented
through alternative publishing is Twaweza Communications. A key feature of the Twaweza
(‘We Can’) approach is the power of dialogue and individual and collective efficacy in
bringing about social change. The celebration of dialogic approaches underpins the
organization’s work and there is always an effort to create space for multiple voices to be
heard. It is not only artists, the youth or marginalised communities that feel excluded from
the mainstream, academicians too seek a platform for dialogue and a space for documenting
research findings as they have limited spaces for publishing in mainstream publishing outlets.
This is the gap Twaweza Communications has been filling through alternative research and
publications. The organisation organizes dialogue forums for public intellectuals to engage
and co-publish with practitioners in media and civil society.
In the final analysis,
practitioners in civil society that may not have published their thoughts have texts alongside
seasoned academicians through this initiative.
Twaweza is also involved in media research, training of local language journalists and
documentation. In the process, it contributes to increasing the presence of multiple
perspectives and memory of events in Kenya specifically and within East Africa generally.
Memory and the archival of alternative narratives is an important approach in the Twaweza
alternative media work and the organization has produced the award winning documentary
film A History of Film (in collaboration with Simba Vision Ltd) covering 100 years of film
making in Kenya. It has also collected and published narratives on the 2007/2008 postelection violence [Healing the Wound] and essays by journalists, lawyers and political
scientists [Defining Moments] on the period. These products are contributing to a better
understanding of that dark period in Kenya’s history and are vital in ending impunity and
increasing the accountability of local and national leaders. Furthermore, the organization is
facilitating dialogic or multi-voiced texts; supporting heterogeneity, experimentation and
other interpretations of events through critical writing. The organization has published a
Series of books on Art, Culture and Society and the Jahazi Journal on Art, Culture and
Performance. In terms of methodology, Twaweza’s publications are almost always preceded
by a dialogue forum; thus the different voices and perspectives are incorporated into the
publications produced. The organization is collaborating with the Goethe Institut, Africa
Book Collective (ABC) and a number of Ford Foundation grantees in its publications.
Twaweza’s mandate also includes media monitoring aimed at the enhancing the capacity of
journalists to discharge their responsibility and serve in the public interest. The decision to
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focus on local language media is informed by the power that they carry among communities
and their ability to mobilize ethnically and polarize the country. Considering that a journalist
faces crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on account of his
activities at KASS Fm, the project is opportune and urgent. In addition to monitoring print
and broadcast journalism, the institution has been building content management systems for
monitoring new media and works closely with other Ford Foundation grantees to contribute
in delivering social change in Kenya.
And then, of course, there is the award winning Kwani? Trust! Since 2003 Kwani Trust has
creatively crafted a critical space for the appreciation and development of culture and the
nurturing of creative talent in Africa. Through rigorous and sensitive engagement with youth
lifestyle, Kwani? (Swahili for ‘So What?’) is transforming creative literary production by
challenging the view that authorship only resides in academic institutions and subverting the
belief that writing about Africa can only be done in one particular way. Kwani Trust’s
vision - ‘to create a society that uses its stories to see itself more coherently’- alludes to a
perceived superficiality in the choice of stories and the manner that the stories are covered in
the mainstream media. Kwani? thus attempts to tell the story behind the headlines. For
example, Kwani? Trust has published The True Story of David Munyakei – the whistleblower
of Goldenberg corruption scandal, largely ignored by mainstream media – and wide ranging
stories on the 2007/2008 post election violence .
There are crippling gaps in the documentation of Kenyan history and Kwani has over the
years endeavoured to close these gaps. Publications such as Nairobi 24 will give future
generations a glimpse of the face of Nairobi before the construction of the Thika
Superhighway. Nairobi 24 is indicative of the importance of media and memory, discussed
above. In the mainstream media, significant events like the post-election violence have been
reported purely from a political point of view and Kwani?, stepping into the realm of nontextual media, was involved in the Kenya Burning project, which has immortalised images of
that painful episode in our history.
Kwani? continues to sharpen our understanding of creative non-fiction writing. Drawing on
historical events, Kwani writers inject imagination to present their readers with something
new. By rebelling against the literary canon of the previous decades, the new writers in the
Kwani literary journal are opening their readers to multiple perspectives of appreciating the
human condition and through the use of slang, humor and ‘cool and edgy’ metaphors they
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bring a systematic youthfulness to literary production. Without doubt, a new breed of authors
is being born through systematized inspiration ignited by Kwani and the journal’s range of
stories, personal narratives and commentaries interwoven with day-to-day realities. The
thematic range of the journal includes corruption, leadership, urbanisation, relationships,
ethnicity, injustice and politics.
In order to reach a wider audience and to weave the written with the spoken word, the journal
creates bridges and reaches out to other spaces by conducting popular activities. Kwani Trust
runs the Poetry Open Mic, a monthly performance event; Sunday Salon Nairobi, a prose
reading series; writers’ forums, public debates, workshops and competitions; and the annual
Kwani? Literary Festival, which features continental and global cultural figures.
At another level, The Ford Foundation has supported the University of Nairobi School of
Journalism to carry out research on women in public space, write popular biographies of six
prominent Kenyan women and produce a documentary on them. The institution is also
providing training and mentoring in autobiography and biography writing. By supporting this
grantee, The Foundation has contributed to the School of Journalism as a Centre of
Excellence by funding towards a Conference and study visits by two Ph.D. students to the
US. Furthermore, the Foundation has supported the inaugural Ph.D. program in journalism
and two of the students graduated in 2011. In addition, through a Ford Foundation grant
USA based Prof. Peter Kareithi was able provide capacity building to the School of
Journalism and the Department of Languages and Linguistics. The Centre of Excellence is a
flagship project of the university of Nairobi under Vision 2030 and the institution works
closely with the Media Council of Kenya and the Kenya Film Commission.
Moreover, the provision of support from Ford to purchase computers (which also enabled the
school of journalism to secure funding from the University and UNESCO for more
computers) has greatly strengthened the university’s training in digital journalism and
computer skills training.
2.3 FILM, VIDEO, TELEVISION AND PHOTOGRAPHY
Through visual images, society is able to take a critical view of itself and seek to change it’s
condition if found wanting. Taking cognisance of the power of visual images, the Ford
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Foundation has supported the growth of film, video, television and photography in the region.
In this Section we discuss some of the activities that have been supported.
Buni Ltd. harnesses Africa’s wealth of skills and creativity to produce innovative, thoughtprovoking, inspiring, and visually arresting content. Buni was founded in 2009 as the
production vehicle for The XYZ Show, Africa’s first ever puppet political satire, now in its
fifth season. The Show XYZ, which is modelled on the French political satire show Les
Guinols de L'info, has grown into a multimedia group with offices in Nairobi and Los
Angeles, run by Gado’s co-producer Marie Lora Mungai. The Show is driven independently
of editorial interference: the producers’ position is that broadcasters would have no say in the
editorial policy. “We have insisted that our broadcasters cannot interfere with content,” said
Gado at the Grantees Workshop mentioned above. This is informed by Gado’s experience
working as an editorial cartoonist for almost two decades with Kenya’s largest daily The
Nation. The quest to produce thought provoking and inspiring content has been a process of
experimentation and the Show has grown from a team of 30 to a team of 70.
Writing for the show that draws from the fast-changing political environment has been a
challenge and sometimes events have forced the XYZ team to work on new material within a
short time. Buni also imports latex from France and the eyes used in the puppets from the
United Kingdom. This has high cost implications not to mention the shipping time. The cost
of building new sets for the show is another challenge they have to face every time they need
to change the set.
One would imagine that such a successful show would attract advertising revenue easily.
However, this has not been the case for XYZ. Gado confesses that potential advertisers are
wary of rubbing the powers that be in the wrong way by advertising on a show that satirises
politicians. The politicians featured on the show have also not spared the producers. “We are
onto a lot of pressure from the politicians,” he shared when citing some of the challenges the
XYZ team faces. Gado shares that XYZ has allowed them to go beyond the content ordinarily
screened on mainstream media. “We have given space to talk about a lot of things that
mainstream media could not cover.”
Just like it did with XYZ, Buni is committed to finding new and compelling ways to tell some
of today’s most important stories. In its quest to produce innovative and thought provoking
content Buni Limited has achieved impressive
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success through
hard work, learning,
experimenting, networking, collaborating and a bit of luck. XYZ uses social media especially
youtube to disseminate their work to wider audiences beyond the television screen. The show
has over 11,000 twitter fans and over 138,000 facebook fans. This is in addition to a
viewership of millions on the television screens. Buni also uses public buses with television
screens to reach an audience of about one million Kenyans who use this mode of transport.
Using social media, Buni has managed to mainstream their alternative content on TV and
radio.
Buni Group is comprised of Buni Studios, a film and television production outlet,
BuniVisualFX, an animation and post-production studio, Buni Workshop, a puppet-making
and special effects workshop, and Buni Publishing, a publishing house.
But it is the powerful Riverwood where most emerging films and videos are to be located.
Riverwood is an independent minded, commercial oriented audio-visual production system in
Kenya that utilizes digital technology to create films, TV programmes, and audio productions
and distribute these via home entertainment tools like DVD to the wider Kenyan audience
through the existing retail shops across the country most of which are headquartered, but not
exclusively so, on a street called River Road in Nairobi. Riverwood, therefore, provides a
platform for alternative media that uses digital technology to provide audio-visual
entertainment through the home video model, which overcomes the constraints of mainstream
TV broadcast channels and the mainstream Cinema halls. The production system in
Riverwood, overrides these to directly appeal to ordinary citizens. This has heralded a viable
entertainment industry where independent producers could find alternative ways of filming
and distributing their works, signalling to the mainstream broadcasters the hunger for local
productions and hence forcing them to expand their local content.
At the Grantees
Workshop, Riverwood was represented by Simiyu Barasa who has done two films Toto
Millionaire (2007) and Mr. Love Doctor (2009), on the Riverwood film model, and is
currently in postproduction for his third feature film, Guirella Boy (2011), funded by the
Global Film Initiative.
Using technology, Riverwood producers have been able to reach out to audiences in the
diaspora through marketing their products on the internet. An example of such an outlet is
www.riverflicks.com. Alternative content producers also use social media tools such as
youtube to expand their audience base.
Furthermore, Riverwood has taken innovative
approaches in distributing their content such as using matatus (public taxis) to screen their
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work. Hapa TV for instance which is a matatu-based video-TV that combines music-video
mix tapes and snippets of social commentary to ignite debate on everyday issues like cost of
living, police harassment, etc. explores the opportunities that exist for Riverwood to offer
alternative content that the mainstream broadcasters are not offering currently.
In supporting the sector, The Ford Foundation has funded Picha Mtaani (Street Exhibition)
to undertake visits in the USA and to showcase photography related to the 2007/2008
violence to Kenyans in the diaspora. The photojournalist behind Picha Mtaani, Boniface
Mwangi worked in mainstream media before the 2007/2008 violence. He took over 2,000
images of the violence but only 20 were used by mainstream media locally and
internationally. Room was created for the photojournalist when a photographic exhibition
curated by The Godown Arts Centre in April 2008 gave photographers, both professionals
and amateurs, an opportunity to display the images taken at the time when Kenya was on the
brink. In addition to this exhibition, in collaboration with Kwani? the Godown published a
book with images and micro-narratives on the post election violence. Mwangi’s photos were
featured in this work together with those of Japanese photographer Yasubayoushi Chiba.
Picha Mtaani is a youth-led and youth driven national reconciliation initiative established to
engage Kenyan youth in finding lasting solutions to attaining peace and reconciliation, and to
heal the nation following the post-election violence of 2007-2008. The exhibitions provide an
opportunity for individuals and groups to reflect on the post election violence, engage in
honest dialogue, and plan for community action.
Picha Mtaani organizers have given talks about reconciliation efforts in Kenya, Ethiopia, and
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as international presentations in the UK,
Belgium, the USA, and Sweden. Now, Picha Mtaani videos are serving as reconciliation tools
in about ten African countries by the Africa Youth Alliance of YMCA.
In October of 2011, Picha Mtaani launched the film Heal the Nation.
The 30-minute
documentary is a moving story and eyewitness account of the tragedy that befell Kenyans
after the 2007 December elections. In December 2011, Picha Mtaani launched PAWA 254, a
creative hub social enterprise. PAWA 254 derives its name from a combination of “power” in
Swahili and the Kenya country code, a symbol of national unity. This new workspace – a
community facility and studio – will bring together established and aspiring young
photographers, cartoonists, animators, video & filmmakers, as well as entrepreneurs and
activists, to work, learn, and share in an environment that inspires creativity and efforts to
22
bring about social change. Boniface is now working in promoting street graffiti for social
change.
“We have a lot of untouchable issues in the country,” lamented Mwangi at the Grantees
Workshop explaining that through their work, they hoped that they could connect bad
governance to the “life we live and the way we vote. How can we try to make it into civic
action so that people do not just view our work?” he asked explaining some of the challenges
of ensuring that the photographic exhibitions had a deeper impact on those who view them.
The agenda setting role of the media cannot be underestimated and in East Africa the
MEDEVA Talk Show has kept citizens in touch with their leaders. MEDEVA is a registered
Kenyan media NGO founded in 2001 for the purpose of training and mentoring
underprivileged youth in modern aspects of TV and Radio production. The trained and
mentored youth in turn produce high-quality, popular television and radio programs for
positive social change in East Africa. The institution is associated with the highly popular
discussion TV show Agenda Kenya, hosted by Jason Nyantino and voted ‘Best TV Talk
Show’ during the 2009 Kalasha TV and Film Awards. The Show addresses salient
contemporary issues in East Africa. MEDEVA is now an established name in independent
media productions in the East African region having produced over three-hundred hours on
air in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Her main flagships are Tazama!, Agenda Kenya, The
Woman’s Show, Agenda Uganda, Be the Judge, and Uganda Speaks, among others.
A key feature of Public Service Media is research and the Foundation has supported Media
Policy Research Centre (MPRC), an organization formed in the year 2010, to enhance the
state of the media through the use of policy level interventions that interrogate and provoke
discussion about the media. A major component of this intervention has been the use of
digital technologies to bring to light unreported stories as a means of catalyzing the expansion
of expression. Currently, MPRC is using digital documentary formats to capture pivotal
stories of individual experience and achievement that both captivate audiences and capture
the Kenyan record for posterity. In line with this, MPRC is working on a documentary using
the bio-pictorial format to report the life of a seemingly ordinary Kenyan with an extraordinary story to tell.
With the support of the Ford Foundation, CRECO (Constitutional Reform and Education
Consortium) and Royal Media Services, MPRC has produced a video documentary profile of
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veteran politician Martin Shikuku, whose career spans over 50 years, starting before
independence. The documentary to be aired by Royal Media’s station – Citizen TV - was
MPRC’s first effort to use digital documentary making as a tool for spurring new directions
in media content production in the country both for print and broadcasting.
The documentary work recognizes that over the next few years, Kenya’s media policy will
require that local media move to ensure that at least 40 per cent of their offering is local
content. This policy is driving interest in local stories, local authors and ideas. Broadcasting
media houses current offerings are lopsided at well over 85 per cent foreign content. Private
television stations are for the first time actively searching for local content that makes a
difference and attracts audiences and MPRC seeks to ensure that the offerings are not purely
low budget entertainment.
The bio-pictorial format used in the documentaries while arguably the most powerful of
available media and an important tool of the digital era does not enable communication of a
lot of information. Building on experience from the telling of the story of Martin Shikuku,
MPRC recognizes that this accounting holds many important and unique recollections and
authenticating documents and in this second documentary project MPRC have also chosen to
write a book that captures the details that cannot all fit into the documentary. The twin
processes of documentation through video and the book are supported by research that
uncovers the underlying concerns facing media in Kenya (and beyond). In parallel with the
creation of the video documentary and the book, MPRC is conducting a study on local
broadcasters’ compliance with policy provisions on local content and their programming
habits on the same. The goal of the study is to provide data and analysis of public policy and
the state of local content, broadcasters’ programming policies and practices with regard to
local content, broadcasting sector engagements and discussions surrounding local content
policies.
Another institutions that is promoting alternative media through film is CineArts Afrika.
Established in1990, CineArts is an indigenous communication and publicity firm with
experience in the production of feature films, documentaries and television programmes.
CineArts Afrika uses audio-visual tools to promote change through access to informed
opinion via film, video, radio, print and new media. Outstanding among CineArts many
documentaries is Silence is Betrayal. This documentary, compiled from archive footage,
played a key role as an advocacy tool and helped in lobbying for the Sexual Offences Bill in
24
Kenya through television broadcast and screenings to various targeted interest groups. The
Bill was passed by Parliament and became law in July 2006. More recently, the firm
produced Monica Wangu Wamwere – The Unbroken Spirit – which won First Prize, Best
Documentary at the PanAfrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO)
2011 in Burkina Faso and Best Documentary at the Africa International Film Festival 2011
held in Lagos, Nigeria. It has also been screened in the following festivals at the New York
African Film Festival 2012 in New York, Africa International Film Festival 2011 in Lagos, ,
Festival do Rio 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Tri Continental Film Festival 2011 in Johannesburg,
and the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) 2011 in
Ouagadougou.
Recognizing the power of documentary films, the Ford Foundation is supporting the
production of Beyond Face Value. The Beyond Face Value (BFV) Project seeks to tell the
stories of Kenya’s heroes and heroines through their own voices thereby making the stories
personal, expressive and socially engaging. These will be compelling stories that will also
create awareness on the real issues that have shaped and continue to shape the lives of
women, men and the wider society. The support is for outreach of the first of these stories,
Monica Wangu Wamwere – The Unbroken Spirit – to cover three locations in Nairobi, Rift
Valley and Nyanza provinces. Through the documentary screenings, CineArts will engage
audiences in wide ranging dialogue. The documentaries will also contribute in influencing
policy and start national dialogue on certain issues facing women
It is commendable that the Ford Foundation has supported the growth of documentary film
making in Kenya. The documentary film genre is
powerful communication tool and has the
potential for community mobilization and advocacy. It increases public awareness and
knowledge and can contribute to citizen action on critical issues. Documentaries bring home
the reality behind social issues poignantly.
GROWING PROJECTS FROM IIE: EXPERIMENTAL FILM
The Ford Foundation has a strategy of working with individuals and institutions individually
and institutions through small Institute of International Education (IIE) grants so that they can
develop their passion. This initial grant has the capacity of being grown into a project
depending on the innovativeness of the grantee. One such a beneficiary is the experimental
25
film maker, Wanuri Kahiu. Under an IIE given to Steve Markovitz to run a Workshop on
translating film, Wanuri turned a Caine Prize winning story – Jambula Tree- and wrote it as
film. This award winning film maker uses the camera to tell powerful stories, differently.
“African cinema has become a genre associated with tragedy,” Wanuri Kahiu told the
alternative media participants at the Grantees Workshop cited above. She revealed that a
friend told her that one never purposes to watch an African film as the storylines are
predictable, often in a rural setting and are hardly ‘feel good’ material. Kahiu explained that
most African films were about war and pestilence and depicted women in traditional roles
doing daily chores e.g. carrying water from the river. For her, it was important not to let these
stories limit her imagination. She fought the assumption that “because I am African, there is a
limit to my imagination.” This prompted the young filmmaker to draw from an alternative
imagination and she looked for other stories that can be told of life on the continent. The
pursuit of an alternative imagination resulted in Kenya’s first sci-fi film Pumzi completed in
2009. In Pumzi, Wanuri Kahiu explores new frontiers on the subject of environmental
degradation and the battles over water in East Africa. This project has attracted funding and
distribution from Africa First; a Focus Features initiative (part of NBC universal), Goethe
Institut and Changamoto Fund. Pumzi premiered internationally at Sundance in 2010 and
went on to win Best short film at Cannes Independent Film Festival. Pumzi was also selected
to play at Carthage in Tunisia, London Film Festival and Dubai Film Festival in 2011. Most
recently Wanuri Kahiu was awarded the “citta di Venezia” (Prize of Venice) award at the
Venice Film Festival in September 2010. Wanuri is interested to partner with global
filmmakers of like mind committed to telling stories about unique, cosmopolitan Africa and
her people in the diaspora.
In Kahiu’s assessment, dancing in the African context was cyclical because people were
dancing for themselves and for the others in the dance troupe. She questions why we should
change the dancing style; implying that we should not change our entertainment styles. “I am
writing for me. I write for myself,” declares the young filmmaker determined to tell her story
in her own style. She explains that she tries to keep as close to her truth and recognises that
everyone is not her audience. She also observes that most filmmakers in Kenya are women.
“What would make you not write a female character?” she asks. “I have never been a man so
I write women lead characters,” she adds.
Kahiu would not like to be tied to the binary
dichotomies as there is great diversity of people regardless of their race and ethnicity.
Explaining her choice of genre for Pumzi, she says that sci-fi allows her greater room to
26
imagine and create her characters. For the director, the 22 minute film is an opportunity to
explore afrofuturism. “Our creation stories are afrofuturism,” states Kahiu. “For me, it is very
easy to create from that genre because it is natural,” she explains. She went on to say that it
was easier for her to draw inspiration from African ogre stories than from Western narratives
such as ‘jack and jill’.
GROWING PROJECTS FROM IIE: RECORDING AND BROADCASTING HISTORY
Again, through an IIE and Constitution & Reform Education Consortium (CRECO), Royal
Media have worked on the Hidden History series. As a result, documentaries on J.M. Kariuki
and The Wagalla Massacre have been broadcast. Documentaries on The Robert Ouko
Mystery and Detention Without Trial have been produced and are waiting broadcast.
Moreover, a series of public convening on Kenya at 50 years have been running as from
April 2012. The lectures bring together scholars who discuss key milestones in Kenyan
history.
These efforts will eventually lay the foundation for harnessing Kenya’s national
history.
Again, through IIE grants, the Ford Foundation has supported Seven Productions to research
and record key moments in Kenyan history on film. From the Ashes is a factual film which
captures of Kenya’s journey from independence in 1963 to the post election violence of
2007. By confining this 44-year history to a brief 12 minutes, viewers are able to see in a
nutshell how Kenya found itself on the brink of the precipice in 2007. The film was
commissioned to give the Ford Foundation Head Office a birds-eye understanding about the
reasons behind the violence. The idea for the second film Peace Wanted Alive began as a
series of 15 minute neighborhood spots tackling low income urban areas where the post
election violence had been the worst, but evolved into a single film that documented
inspirational youth leaders who emerged from the chaos after 2007. These leaders were found
by talking to a succession of young people living in these areas and asking them for names of
people they believed had put peace building first when all around them was burning. What
was unique about this project was that the Foundation allowed Seven Productions
as
filmmakers to explore stories that needed to be told, and rather than imposing a mandate or a
direction. The freedom allowed Seven Productions to have a series of meetings with youth
from different neighborhoods leading to a more organic bottom up identification of leaders
and issues. The film did not merely reflect the leaders shown through mainstream media but
27
reflecting the views of the many young people who had met and brainstormed about leaders
they considered inspirational during the post election violence.
Seven Productions are also undertaking a research project on a Documentary Film Fund for
Kenya and East Africa. One of the key objectives of this research project is to design a Fund
that will, amongst other things, build bridges between broadcasters and independent
producers. The primary end goal of the fund is to create a documentary film movement
driven by high quality fact based stories that reflect the diversity of East Africa
2.4. RADIO AND COMMUNITIES
Radio remains a popular medium of reaching audiences in rural areas and within informal
settlements because it is inexpensive and does not rely on electricity. When linked directly
with communities, the radio can be interactive (through call-ins), inclusive (through
interviewing local resource persons) and localized (by addressing community concerns).
Furthermore, because radio listening is hardly an individualized event and most listeners
gather together to listen collectively, it is possible to continue in animated dialogue about
events raised on the radio. This after the program dialogues are key in increasing awareness
and knowledge shaping perceptions and attitudes and influencing practices. The Ford
Foundation has over the years supported radio programming targeted at communities.
One such support goes to Pamoja Fm. Pamoja FM is a community radio station formed in
2007. The term “Pamoja” (Together) points to the importance of joint efforts against
poverty, hunger, social hazards and injustices, gender violence, HIV and AIDS and other
social ills. PAMOJA Radio 99.9 FM is an instrument of peace and a medium of community
development. It targets audiences in the Kibera area notably Kianda, Soweto, Gatwekera,
Kisumu Ndogo, Mashmoni, Laini Saba, Lindi, Makina, Karanja Kambi-Muru, Makongeni,
Silanga, DC, Karanja, Ayany, Olympic. Communities are the main source and targets of
news and overall programming and they set the agenda for the content carried. Producers
ensure that politicians are kept off the station in order to maintain its legitimacy as a voice of
the community.
Pamoja FM has tapped direct talent from the community, from people who have not been
formally trained in journalism, and turned them into some of the best reporters and
presenters. The station is alternative media and because it is non-commercial has regular
28
financial constraints. Maintaining quality staff is a big challenge as once they get quality
training, they are easily poached away by mainstream media houses. The station also works
to improve the livelihood of the people through partner projects such as Pamoja FM Peace
Soccer tournaments.
Another Station that has benefitted from Ford Foundation support is Capital Radio Uganda,
established in 1998.
Considering the versatility of radio and its ability to
shift from
alternative to mainstream and vice versa, blurring distinction between the two, Capital Radio
may be viewed as ‘alternative mainstream’. The station started off by providing an ‘other’
view of events but grew to become mainstream.
Because community radio is essentially non-commercial Capital Radio hardly passes the
criteria: its operational budget comes from advertising, which brings in a monthly revenue of
US$ 0.25 million, being 50 percent more than the second station in Uganda. Capital Radio
Uganda started off as ‘independent’ because it offered a different platform from that offered
by the state broadcaster. While the state broadcaster would air communiqués issued by
various governments, Capital Radio aired popular content and audience interpretation of
news events and the ‘new newsmakers’- the celebrities. Over time, the public was drawn to
this new content and other radio stations were registered. Gradually, a standardised way of
doing ‘alternative’ narratives emerged in Uganda. Eventually, Capital Radio developed and
adopted a mainstream approach to radio broadcasting. Later with the increasing popularity of
social media like facebook and twitter, Capital Radio once again adapted an alternative stance
by integrating these social media into its programming. This forms the basis of its
relationship with its audiences through the formation of fan clubs. In addition, the station
participates in fundraisers and other community events.
In addition to the above approach, community participation can be further enhanced through
community radio listening groups and community dialogues, an approach adopted by the
Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) which launched its first community radio
listening session in the year 2004. Community radio listening is localized media that is used
to address communities’ information needs as well as raise awareness on issues of concern to
the community. It uses existing community groups who use radio handsets to listen to prerecorded messages thereafter hold discussion sessions and come up with action points or
resolutions. AMWIK’s first community radio listening groups and sessions were in Kambiti
village, in Maragua district. Gender violence in the area was rampant and at an all time high.
29
Kiambiti village is situated at the border of the agriculturally productive Central Province and
the semi-arid part of Eastern province about 120 kilometres from Nairobi.
Five women’s self help groups were selected for the project.
AMWIK trained twenty
members of the five groups to act as moderators during the discussions after listening to the
radio programmes. The Association partnered with other organizations working towards the
elimination of gender based violence. These included World Vision, Coalition on Violence
Against Women (COVAW), FEMNET’s Men for Gender Equality Now, Women’s Rights
Awareness Programme (WRAP) and the Federation of Women Lawyers – Kenya (FIDAK).
As the program was implemented, the demand for the radio cassettes produced on various
issues increased and relationships between men and women improved. They were sensitive to
each others’ roles and functions. The increased level of understanding and the types of
debates that went on during sessions were proof of the potential of community radio, as a
form of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) tool, for disseminating and
creating awareness in communities.
AMWIK has since used the community radio listening groups at the national level - from
Kula Mawe in Isiolo to Kwale at the Coast to Mbita and Siaya and Moyale. In the last four
years the Association’s community radio listening sessions have extended to over ten (10)
districts and has reached communities in Isiolo, Garissa, Marsabit, Kisumu, Kiambu, Meru,
Naivasha, Malindi, Tharaka, Moyale, Kwale, Bungoma, Mumias, Siaya, Suba, Maiella and
Nairobi. The listening sessions now cover a variety of subjects including child labour, civic
education, the Sexual Offences Act, gender and governance, peace and reconciliation among
others.
In 2011 the community radio was used in part of a project to pilot an aquaculture project in
Migori, Funyula, Busia and Nyatike, by a coalition of partner organizations including Kenya
Women Holding, Practical Action, Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), Men
for the Equality of Men and Women (MEW), AMWIK and the Ministry of Fisheries.
AMWIK with support from Ford Foundation have published a training manual for
community radio listening groups which provides the AMWIK model to conduct community
radio listening.
In Tanzania, the Ford Foundation has supported The Women’s Legal Aid Centre (WLAC) to
run the Mwangaza radio program on women’s rights. Through the program, WLAC has
30
contributed in the promotion and protection of the rights of women and children. The
institution exists to promote and protect the rights of women and children by improving
access to justice through the provision of legal aid services, legal literacy and education
campaigns, human rights awareness campaigns, and advocating for gender responsive
policies. Resulting from the Foundation support, WLAC has produced a total of 260 radio
programmes aired on TBC, the national radio. The programs focus on issues related to the
change of succession laws, Sexual Offences (Special Provision) Act, Women and HIV and
AIDS policy, HIV and AIDS and the law, HIV and AIDS and gender, maintenance of
children born out of wedlock, inheritance rights for children born out of wedlock, marriage at
tender age and the rights of children, sexual assaults, the court system in Tanzania, criminal
cases, civil cases, political rights and women’s rights to political participation, and
constitutional rights. The radio program has served the rural and urban population, enabling
the public to acquire knowledge on issues related to human and women rights. For example
in 2009, 278 clients found their way to the WLAC centre after they learnt through the media
about the services offered by the organization.
2.5 MUSIC AND PERFORMANCE
Alternative music and performances constitute an important arena for the growth of media.
They introduce into society voices that may otherwise be muted on account of language, nonprofessionalism and non-institutionalization. Because outside the canon, alternative music
and performances be considered peripheral despite their ability to increase our understanding
of society. The Ford Foundation has invested in this area over the years through a number of
grantees, among them the GoDown Arts Center.
The GoDown hosts various organizations, almost each of which, by using a creative medium
(such as dance, visual arts, music), or by dint of being directly an alternative media
organization, engages with national and topical issues in alternative ways. Resident at the
GoDown, for example, are MEDEVA TV known for their trailblazing Agenda Kenya show
and XYZ productions who through their XYZ Show take a satirical look on current political
affairs using life-size puppets in a television program. The Center has over time, carved a
particular niche within the performing and visual arts sector, in its promotion of the
legitimacy of creative talent, and its endeavors to enhance the sector’s visibility through a
programmatic framework that engages art/creative expression in the very centre of current
31
discourses. This way, it illuminates issues in novel and unexpected ways, while
simultaneously challenging preconceptions about the validity and relevance of artistic
expression in daily life.
Various programs are illustrative of the GoDown’s alternative approaches to issues such as
Kenya Burning, Sigalagala Women’s festival, The Creative economy, The East African Arts
Summit, Nairobi – Urban Cultural anchors and their role in Urban Development, Dressing
the Supreme Court, and The Space. Let us consider these more closely. First, Kenya Burning
in the form of a photographic exhibition, a book, a road show and a DVD has provided
Kenyans with the space to remember and reflect on the post-election crisis and violence of
2007/8. Kenya Burning has been shown around the country, as well as regionally, and as far
away as Denmark. The exhibition has been up continuously since 2008 and remains so up
until the present time. Second, Sigalagala Women’s Festival takes place through a
combination of music concerts, workshops, lectures and discussions. This event held by the
GoDown every alternate year, has brought together women from the East Africa region, and
across the generations to discuss sisterhood, finance, family, national development and peace.
These discourses have been captured and documented in stories and poetry by women
writers.
Third, The Creative Economy is a discourse, first spearheaded by the GoDown in 2009. It
highlights constraining factors for artists in Kenya and East Africa and seeks solutions.
Emerging issues have included recognition of the contribution of the creative and cultural
industries to the national economy, policy questions concerning the status of the artist and
their livelihood, etc. The GoDown has commissioned and published research on the
“Structure and Value Chains of Kenya’s Creative Economy”; hosted regional conferences on
creative entrepreneurship, (generating reports of the same); developed a Handbook for
Artists; and devised and video-recorded talk show discussions between creative entrepreneurs
and mainstream business people. This year the Godown will finalize a curriculum structure
for the equivalent of a diploma course for creative’s and deliver the same in partnership with
a local tertiary institution.
Fourth, The East Africa Arts Summit has been the Godown’s longest running discourse
platform, (a 5th edition was held in 2011), in which regional arts leaders, convening
biennially, take stock of the sector and deliberate on diverse matters pertaining to the role and
32
relevance of the creative sector. The proceedings of the Summits exist as reports and video
footage (to be packaged for publication later in 2012). Arising from these Summits, directly
and indirectly, have been various regional initiatives such as the East Africa Touring Circuit
Network, based in Tanzania, the DOADOA Performing Arts Market, due to be launched in
Jinja, Uganda, later this year, both of which the GoDown maintains links with.
Fifth, the recently launched Nairobi – Urban Cultural Anchors and their Role in Urban
Development by the the GoDown comes as a result of the GoDown being a proprietor of the
city of Nairobi, a positive confirmation of its potentially ‘long-term’ presence and impact on
the city. Working with writers, visual artists, photographers, performing artists, as well as
architects, city planners, other anchor institutions (such as the Kenya Polytechnic) and big
city landowners (the Kenya Railways), the GoDown is exploring questions of identity and
belonging in the city, implications for city planning, the locating of urban cultural precincts
and their potential to contribute to the city’s economy, and well as the aesthetic, live-ability
and sustainability of the urban space. (This discourse will manifest itself as an exhibition
titled City Evolution & Identity supported by related artistic creative expression 2013).
Sixth, Dressing the Supreme Court is an activity the Godown participated in when it offered
to the Chief Justice to mobilize the local fashion fraternity, and hold focus group
consultations with key stakeholders and interested parties, (the legal system, the penal
system, cultural commentators, youth, and) to arrive at a design interpretation of the Supreme
Court judges’ robes that aimed to reflect a change from the past yet with derivations from the
legal tradition; an African esthetic; and a representation of justice as accessible, open and for
the people. The first prototype of the robes was completed and presented to the Court in
2011. And a video documentary dubbed “Redressing Justice” has been produced.
Seventh, The Space is a TV show -a GoDown production in partnership with MEDEVA TVthat positions the cultural actor and artist as an alternative centre of influence for Kenya’s
youthful population. This TV platform- with a complementary social media component- uses
celebrity musicians/other artists to converse, discuss and examine together with youth their
place in national development in matters of leadership, identity and ethnicity, and responsible
citizenship.
These various creative-based approaches by the GoDown have had the advantage of
leveraging the lateral approach that artists can bring to provide insights in a new ways.
Because the focus areas are selected entirely by the GoDown, issues of significance to the
33
sector, which mainstream media often finds un-newsworthy (e.g. artist livelihood, artist
training, cultural infrastructure and the shaping of a city, etc) are spotlighted, discussed and
where possible, documented in the form of books, video documentaries and written reports.
Another institutional contributing in the promotion of alternative music is Ketebul, a not-forprofit non-governmental organization based at the GoDown Arts Centre. ‘Ketebul’ means
“drum sticks” in the Luo language of Western Kenya. Ketebul Music was established in early
2007 with the ambitious vision to carry out research and promote the diverse fusion of
traditional sounds of Kenya and East Africa through the documentation and archiving of the
work of musicians who have shaped the various genres of music from the region over the past
six decades. Research carried out by Ketebul Music involves the musicians themselves, their
families, industry players such as producers and promoters, media personalities, and the
market audience. Memorable archiving is achieved through intensive academic research
reports, released along with a market-friendly package from each phase of research. The
package is comprised of a more succinct popular version of the academic report, and is
contained in an attractively designed booklet. To reinforce it is an audio CD featuring rereleases of previous recordings, along with a video documentary including intensive
interviews, analyses, stage performances and archive footage.
Working through well established consultants such as Bill Odidi, Ketebul is retrieving
important knowledge and memory on Kenyan music. Bill Odidi has worked with Ketebul
Music on the following projects funded by the Ford Foundation: Retracing Benga Music,
Retracing Kikuyu Popular Music and Retracing Kenya’s Funky Hits of the 70s. First,
Retracing Benga Music is a commemorative package which makes a bold journey into
Kenya’s musical past. The booklet, audio CD and documentary DVD trace the roots of Benga
music which is arguably the most distinctive sound to have come out of Kenya’s 70 years of
creating Urban Guitar Music. Second, Retracing Kikuyu Popular Music is a journey into the
roots of modern Kikuyu music. It covers genres such as Kikuyu country music, Benga and
Mugithi. The collection reminds us that audio formats change all the time, but content is
everlasting. Third, Retracing Kenya’s Funky Hits of the 70s is the latest edition in Ketebul
Music’s retracing series. This project seeks to establish the influence that American soul and
funk music had on Kenyan music during the boogie era.
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2.6 SPORTS BIOGRAPHIES
Kenya is world famous in sports. Yet not much is known beyond the race. The Ford
Foundation has invested in developing content related to Kenyan sports people so that we can
get a glimpse of their lives beyond the sports field. In support of sports biographies, the
Foundation has funded Content House Education Initiative Trust.
Content House is the "Kenya and the Olympics" multimedia project and aims at uniting
Kenyans in 2012, the year of the Olympics and a watershed national election period, through
stories on the history and future of Kenyan Olympics. It started through initial IIE grants
given to Roy Gachuhi to undertake football biographies, Jackie Lebo to undertake sports
biographies and John Kagagi to undertake rugby biographies. Content House works closely
with new IIE recipient John Akatsa who is undertaking hockey biographies.
It is Roy
Gachuhi, a veteran sports journalist who is providing leadership in documenting football
biographies by going beyond what is reported in mainstream media. From another front,
Jackie Lebo, the athletics journalist, is investigating how Kenyan athletes conquer the world
in long distance running. Together they are exploring how sports are increasingly shaped by
the media and how sports biographies can generate content for alternative media.
The story of Kenyan running is the biggest undocumented story in modern sports history;
local coverage features statistics with medal haul while the international coverage is ever
obsessed with eugenics. This explains why Jackie Lebo took an interest in being part of the
lives of the Kenyan runners and telling their story to the world. At the Grantees Workshop,
Jackie shared that any significant time spent with Kenyan runners reveals an incredible
system of knowledge, infrastructure, societal and environmental factors that intricately
interweave to form the Kenyan running narrative as rooted in a specific time and place. She
tells her story from Iten, a town in Rift Valley Province of Kenya which is located along the
road between Eldoret and Kabarnet; the place where many Kenyan athletes hail from. The
story is told vividly through visuals of the topography, the training sessions, and the sports
shoes the athletes wear as they train. Lebo goes on to tell of an untold story and destroy
myths such as the story of eugenics in Kenya’s success story on the tracks.
The project matters because with the passing of the 2010 Constitution and efforts to forge a
new Kenyan identity, running can be one of the new ways we define ourselves – by bringing
it to the forefront of Kenyan conversations, debunking mystery and making it a part of
35
everyday life. It can become ‘our thing’ – bringing Kenyans together through sports, a unifier
in a way that cohesion Conferences can never match. The Kenyan running project will also
form a new talking point about Kenyan expertise, putting in the public domain knowledge
about something Kenyans have excelled at. It is hoped this will start the conversation about
how to transfer this system of knowledge to other sports and other ventures
The research will form the basis for four media outputs so the story will be available in print,
film, online and mobile to connect with the widest possible audience. The outputs include:
100,000 word creative non-fiction book, 90 minute documentary, Photo Exhibition, Website
and mobile phone content. The website was launched in March 2011 and follows athletes
and in the buildup to the Olympics at http://www.kenyarunningproject.com/, Movie
production already began in mid 2011 and is set to be released in summer 2012 while
Photography has been ongoing and should culminate in an exhibition in March 2012.
Kwani?Trust already published a Kwanini Title by Jackie Lebo named ‘Running’ of the first
chapter of the book. The complete manuscript was ready in June 2011 should be ready for
publication this year. This title is the first release from a larger project that seeks to highlight
one of the biggest undocumented stories in modern sports history.
What exists is fragmented reportage – statistics, anecdotes and inconclusive studies that try to
extricate the one thing that makes Kenyan athletes so dominant in middle and long distance
running. Against the backdrop of the system that is Kenyan running, the personal stories – the
human face of athletics – are the most compelling. Jackie Lebo’s writing includes questions
such as what motivates people to start running, how their families take it and how they are
able to balance life and athletics.
Roy notes that “sports journalism is the dead end of journalism. It is not by mistake that
sports appear at the dead end of the newspaper.” Roy is a grantee of the Ford Foundation in
Nairobi, writing a book on the golden years of Kenyan football, sections of which have been
serialized in Kenyan mainstream media. He acknowledges that it is a privilege to be in a
position to write about the untold stories of football.
Roy notes that football reportage does not go back in time and analyse the teams’
background. Gor Mahia’s participation for instance in the finals at Africa Cup of Nations in
1982. Roy Gachuhi highlights that there are many football stories that go untold such as
36
Kenneth Matiba’s epic battles with witchcraft in football circles in 1978. He therefore steps
in to tell the untold stories in the football world here in Kenya.
Roy laments that football leadership has been viewed as a stepping stone to Parliament by
many who have been at the helm of the Kenya Football Federation (KFF) but often that does
not result in their influencing policy formulation and legislation with regards to the game.
For Roy, it is important to have stories on football that go beyond the football field.
“HIV/Aids and death [of players] is the biggest untold story,” argues Gachuhi. He also notes
that football players are not given the recognition they deserve thus the football biographies
are going to recognise the Kenyan football as it should be.
SECTION THREE
CONCLUSION: INVESTING IN ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
In our view, Ford Grantees are doing an immensely commendable job to increase freedom of
expression and enhance public service media in the region. The Ford Foundation should
continue supporting these initiatives. Our interaction with Ford Foundation Public Service
Media Grantees presented us with individuals fully committed to deliver social change
through media interventions. They are passionate, self driven and visionary.
In this section, provide a provisional typology of the alternative media grantees, as we see
them. Naturally, grantees operate beyond one media type and work with various formats but
for purposes of getting a global picture of the terrain, the typology is useful. In addition, we
discuss the opportunities that exist to enhance alternative media in Kenya.
Provisional Typology of Alternative Media supported by The Ford Foundation
Media
Type
Print and
Visual
Formats
Newspapers, journals,
books, comics, visual arts,
graffiti, murals, textiles,
pamphlets, photography
Alternative Media
Examples
Alternative press,
Publications by Kwani,
Critical art, alternative AWC, Twaweza,
photography
GoSheng, UON, and Sports
Biographies, Picha Mtaani,
37
Media Research and Policy,
Audio
media
Radio, Discussion
Forums, Music
Independent radio,
community radio,
alternative music,
alternative dialogue
forums, protest songs
Pamoja Fm, Ghetto radio,
Capital radio, AMWIK,
WLAC, Radio Groups,
Discussion Forums,
Ketebul Music
AudioVisual
Media
Theatre, poetry
performances, dance,
puppetry, film, video,
television shows
experimental theatre,
experimental film,
underground film,
amateur video,
Open Mic, GoDown
Performances, Film by
Wanuri Kahiu and Seven
productions, Buni Ltd,
CineArts Afrika, MPRC
Internet
Digital texts, digital video, Alternative online
online radio, online TV
media
Go-Sheng, CODE-IP,
Media Monitoring
A key feature of public service media is the mission of engaging the public with information
and knowledge that is relevant to improving lives in communities. In order for that to happen,
the media should be accessible, multi-voiced and diverse, engaging ordinary citizens,
innovative and networked. The presence of these characteristics would facilitate the
advancement of wide ranging public interest goals including civic participation, public safety
and security, health care delivery, community development, education, entrepreneurship and
job creation. The ‘profit’ that accrues from investing in public service media is the welfare of
citizens.
Although the Ford Foundation has supporting projects within alternative media which are
contributing immensely in advancing alternative media in East Africa, there are roads that
were not taken and may be worth consideration in future.
1. Investing in Mobile Applications for Wealth Creation: Mobile phone technology has
been expanding very fast in Eastern Africa and the opportunities for its contribution to
improving the well being of citizens is very wide. Through innovative software development
and digitalization we are able to make information more accessible, even among the less
literate. The Advancing Public Media Program would have worked to support the
development of mobile phone applications for enhancement of social services, health,
38
reduced gender based violence and monitoring of agricultural products. By working with
young software developers, the Program could increase accountability of leaders and
entrench democratic practice in East Africa. Mobile telephony will be key in public education
and in determining how accountable and transparent county governments will be.
2. Leveraging on Ushahidi Platform: The Ushahidi (“Testimony”) platform was initially
developed to map reports of violence in Kenya after the 2007/2008 post election fallout. The
platform uses tools for crowd-mapping, crisis mapping and citizen based reporting of national
events. There was an opportunity to leverage this platform in order to address public interest
issues including fighting gender based violence, increasing security by monitoring gang
activities in informal settlements and improving service delivery and increasing productivity
in communities. The Foundation should encourage grantees to utilize the Ushahidi platform
in their work.
3. Supporting a Documentary Film Fund: Across the world cultural funds and
governments avail substantial funds to both dramatic and documentary films. This is because
films provide employment, preserve a nation’s cultural identity and promote healthy
democratic dialogue and debate between citizens. Documentaries reflect on the way we live
with great depth and clarity providing glimpses into worlds, issues and lives that would
ordinarily remain undocumented. They challenge ideas and assumptions about the world.
There are many commercial film production companies in East Africa, and the largest ones
make a comfortable profit from servicing commercials and international films and television
series. But there are also independent film producers and directors who make films that
reflect the diversity and complexity of our societies. The Ford Foundation has supported
documentary film making but needed to invest heavily in documentary filmmaking. Good
documentary filmmaking remains a challenging and expensive enterprise but it plays such a
critical role; reflecting the world in a way no other medium can. This is why it requires
dedicated support in form of local and regional funding. The Ford Foundation, which
believes in more democratic, equitable and peaceful societies in Eastern Africa knows the
importance of a society with an informed citizenry, increased civic and political participation,
and secured rights for all. Few mediums promote these aspects of society as strongly as
documentary films.
Thus far, the Foundation has supported grantees to develop award
winning documentaries. This work can be harnessed and streamlined through a Fund.
39
To advance reforms in land, livelihoods, rights, media and civic participation for women and
youth, the Foundation should consider setting aside substantial support in documentaries
through a Documentary Film Fund.
4. Strengthening Media in Local Languages: Local languages are immensely vital for
identity and societal transformation. Although the Foundation has supported aspects of local
language radio, there was need to invest more heavily in local language creative enterprises
and programming. Under devolution, all the 47 Counties are likely to have their own radio
and television stations. Given the small number of trained journalists available and in view of
the ethnic polarization in the country, it is important that we invest in training local language
journalists so that they are more responsible.
5. Support to the national public broadcaster: Over the years, the national broadcaster,
KBC, has been on the decline. Yet, KBC should be the tool for the building of nationhood
and entrenching inter-ethnic trust. The Foundation should consider how it can support the
reawakening of this national institution.
40
SECTION FOUR: PUBLICATIONS BY FORD GRANTEES: 2007 - 2012
Ford Foundation grantees have produced wide ranging publications and books. In this
section, we provide a list of publications released by the Ford Foundation Grantees. The list
is not exhaustive and only represents outputs shared with us.
KWANI? TRUST LTD
Kwani? Series
Lebo J. (2011) Running. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Kantai P. (2010) The Cock Thief. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Mwangi W. (2009) Internally Misplaced. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Onyango R. (2008) The Life And Times Of Richard Onyango. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Kalundi et.al (2008) After the Vote. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Owuor A. Y. (2006) Weight of Whispers. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Adiche N. C. (2006) You in America. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Wainaina B. (2006) How to write about Africa. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Wainaina B. (2006) Discovering Home. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Wainaina B. (2006) Beyond River Yei. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Ondego E. (2006) The Life of Mzee Ondego. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Kwani? Journals
Kwani? 01 (2003) ISBN: 9966-9836-0-0
Kwani? 02 (2004) ISBN: 9966-9836-2-7
41
Kwani? 03 (2005) ISBN
Kwani? 04 (2007) ISBN: 9966-9836-6-X
Kwani? 05 Part 1 (2008) Maps and Journeys ISBN: 9966-7182-1-4
Kwani? 05 Part 2 (2008) Revelation and Conversation ISBN: 9966-7182-2-2
Kwani? 06 (2010)-African Fiction Omnibus ISBN: 978 9966 739262
Kwani? Visual/Photo Narratives
Nairobi 24- (2010) ISBN: 996672950-X
Kenya Burning- (2008) ISBN: 9966-7182-1-4
Kwani? Series
Chimurenga Chronic (2011)
Wainaina B. (2011) One Day I Will Write About this Place. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Oneya F. (2011) To See the Mountain and Other Stories. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Stanley Gazemba S. (2010) The stone hills of Maragoli. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Eva Kasaya E. (2010) Tale of Kasaya. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Okumu S. J. (2010) To Be A Man. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Kahora B (2009) The True Story of David Munyakei. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Joseph Muthee J. (2006) Kizuizini. Kwani Trust; Nairobi
Twaweza Communications
Governance and Development: Towards Quality Leadership in Kenya. 2007. Nairobi:
Twaweza Communications.
42
Cultural Production and Social Change in Kenya: Building Bridges. 2007.
Nairobi:
Twaweza Communications.
Culture, Performance and Identity: Paths of Communication in Kenya. 2008. Nairobi:
Twaweza Communications; Nairobi
Getting Heard: [Re]Claiming Performance Space in Kenya. 2008.
Nairobi: Twaweza
Communications.
Healing the Wound: Personal Narratives about the 2007 Post-Election Violence in Kenya.
2009. Nairobi: Twaweza Communications.
(Re)Membering Kenya: Identity, Culture & Freedom. Vol. 1. 2010. Nairobi: Twaweza
Communications.
Defining Moments: Reflections on Citizenship, Violence and the 2007 General Elections in
Kenya. 2011. Nairobi: Twaweza Communications.
JAHAZI Journal
1. Building Bridges. Vol 1 Issue 1 (2006) ISBN: 9966-9743-3-4
2. Articulating Identities. Vol 1 Issue 2 (2007) ISBN: 9966-9743-8-5
3. Performative Space. Vol 1 Issue 3 (2008) ISBN: 9966-7244-2-7
4. Knowledge, Culture, Memory Vol 1 Issue 4 (2011) ISBN: 978-9966-028-21-1
5. Creative Industries in Kenya Vol 2 Issue 1 (2012) In Press
School of Journalism, University of Nairobi
Kiai
Wambui,
Kiiru
Samuel,
Muhoro
Njeri,
Ugangu
Wilson
(2009):
Media
Excellence: Issues of Practice and Training in East Africa. School of
Journalism
and
Mass
Communication,
978-9966-05-222-4
Return of the Anvil (Souvenir Issue): August 2011.
43
University
of
Nairobi.
ISBN
No:
Nyabuga
George
Evolution,
and
Effects
Kiai
and
Wambui
(Eds).
Challenges.
2011.
School
Communication, University of Nairobi.
of
The
Media
Journalism
ISBN 978-9966-1575-0-8
in
Kenya:
and
Mass
(hb)
ISBN
978-9966-1575-1-5.
Kiai
Wambui
and
Ngugi
Muiru
(2012):
Voices
of
Veterans:
Reflections
of
70 years in Communication and Media in Kenya. School of Journalism,
University of Nairobi.
Nyabuga
George
(2012)
A
Training
Module
on
Governance.
DOCUMENTARIES
History of Film. Twaweza Communications, 2010
Hidden History Series by CRECO and Royal Media Services
(a) J.M. Kariuki
(b) The Wagalla Massacre
(c) The Robert Ouko Mystery
(d) Detention Without Trial
The Ashes: Seven Productions
Peace Wanted Alive: Seven Productions Ltd.
The Life of Martin Shikuku: Media Research and Policy
Music Videos
Retracing Benga Music by Ketebul
Retracing Kikuyu Popular Music by Ketebul
44
Media,
Democracy
and
Retracing Kenya’s Funky Hits of the 70s by Ketebul
References
Foucault, Michel.1980. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and other Writings, 19721977. New York. Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Lonsdale, John. 2009. ‘Henry Mworia: The Public Moralist’, in Wangari Muoria –Sal, Bodil
Folke Frederiksen, John Lonsdale and Derek Peterson, Writing for Kenya: The Life
and Works of Henry Mworia.. Leiden: Brill (pg 3-56).
Nyabuga, George & Wambui Kiai (Eds). 2011. The Media in Kenya: Evolution, Effects and
Challenges. School of Journalism, university of Nairobi.
45