Tuesday, May 3, marked an important day for members of the Fourth Estate globally; the World Press Freedom Day was celebrated.
Much was highlighted in equal measure and assessment made on the progress of our own brothers and sisters in the industry here in Kenya.
However, one thing stood out: That in this day and age, the 21st century, Kenya has had relative hiccups in the journey towards attaining full media freedom.
Currently, there are a total of 24 cases all involving harassment and intimidation of journalists which has been seen as a move which threatens media freedom.
This, according to stakeholders in the sector, has watered down the norms of journalism as fairness, truth and objectivity of the coverage is at times compromised.
The Media Council of Kenya, the Media Owners Association and the Kenya Union of Journalists who are the key players in the industry have had a rough time in battling myriad injustices which from an analytical point of view, are geared towards muzzling the media.
On the other hand, some journalists have been compromised along the way by wealthy politicians, and what we see is skewed content selectively aired to please them.
This is a flaw on our part since our integrity, fairness and objectivity has been compromised due to greed.
We forget that we are the mirror of the society. If we air a twisted story, the reflection the public gets is; we are partial and money driven.
All in all, we all learn through our mistakes and it is high time for both players to do what is required of them; journalists, stick to your ethics and know you are an ambassador for truth while the government should protect the interests of Kenyan media.