Journalists invoke public interest to justify intruding into the private lives of individuals or defaming them in the course of reporting.
They also cite public interest when they go undercover or use subterfuge to expose crime or wrongdoing. They say they’re acting in the public interest. But what is public interest?
Judges, lawyers and politicians, too, invoke public interest to justify what they say or do. We’ve witnessed this in the public debate on the proposed sale of parastatals and halting of President Ruto’s projects by the courts.
In addition, journalists, judges, lawyers and politicians don’t always agree on what constitutes public interest. We’ve seen this in court cases and public debates.
The following statements, from the Nation stories, illustrate the different opinions people can hold on what’s public interest in particular issues: “(Lawyer Dudley) Ochiel said it was in the public interest to suspend the taxes including VAT on fuel…. because the resulting increase in the cost of fuel has a spillover effect on the cost of living” (“Housing levy: State pleads to continue with collections ” by Sam Kiplagat, January 4, 2024).”
“Dr Ruto criticised the opposition, saying its only purpose is division, conflict, anarchy, and litigation sponsored by hostage-taking vested interests with the sole aim to delay, derail and sabotage the delivery of public programmes and defeating public interest” (“Ruto: This is why taming the runaway cost of living has been a challenge ,” by Francis Mureithi, Nation.Africa, January 1, 2024).
Our basic texts, which depend heavily on the concept, do not define public interest. The Constitution uses the term six times. The Data Protection Act uses the term eight times. The Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya uses the term six times. None of these documents, which guide journalists in their work, defines public interest. The NMG editorial policy, which has the greatest number of public interest mentions (17 in all), is more helpful. It provides some examples of public interest.
However, public interest is much broader than the examples NMG gives. Collins Dictionary defines public interest as “the welfare or well-being of the general public; commonwealth.” Words with similar meaning include common good, public good, common interest, common welfare, general welfare. The term has also given rise to “public interest journalism” and “public interest litigation”.
Many institutions outside our jurisdiction have defined public interest. The following is one of the definitions I’ve found appealing for our circumstances: “Public interest refers to the welfare and general well-being of society as a whole. This includes the promotion of the common good, protection of individual rights, and upholding justice in the legal system”(StudySmarter).
However, public interest is a difficult concept to define. It is easier to say what it is not than what it is. In fact, there’s no single definition that precisely and immutably defines public interest. The categories of public interest are always open, as circumstances change. What was not of public interest yesterday may be today, and what is of public interest today may not be tomorrow. Perhaps it’s best not to define public interest but to determine it practically, as the Australia Law Reform Commission has suggested. The commission suggests setting out a non-exhaustive list of public interest matters, as a guidance.
In the UK, it has also been suggested that there shouldn’t be a statutory definition of the public interest, as “the decision of where the public interest lies in a particular case is a matter of judgment”.
However, to understand the concept of public interest, one should be able to distinguish the public interest from private interests. It’s also necessary to know who is the public and what interests are being referred to. Further, one should know how to separate public interest from what the public is interested in. And to know that not every story that’s published must be justified by public interest. We’ve many stories published simply because they’re interesting or entertaining.
- The Public Editor is an independent news ombudsman who handles readers’ complaints on editorial matters including accuracy and journalistic standards. Email: [email protected] . Call or text 0721989264
