The Cutting Edge by The Watchman appears daily in the Nation. As its name implies, it’s an innovative, sharp-effect, frontline-lookout column. It watches over and guards the rights and concerns of the public. Sometimes, it gets into trouble for seeking to protect people’s rights.
In 1999, the column got into serious trouble after publishing an article stating that the family of Alexander Dindi, who was hit by a car and killed, had not been compensated. The article claimed the money paid by the insurance company had “stayed” with Musinga & Co. Advocates. The Watchman did not know that, 10 days before the article was published, the family had been paid.
Daniel Musinga, the advocate, sued NMG for defamation and on May 6, 2005, Justice Joyce Khaminwa awarded him Sh10 million damages (Mr Musinga was appointed a judge in 2003 and today he is the President of the Court of Appeal).
The Cutting Edge is compiled by The Watchman, who refuses to divulge his or her name and goes by the nickname Watchie. But the items are authored by readers, who act as watchmen and watchwomen. The email address, [email protected] , is reserved for readers to send in contributions.
More than 1,500 “cutting edge” articles are archived in the Nation.Africa portal. The subjects covered are limitless. Take Wednesday this week, for example. The subjects covered, in five articles, include medical tourism, power outages, bad roads, shoplifting and rehabs.
The Cutting Edge is immensely popular. That’s why it came as a surprise on Thursday last week, when Barnabas Mwema said the column should be discontinued. But the reason he gave for the discontinuation seems to attest to its popularity, nonetheless.
Mr Mwema said it would be fair to the readers if the column was discontinued because its novelty has been lost. Why?
“My recent experience has been that The Watchman is biased and publishes selective articles,” he charged. “Recently, I tried very hard to put [in] an excellent article comparing Singapore and Kenya post-independence but The Watchman did not print my article and effectively treated me with contempt.
“However, he continues to print mediocre and, with due respect, irrelevant articles. My complaints to the editor regarding this attitude of The Watchman were ignored. The novelty of The Cutting Edge is lost and the Nation should discontinue it.”
Interestingly, Mr Mwema further said he “would be grateful” if the editor “printed” this complaint in The Cutting Edge!
I asked Watchie to comment on Mr Mwema’s complaint. They have in the past published two or three of his items, Watchie said. The last was on May 13. In it, Mr Mwema says the Ruto administration has become insensitive to the needs of ordinary Kenyans. “The majority of workers are struggling with the high cost of living, only to be slapped with more statutory deductions,” he writes.
The article Mr Mwema is complaining about, Watchie says, has a similar message and “the only difference between the two is the mention of Singapore”. Watchie goes on to say that not every item sent to The Watchman can be published.
“Many of the regular contributors often send in numerous different items, sometimes contributing up to three pieces a day. There would be no need to have The Watchman if everything that is sent in must be published. And, after all, we can only run five items a day, and if all insisted that their items must be published, it would not be possible....
“The Watchman goes for only what is topical, interesting, useful and valuable. It should be well-written but, if the issue is a compelling one, an item can still be salvaged and published. What [Mr Mwema] should know is that the published pieces are selected on merit and the prerogative on what to run is Watchie’s. But he should not be discouraged as his items have appeared in The Cutting Edge and could still be picked in future.
Mwiti Marete, Editor, Opinion, who edits The Cutting Edge column, adds: “I think the bottom line is that it’s not practical to publish everything that is submitted to a media house and the editor has the prerogative of choosing what to publish and how to do it as long as the contributor’s argument is retained in the final version.”
Have a lovely weekend watching The Watchman, won’t you!
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.
