Nation Media Group is one of the truly transformative, change-making institutions of Africa. And I’m not saying that merely because I worked there but because I witnessed it at work.
For 66 years it has brought growth, change and progress in journalism, politics, business and society in general.
Good media turn the entirety of society into a classroom; the people learn not just from experts, but from each other. Good media collect information and learning from far and wide and feed it to the audience at the parish.
Around 2005, we took part in discussions to establish a media academy within Nation, what later became known as the Nation Media Lab. The idea was to train own journalists for two reasons. Fresh graduates were not able to withstand the rigours of the newsroom, partly because universities and colleges were not fully baking them, and who can blame them.
If you are teaching a class of 50 or a 100, there is only so much you can impart. Secondly, many top-tier students did not study journalism. There was need to transition them to journalism. There is always a bias for journalists who had studied and excelled in something else – education, economics, medicine, law, languages or whatever – and studied journalism as a post-graduate course.
They would cover their beats with more commanding authority if they had studied their areas of specialisation. Journalism was always learnt on the job, the Media Lab was a filter to catch the best and give them the tools to start off.
The question was: Wouldn’t Nation be training for the whole of East Africa? There was nothing to stop trainees from leaving at the earliest opportunity once they had benefitted from rather expensive courses.
The deliberations arrived at the rather surprising conclusion that training journalists for all and sundry was exactly the point, that the Nation had a moral obligation to improve the context in which it operated, in this case to raise the standards of journalism in as much of the markets it covered as possible. And indeed many were trained, many left and made a difference where they finally landed.
More than 20 years ago, we were hired by an organisation in which the passion for world class standards was already baked in.
Only the world’s best designers, the best publishing systems, the most modern presses, would do. Interaction was with the profession’s best people, the best fellowships for those who showed great promises, courses at the best universities and business schools for promising leaders.
All this focus on improvement and generosity, even in circumstances where there was no direct commercial benefit, created a unique culture that was ideally suited to great journalism and well accommodated the mantra of improving society.
This culture rested on a foundation of values codified in an editorial policy which prescribed clearly how and why Nation journalism was to be practised. It also defined the positions that journalists, editors and their publisher were to take on contested issues.
These positions were profound, if a little old-fashioned, but they made the Nation an effective instrument for political and social change and development: That all of Nation stood for an open democratic system of government, based on a free market, and committed to the respect for human rights, including the rights of minorities, good governance and the rule of law.
Journalists who spent their day chasing those who broke the law, had to return to the premises of a company which scrupulously followed it, no ifs or buts. There was also a provision in the editorial policy, now somewhat watered down, which required every story to be judged on its merit and prohibited commercial considerations to play a role. If there was a choice between money and values, it is the money that got left on the table.
Somewhere in the thicket of rules and values, there were the Aga Khan’s own beliefs and intellectual positions which influenced the direction of things.
First, was his passion about the youth and his conviction that they were Africa’s treasure and that journalism had a duty to feed them empowering content that would drive their contribution to Africa’s liberation and development.
The second one was the whole question of culture and identity. He was a fanatical supporter of Kiswahili. It is ridiculous to try and forge an independent, authentic identity using the oppressor’s language as the vehicle for transmitting your values.
The Nation is infused with integrity and good intentions for all the markets in which it trades. Unfortunately, this image is buried under a smelly heap of State-sponsored lies and propaganda from some of the most vicious bloggers to ever walk the earth, who have waged wave after wave of credibility attacks to protect the corruption and malfeasance of Kenyan politics. They prosecute their unjust cause in vain.
Whatever the future holds, whichever the direction this great shining ship takes, professionalism, integrity and the strength of convictions is baked into every muscle and sinew of the journalists who sail it. And in the unlikely event that it is destined for the dark bottom of the sea, its example will inspire new generations to pick up the cudgels of struggle and join the glorious fray.
Change, alas, has come upon the change maker.
