Sidenote: Today, when alighting from the bus, a mother took a polythene bag from her small girl and threw it out of the bus. The area was already littered with other polythene papers. Polythene papers litter lots of places in the country, not because the authorities don't clean up, but because we are irresponsible enough not to care where we dispose off our garbage. Please help stop Kenya from being a larger open open air dustbin than it already is.
News is a saddening affair, mostly about who got killed in a very gruesome way, or who died with a few others in a sudden, unexpected way. It's the sole reason terrorists exist - murders and accidents kill more people every day, month and year than terrorists can ever dream of, but we got used to them. However, probably in Iraq, terrorist attacks will pass if the unlucky chap only killed one or two people. Heck, even in Kenya, it's barely news when a few people in some low income area are blown out of existence by suspects who will never be known.
A politician making an absurd remark is usually the next top news item, even when the remark will only impact the politician alone.
Third and last main item is usually a human interest story, say, some poor being somewhere with a horrid disease. Or say, some non-gruesome story about, say, two adulterous humans who got caught having sex, or a cat that got stuck in some jerry can.
The above issues are what increases the ratings of news items, don't blame reporters who are basically trying to maximise income. Media houses are profit making entities, even the BBC, and they cover what youlike love.
At times though, news really does not portray the depth of what the news item covers.
Take the story of mechanics who were being evicted from a piece of land in Grogan. Apparently, it belonged to a house of worship. After all, houses of worship, be it churches or mosques, have a profit and loss statement to balance. I wonder what will happens to the mechanics' prayers.
Several of the mechanics were arrested and it is suspected that there may have been loss of a life or two (who's counting?) in the ensuing riots.
In news, its about eviction and riots, which is true. The story though, is that 800 mechanics are losing their source of livelihoods. Without the disputed piece of land, rent will not be paid, a young girl and boy somewhere will be unable to foot their school fee and a family will stay hungry. Woe unto them if any of them fall sick, hospitals have never been reported to be cheap.
Think about it, if you were a kid, and your parents are no longer in a position to make money.
The story here, is 800 people who feel their livelihood has been threatened and the mosque, which feels that it needs to recover the KSh. 2 billion it paid for the land. It was later reported that the two parties agreed to settle, with the mechanics agreeing to pay for the land. Where they'll get KSh. 2 billion, I don't know.
Then there's the other story of a kid, no, a 21 year old, who fell several floors to his death. He pressed the "down" button. The "lift" got to the second floor, and the doors opened. He stepped into the lift, with the beautiful lady who had accompanied him to the club. It's a good thing that chivalry is dead, which made this a "men first" rather than a "ladies first" affair. There was no lift, and he was the first to tumble down, and hit the bottom of the shaft, where pieces of meta stood waiting. At least the lady, who fell after him, lived to tell the story. The news clip came to an end here.
Of course the family was saddened by the death. The reporter did not tell you that they had lost 21 years of companionship. They had washed his nappies, full of shit. Then, Pampers was probably undergoing research at a Proctor and Gamble lab. He had kept them awake, wailing incessantly into the night. He had gone to school, coming home with dirty laundry, which had to be cleaned. They had toiled to pay his school fee. He had gotten sick at some point, and it had them worried sick. They had struggled through to pay the doctor.
Now he is dead. Just as he was growing into an adult, just as he started walking around with beautiful ladies, he is gone. What could he have been? We never know.
Back to the building that has a broken lift, they do know the lift is broken. But just like the owners, they haven't bothered to at least have a tape blocking out the treacherous path to the lift. Just like the many sewer covers that were sold for scrap metal, they seat back and wait for the government to "do something".
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| According to news, some mechanics were arrested for resisting eviction for occupying land they did not own. Not in the news, the man was defending his sole source of livelihood, otherwise he won't even afford the clothes he has on. (Image: Capital FM Facebook Page) |
A politician making an absurd remark is usually the next top news item, even when the remark will only impact the politician alone.
Third and last main item is usually a human interest story, say, some poor being somewhere with a horrid disease. Or say, some non-gruesome story about, say, two adulterous humans who got caught having sex, or a cat that got stuck in some jerry can.
The above issues are what increases the ratings of news items, don't blame reporters who are basically trying to maximise income. Media houses are profit making entities, even the BBC, and they cover what you
At times though, news really does not portray the depth of what the news item covers.
Take the story of mechanics who were being evicted from a piece of land in Grogan. Apparently, it belonged to a house of worship. After all, houses of worship, be it churches or mosques, have a profit and loss statement to balance. I wonder what will happens to the mechanics' prayers.
Several of the mechanics were arrested and it is suspected that there may have been loss of a life or two (who's counting?) in the ensuing riots.
In news, its about eviction and riots, which is true. The story though, is that 800 mechanics are losing their source of livelihoods. Without the disputed piece of land, rent will not be paid, a young girl and boy somewhere will be unable to foot their school fee and a family will stay hungry. Woe unto them if any of them fall sick, hospitals have never been reported to be cheap.
Think about it, if you were a kid, and your parents are no longer in a position to make money.
The story here, is 800 people who feel their livelihood has been threatened and the mosque, which feels that it needs to recover the KSh. 2 billion it paid for the land. It was later reported that the two parties agreed to settle, with the mechanics agreeing to pay for the land. Where they'll get KSh. 2 billion, I don't know.
Then there's the other story of a kid, no, a 21 year old, who fell several floors to his death. He pressed the "down" button. The "lift" got to the second floor, and the doors opened. He stepped into the lift, with the beautiful lady who had accompanied him to the club. It's a good thing that chivalry is dead, which made this a "men first" rather than a "ladies first" affair. There was no lift, and he was the first to tumble down, and hit the bottom of the shaft, where pieces of meta stood waiting. At least the lady, who fell after him, lived to tell the story. The news clip came to an end here.
Of course the family was saddened by the death. The reporter did not tell you that they had lost 21 years of companionship. They had washed his nappies, full of shit. Then, Pampers was probably undergoing research at a Proctor and Gamble lab. He had kept them awake, wailing incessantly into the night. He had gone to school, coming home with dirty laundry, which had to be cleaned. They had toiled to pay his school fee. He had gotten sick at some point, and it had them worried sick. They had struggled through to pay the doctor.
Now he is dead. Just as he was growing into an adult, just as he started walking around with beautiful ladies, he is gone. What could he have been? We never know.
Back to the building that has a broken lift, they do know the lift is broken. But just like the owners, they haven't bothered to at least have a tape blocking out the treacherous path to the lift. Just like the many sewer covers that were sold for scrap metal, they seat back and wait for the government to "do something".
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