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.
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.
