Influence of Media Training On the Competence of Journalists in Kenya: Perceptions of Standard Group Limited Managers and Senior Journalists
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Date
2018-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Daystar University, School of Communication
Abstract
A number of researches have indicated that training institutions have failed to impart skills and knowledge to students that would be transferred to the industry upon graduation and employment, as a result, the quality of journalists graduating is wanting. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of media training on the competence of journalists in Kenya through the perceptions of the Standard Media Group Limited managers and senior journalists. Curricula of selected universities were also investigated. The study adopted a case study approach. Non-probability sampling procedure that involved purposive and snow-ball sampling was used to select the 9 participants in one media organization. Data was analysed thematically and presented in a narrative form in accordance with the themes. According to the SG media managers and senior journalists, journalists trained in Kenya were not competent. They lacked the practical skills that were supposed to enable them perform their tasks once employed. Due to this reason, media houses were recruiting graduates in other areas such as English, Medicine, and Law. However, some media houses resorted to re-train the new recruits. The major contribution of this study was that it responded to the public outcry of ‘half-baked’ Kenyan journalists by fulfilling the need for empirical data on competence of journalists from the perspective of media managers and senior journalists. The study also highlighted the challenges faced by media employers who were forced to re-train the journalists. The study recommends that training institutions, the media, regulators and key stakeholders should rethink about media training so as to empower students who eventually would competently practice journalism.
Description
Master of Arts
in Communication
Keywords
Media Training, Journalist Competency, Standard Group Limited, Kenya
Citation
Amukuzi, M. (2018). Influence of Media Training On the Competence of Journalists in Kenya: Perceptions of Standard Group Limited Managers and Senior Journalists: Daystar University, School of Communication. Nairobi.