Reader’s guide on opinion columns written by top gate-keeping editors
From left: Nation Media Group Editorial Director Mutuma Mathiu, veteran journalist Macharia Gaitho and Royal Media Services Editorial Director Joe Ageyo in Mombasa on August 9, 2021. Senior editors with authority to determine newsworthy content and how it is presented should generally avoid writing regular columns.
What you need to know:
- In my article, “Should Mutuma still write his punchy and pungent op-eds?” (Daily Nation of July 17, 2019), I took the view that Mutuma should stop writing his regular column.
- Several readers, however, said Mutuma, who has a huge base of loyal fans, should continue writing his column.
Should senior NMG editors be allowed to write regular opinion columns in the newspapers they edit? This is basically the question Ben Chumo is asking. His article appears under “Readers Have Their Say.” He argues that senior editors should not write opinion columns because readers may think their views are those of NMG.
Dr Chumo is the former CEO of Kenya Power & Lighting Co. and now chairman of Eagle HR Consultants. In 2015, he was conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business by Laikipia University.
He poses an important question, which was debated, and settled, at NMG last year with a revised editorial policy. Readers may remember when, nearly three years ago, NMG announced the appointment of Mutuma Mathiu as the Editorial Director.
Mutuma had been writing a popular column for more than two decades. He said one of the questions in his mind was whether he should continue writing as he was now the top editorial gate-keeper.
“I have written a column weekly more less since college. How will readers tell the difference between my opinion and that of the organisation I work for?” he asked in an article, ‘We will not relent in our quest to expose evil, hold power to account’, published in the Daily Nation of January 4, 2019.
‘I lost the debate’
In my article, “Should Mutuma still write his punchy and pungent op-eds?” (Daily Nation of July 17, 2019), I took the view that Mutuma should stop writing his regular column. There is the danger, I said, of readers mistaking his views for those of the newspaper, or thinking his views might influence what gets reported and how it’s presented. Perception, I pointed out, is often more important than reality.
“As the Editorial Director, Mutuma is the guardian of the public trust. He shouldn’t do anything that would seem to compromise that trust. He shouldn’t write op-eds that suggest bias against some people or things. He should avoid any practice or conduct that suggests that he is compromising NMG’s objectivity or fairness. As the chief editorial gatekeeper, he must not give the impression his personal likes and dislikes can influence NMG content.”
Several readers, however, said Mutuma, who has a huge base of loyal fans, should continue writing his column. One of them said Mutuma is the reason he buys the Friday Nation, because of his commentaries. Another talked fondly of “his great use of flowing and enchanting words to convey his messages”.
I lost the debate. However, in 2020 NMG Editorial Board Committee came up with a revised editorial policy that takes into account the problem Dr Chumo is raising today. The policy leaves Mutuma’s fans happy while at the same time taking care of the problem of perception. The policy states that senior editors with authority to determine newsworthy content and how it is presented should generally avoid writing regular columns.
NMG’s positions
“The reason for this is that often, the editors’ respective opinions although personal tend to be viewed by readers as reflecting NMG’s positions on the issues under discussion,” the policy states. “However, editors should be free to write as long as the pieces eschew political commentary that exhibits obvious bias or where their opinions are consistent with the known position of the Group.”
The policy has worked well, so far, and Dr Chumo and other readers who have similar views should not fear.
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In his article published by Poynter on February 27, 2020, “Should opinion journalists say who they’re voting for?”, Dan Kennedy, associate professor of journalism at Northeastern University in Boston says: “Though bound by the same ethical considerations, there are some differences between opinion journalism and straight news reporting. The most relevant difference is this: I am free to write (for example) that I think Elizabeth Warren is the best-qualified candidate for president by virtue of her policy positions, her experience and her temperament. What I’m not free to do is to take the next logical step and say I’m voting for Warren.”
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.
