Investigative journalist John-Allan Namu has taken direct aim at Kenyan podcasters he accuses of collecting large amounts of money from politicians, warning that the behaviour is dragging the entire media profession through the mud.
Namu, founder of Africa Uncensored, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with TUKO.co.ke at the OAT Media Forum. Speaking in a serious and measured tone, he made clear that he views the trend as a genuine threat to credible journalism in Kenya.
“I saw what has now, you know, it passes for journalism, I’m not sure it is, a certain podcaster receiving mountains of cash from a politician, supposedly for an event, and was raising money from pillar to post from all sorts of unsavory characters,” he said.
Namu on the ‘githeri media’ label
Namu warned that tolerating such conduct is giving rise to a damaging nickname for the Kenyan press. He specifically referenced the term “githeri media,” a label he fears will cement itself if the industry fails to act.
“You’re encouraging a monetary and transactional mode of journalism that is earning us the name githeri media and it will stick because of the things that you are doing. When we see things like that, we need to be brave enough to say, look, this is wrong. What you’re doing is wrong,” he told Newsunplug.co.ke.
For Namu, the frustration is personal. He described the immense effort he puts into every piece of work his outlet produces, arguing that transactional conduct by others undermines that dedication.
“It takes away from all of the good work that everybody else is doing, which is the annoying part about it. I take a lot of time and I invest a lot of effort in ensuring that every one of the products that we produce is 100% factual. I spend my life doing that. For some guy to come because he’s received like 200, 300K and then passes that off as journalism is… on my work,” he said.
A call to guard the profession
Beyond naming the problem, Namu issued a direct challenge to fellow media practitioners to protect journalism as a livelihood and a public service.
“Whatever platforms it is that you are building and what have you, and you want to call that journalism, you call that journalism, but we have to be jealously guarding our profession because this is where we earn our daily bread. And we need to also stop those behaviors of brown envelopes,” he added.
His comments land at a moment when the boundaries between content creation, podcasting and traditional journalism are increasingly difficult to define in Kenya, with politicians gravitating towards friendly podcast appearances over conventional press scrutiny.
