Browsing by Author "Muindi, Benjamin"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    A Phenomenological Enquiry on Journalistic Experiences and Structural Influences in The Coverage of Terrorism in Kenya
    (Daystar University, School of Communication, 2021-10) Muindi, Benjamin
    Since 2011, the impact and frequency of terrorism in Kenya have soared consistently. Consequently, terrorism reporting is today a major recurring news item in various media outlets. This research employed a phenomenological inquiry based on 28 in-depth interviews with journalists who have covered terrorism in Kenya between 2011 and 2019. Specifically, it first explored the lived experiences of journalists involved in this coverage and, secondly, examined the structures that influence their work when reporting on this beat. Third, it investigated ways in which structures influence the freedoms of journalists who have reported on terrorism. Last, the study explored the implications that the structural influences have on the journalistic freedoms of those covering the news topic. Within the context of lived experiences, findings indicate three major themes: fear of surveillance, the safety of journalists at risk, and nationalistic reportage. The fear of surveillance is characterized by worries about surveillance by state security agents and terrorists, while the safety of journalists at risk comprises psychological and physical safety. Nationalistic coverage is highly associated with Kenya-born reporters – an outright biased in favor of their nation. Legal and policy and organization structures influence those covering terrorism. The ways in which the structures influence journalistic freedoms comprise two themes: constraints in accessing information, resulting in journalists exploring alternative avenues for news; and the violation of tenets of professional journalism, such as impartiality, objectivity, and journalistic ethics. Under the fourth line of investigation, journalistic autonomy is the single major implication related to the coverage of terrorism, featuring low journalistic independence, self-censorship, and biased reporting.
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    Missionaries of Excellence? Post-award Role Orientations of Journalism Prize Winners
    (Journalism Studies, 2022-11) Kibarabara, Joy; Cheruiyot, David; Muindi, Benjamin
    This article examines the post-award implications of international prize culture within the journalism profession. Through qualitative interviews with winners of CNN competitions, this paper specifically investigates how news professionals discursively construct the notion of excellence within the space of international award practice, and then how they subsequently perceive their roles in the post-award dispensation. The key findings show that journalists’ understanding of excellence through awards is fluid and based on individual, institutional as well as professional notions of what constitutes par/sub-par journalism. These “bearers of excellence” perceive themselves as promoters of high standards of journalistic practice and champions of normative roles, such as the watchdog role, which fits into the broader mission of the specific institution sponsoring the awards
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    Negotiating the Balance between Speed and Credibility in Deploying Twitter as Journalistic Tool at the Daily Nation Newspaper in Kenya
    (Benjamin Muindi (2018) Negotiating the Balance between Speed and Credibility in Deploying Twitter as Journalistic Tool at the Daily Nation Newspaper in Kenya, African Journalism Studies, 39:1, 111-128, DOI: 10.1080/23743670.2018.1445654 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2018.1445654, 2018-05) Muindi, Benjamin
    Technology has significantly altered the practice of journalism at a number of levels, including broadening news sourcing and creating parallel markets of information for journalists, away from their traditional channels of content distribution. Equally, the buffer between professional journalists and their audiences has blurred. Contemporary journalists embrace new routines by deploying new technologies in their practice, and the multifarious responses by their media houses to these changes are emerging globally. This paper focuses on the deployment of Twitter by Kenyan journalists at the Daily Nation in their everyday practices of sourcing, production and dissemination of news. Data is obtained through semi-structured interviews with reporters attached to the news desk, and examined through the diffusion of innovations framework. The study found that by adopting Twitter in their daily routines—and because of the fast-paced nature of micro-blogging—the journalists have increased the speed of sharing news in order to stay relevant on the news market. The research also presents an overview of how the journalists negotiate the professional demands of clarity, balance and truth while at the same time embracing the immediacy and spontaneity of Twitter. The study recommends a need for mainstream media in Kenya to expand its news agenda by developing innovative ways of establishing the credibility of emerging news sources on Twitter.
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    Psychological and Physical Lived Experiences of Journalists Covering Terrorism in Kenya
    (Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 2023) Muindi, Benjamin
    This research is based on 28 in-depth interviews with Kenya-based journalists who report terrorism. The objective of the research was to recount their lived experiences. The theme of safety of journalists comprised psychological and physical safety of the newspeople, and there were various ways in which the psychological and individual safety of the journalists covering terrorism and related events was at risk. The psychological safety included traumatic events leading to sleeplessness and nightmares, loss of memory, and some journalists resorting to alcohol abuse in a bid to cope with the traumatic experiences. These physical safety concerns for some journalists included threats of death by fanatical religious groups, while other participants said that they were threatened with death because of their coverage of terrorism and related activities in Kenya.
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    Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of Online Collaborative Learning in Two Kenyan Universities
    (SOTL in the South, 2020-10) Muindi, Benjamin; Kiarie, Caroline
    Modern advancements in technology have diffused into the higher education sector with electronic communication platforms being used for learning in these institutions. While course instructors are utilizing these platforms in Kenyan universities, there is a dearth of evidence on students’ experiences and perceptions of online collaborative learning tools. As such, this study sought to establish the experiences and the perceptions students have of one of the tools, namely blogs, as a learning and collaborative tool. A questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions was administered to 71 students from a public and a private university in the country. The findings indicate that blogging enhanced interaction among fellow students and instructors and encouraged students to research further outside the classroom. However, students also experienced challenges in blogging, such as a lack of adequate infrastructure and slow internet speed. The study recommends that instructors should adopt the use of collaborative learning tools as teaching and learning moves from physical interaction to online platforms. In addition, institutions should mitigate the challenges faced by the students. This is especially so considering that students have a positive perception towards online collaborative learning.
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    University Crises in Africa: A Situational Crisis Communication Theory Case Study of Daystar University, Kenya
    (Communicatio South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research, 2021-11) Muindi, Benjamin; Kiarie, Caroline
    While disruption of learning has become a common, almost a permanent feature, of universities in Africa, crisis response strategies in these organisations remain understudied. This article reports on a case study which focused on Daystar University (DU) in Kenya that was plunged into a crisis leading to its closure when students boycotted lectures to protest poor infrastructure and fee increment. The study used Coombs Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) to analyse crisis response strategies utilised at DU. The study found that the reputational threat was severe and that the university identified with the victim cluster in its crisis response strategies to protect its positive reputational history. Specifically, the SCCT deny response strategies were applied in DU’s initial communication utilising the corresponding scapegoat tactic. But later, deal response strategies were applied although ineffectively. Thus, the research recommends that in future, DU should broaden its crisis response strategies in order to effectively reach all constituencies and protect its reputational capital.
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    University Crises in Africa: A Situational Crisis Communication Theory Case Study of Daystar University, Kenya
    (Communicatio South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research, 2021-11) Muindi, Benjamin; Kiarie, Caroline
    While disruption of learning has become a common, almost a permanent feature, of universities in Africa, crisis response strategies in these organisations remain understudied. This article reports on a case study which focused on Daystar University (DU) in Kenya that was plunged into a crisis leading to its closure when students boycotted lectures to protest poor infrastructure and fee increment. The study used Coombs Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) to analyse crisis response strategies utilised at DU. The study found that the reputational threat was severe and that the university identified with the victim cluster in its crisis response strategies to protect its positive reputational history. Specifically, the SCCT deny response strategies were applied in DU’s initial communication utilising the corresponding scapegoat tactic. But later, deal response strategies were applied although ineffectively. Thus, the research recommends that in future, DU should broaden its crisis response strategies in order to effectively reach all constituencies and protect its reputational capital.