24 hour news radio – Kenyan Election 2007

This election has highlighted again that Kenya seriously and urgently needs an independent 24 hour news/current affairs radio station available nationally. Preferably on FM! Yes we have many independent 24 hour music stations and religious stations, now we need a hard hitting news/current affairs station. Something like the BBC’s radio 5 Live.

It is not sufficient to get a quick 3 minute update every hour or so from the music stations’ “team on the ground”. They just repeat what the official news conferences say and add very little insight or analysis. I feel sorry for the reporters, how much depth can you explore in 1.5 minutes leaving 1.5 minutes for a Q and A session?

Thank goodness for the BBC World Service which not only dispatched reporters around the country but also made the Kenyan election the lead story for the day (until the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (RIP) took over as the lead story). A lot of information I am using today is coming from the BBC World Service.

I haven’t had much time to check out the TV coverage. But with TV penetration at 60% (pdf) and Pay TV (where a 24 hour news channel would probably lie) penetration at less than 1% of that 60%, while radio penetration is 90% it makes sense to use radio as the platform to keep the public informed.

If no such service exists by 2012 when we next go to the polls in a General Election perhaps the ECK can apply for a month long license to broadcast election related news to the country? Food for thought!

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