Mark Masai found himself in trouble on Friday evening during the president's round table discussion where he engaged in a verbal altercation with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The NTV news anchor had asked the president about the country's growing debt. In response, the president challenged Mark Masai to compare the nation's debt with that of Japan..
That is when Masai gave a response that many considered rude; "I'm not in Japan... So I am not concerned about its debt".
Social media has since then caught fire as Kenyans are divided over the matter with some attacking the news anchor and others defending him.
Moi University journalism students have come out to defend Masai.
Kevin Kimani, a Journalism and Communications student believes Mark Masai was right since it is always advised for an interviewer not to bow down to his interviewee during an interview especially one which is live.
"The host of the show is the one asking the questions. He is not at any point supposed to allow his guest to take over the show. The president was also avoiding the question by bouncing it back to Masai. So in my opinion, he handled the situation professionally," Kimani commented.
Reagan Kipruto on the other hand says Masai was clever in averting a question that would otherwise have painted him as a half-baked journalist.
"From the way he replied to the president's question, it was evident that he had not done enough background research on the subject. So instead of answering a question he did not have facts about, he avoided it. And I think it was really clever of him," Kipruto noted.
For Vivian Blessing, a Media Science student, the fact that journalists are supposed to have facts almost about everything does not mean they should actually know everything.
"Yes, journalist are supposed to have facts before an interview. But that does not mean that they know every single tiny detail of what goes on in the country. On the other hand, such a respected journalist cannot admit during a live interview that he does not know what Japan's debt is all about. So the best way to deal with such a situation is by avoiding it," Blessing said.
The president's round table discussion happened on Friday night where top journalists from various media stations had a chance to interview the president live.
#hivisasaoriginal