Bloggers v/s Journalists...a take on the sports scene in Kenya

The ongoing tirade in social media circles reminds us of the Former Chief Justice of Kenya, Mr Benard Chunga, who got worked-up by an 'experts' report and was, caught on national TV saying:

"Experts on what, for what, about what? What are they experts for?"

This same line could be used by some of the journalists in the last couple of weeks who have felt like bloggers are ‘raining on their parade’. Not to bore you with the rants, we shall tackle it from the sports point of view.

One of the reasons this blog was started was because sports journalists and reporters (in our thinking there are very few sports analysts in the country, hence most media house have reporters who do just that ...report) were lacking in their presentation of sports news to their audiences.

This has improved to some extent with some media houses seeking to involve practitioners in the respective sports such as rugby, football to engage in briefs every once in awhile. But as for generation of local sports content, there is still a lot of ground to cover. We have no media house willing to take up exclusive sportscasting and none still has a dedicate channel for sports (Radio Africa Group has a semblance of a sports radio station but is usually relegated to football more than any other sport – there has also been mixed reactions from advertisers regarding their editorial policy, some asking if they could switch to socio-economic and health issues).

TV

Almost all the TV stations have perfected the art of sending a cameraman who shoots clips which end up being ‘super-edited’ making them least relevant to the audience. If in cases where they have another media house’s clip such as SuperSport, BBC Sport or others, they end up showing unnecessary scenes which do not add value to the audience.

As for live coverage, most media houses have invested in OB vans but are usually denied coverage by the more monied pay TV channels. Initiatives such as that by Nation Media Group to focus on youth tournaments are laudable but still lacking in creativity and appeal.

Some like Citizen TV & KTN have once in awhile tried producing local sports digest programmes which again filter away due to lack of investment in local sports content. These are also usually deplete of any meaningful visual effects and creative presentation. 

Radio

Most radio stations have adopted the ‘live coverage’ of some sports such as football and rugby, but in most cases the same journos are viewing this in their studio beamed from cable and pay channels- not much creativity there.

As for coverage of local sporting activity, there has been marked improvement, though it’s usually knee-jerk and not always consistent. This is relegated to the weekends, fine for most sports enthusiasts. As for expertise in those sports, the best they do is have interviews and funny opinion shows and polls which irritate more than serve the purpose of analysing and remedying the sports world.

Print

We still wonder how foreign content gets well over 75% on a daily basis while we have local sports that can make up for that. True our sports world is still small compared to more developed countries, but we have issues that can be tackled better – management, youth development, local leagues, pundits, sports business and marketing, sports events bidding and hosting etc.

Some dailies have pull-outs such as the Daily Nation on Monday – but this comes and goes depending on the editorial policy of the day. The Standard had also started some analytical bits on sports and business but these faded as the paper even readjusted their ‘upside-down’ look (where had that come from anyway?)

Others have simply lost it, The Star in particular dedicates almost 3 pages to English and European football. OK we know Kenyans love those leagues but surely aren’t you doing a disservice to the local league if you cannot dedicate the same coverage and additional stories? In fact, most sports journalists seem to be more of ‘experts’ in the international leagues than our local scene.

Back in the 1970s and 80s, it was exciting to read old rivalries like the AFC-Gor, Motcom-Kenya Breweries, Faisal-Scarlet in our dailies. True the local football game sunk in the 90s and early 2000s but that’s why you have a job, make our case and keep it relevant, if I want to know about Bolton, I can easily log on to the EPL but help me know more about Karuturi Sports, Posta Rangers and Sofapaka na kadhalika.

For some of the disciplines, an expert (be it a former player or manager) would be much better writing about it than a journalist. I have seen some lift word-for-word what some blogs write and do not even bother to acknowledge their sources.

It is sad that most of the journalists never make use of their wealth of resources – from the libraries, the archives (not just Kenyan National Archives but their own), former players and managers, and even the Internet.

We have a couple of sports writers who we shall not name since we don't want to appear to sell their agenda on this forum. They have grown in the industry and every so often, point us in the right direction in engaging with our audiences. 

Blogs in Sport

Photo by Fred Glo

It is without a doubt that sports bloggers in Kenya (though few) have proved their worth in reportage and coverage of sport – even with such meagre resources. Experts we may not be labelled as such yet but we’ve shaken the order of things and suddenly media houses have taken notice. True our editorial policy at times borders on the absurd but that’s what makes sports interesting.

These tools have also made it much easier for one to write what they see, believe is good for sport and also remedy situations. We have cases where sports officials have asked for our assistance to help make their sport better and we gladly oblige.

We have also seen some media houses try to co-opt bloggers into their establishments (The Star with James Murua & Grace Kerongo and recently Capital FM with ArcherMishale while others have tried making their regular  columnists as blogs (*Fail...) but none has tried the same in the sporting world.

It is necessary for sports journalists to accept the changes in media and either go with the flow or join it. 

The Internet is both a medium and a way of dissemination of content. Obviously it has ‘democratised’ how we communicate with our audiences and affected the bottom line (read ad revenues) but the smart people are busy understanding and trying to monetise these tools not mourning over it. And as one behemoth media owner would say “new times demand new journalism...(the) challenge is to take the best of traditional journalism...and combine it with the best of contemporary technology” – well put Sir!

Kenya's only semblance of a Sports FM Station falters

Maybe it's me or has the media scene in Kenya been reduced to a duopoly? What's even more depressing is the fact that what was almost an exclusive sports FM radio station, Radio Jambo 97.5 has changed editorial policy. They say, it's in line with the 'market needs and advertisers interests'.
Although much of the editorial stuff was foreign-based with the most coming from the European football scene, I'd think the station would have done better if they decided to focus on more local sports news and live coverage.
Talking about live coverage, could the partnership with DStv, Radio Africa (Jambo FM's parent company) & KBC have informed the decision to reduce their content? Right now Jambo FM sounds like it's trying to replicate what other stations such as Q FM ( Nation's Swahili station), Milele FM and Radio Citizen are doing. Anyone trying to maintain standards or is it free-fall there? Their presenters needed a class or two on professional coverage and reporting.
For any future investors in media and especially sports-related in Kenya or indeed in Africa, please do your legwork and background checks REALLY well. It's sad that when the 2010 World Cup is setting foot in Africa, we are turning things for the worst. Or can SuperSport make it's way into radio? Maybe, just maybe someone is listening...
For a full list of Kenyan FM radio stations check here.

Sports and Media : Can we take the cue ?

In February this year, the English Premier League executives signed a record TV rights deal while the rest of the sporting world was looking into ways of cutting down their expenses.
I must confess besides the usual serving which keeps me like the rest of the football fans glued to the TV, these guys are miles ahead of most sports marketing executives.
Back in the 80s, the then new Commissioner David Stern had quite a job to convince the TV channels to run the basketball games which by then were tottering down into the abyss badly in need of a clean image and an appeal to audiences in the US. An arduous task which he handled well and we started noticing the NBA Play-offs match-ups pitting legendaries such as LA Lakers vs Boston Celtics. Who can forget what has now become one of the most watched event across the world,the NBA All-Star Weekend?
The same can be said of FIFA and IOC executives who saw the potential in this and quickly followed the cue. Since the late 1990s we have seen exponential growth in sports broadcasting, with some slots for main sponsorship partner easily running into over US $100 million.
Africa has also developed a lucrative broadcast powerhouse in the name of MultiChoice/ Supersport which has revolutionised sports coverage in the continent. They recently won exclusive rights for the World Cup 2010 as they enjoy the goodwill of having it at their background. They enjoyed a bit of a scare when GTV launched 2 years ago but we all know what happen to the blitz they had...
Back in Kenya, I wonder what is ailing us with broadcast houses still touching sports with a long stick. Most usually cover one event and leave off once the Games are done. Others still try to capitalise on the hype around an event e.g. the recent World Cup qualifier against Tunisia.
A replica of what might be the first station dedicated exclusively to sport is the Radio Jambo currently run by (Radio Africa Broadcasting- they who run Kiss 100 FM and Classic 105.2 FM). Too bad most of their information dwells on European Leagues where they can get info from the Net, rather than making more relevance by building capacities locally and regionally.
If we are to become a serious contender for sporting events in Africa, media is one area we cannot afford to ignore. One or two media-houses may come up with something for that reason. We can learn a lot from MultiChoice's SuperSport and with their recent entry into the market,it's as good a time as any !

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