SECTOR 4 Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 1.1 (2005 = 2.0, 2007 = 1.5, 2009 = 1.9) 4.7 Journalists and media have integrity and are not corrupt. “Grassroots editing” is a common practice whereby Kenyan journalists receive money to tilt stories in favour of the payer. Across the industry, corruption is a common practice, affecting the lowest-placed reporters to top level editors. “It is standard practice for lawyers implicated in land cases to pay court reporters KSh 20,000 (about US$250) not to mention their names or film them for fear of losing clients.” Journalists, especially those operating far away from the central newsroom, go to the extent of harassing news sources. “They will ask for money, which they claim is intended to be passed over to the editor so that the story can be published. Journalists on the ground even form cartels to extort money from newsmakers.” It is commonplace for journalists to approach people to run profiles of them against a fee. They will hang around after an event, waiting for tips. In spite of the fact that most newspapers speak openly against corruption, it still affects even the country’s large daily newspapers. Some senior editors are believed to be on retainers for politicians and receive a fixed weekly or monthly fee. A trade unionist is known to receive good media coverage because he manages to corrupt everyone, from reporters to senior editors. Some public officials believe they cannot be covered if they do not pay. Other public officials pay editors and reporters to kill stories that will expose their illegal activities if published. A good example is the story of an official caught trying to profit financially from free government services. After a fund was created to help small business access credit, an official running the programme decided to charge a fee from people who wanted to be included in the database of potential beneficiaries. “When the story reached the press, phone calls started flying in for the story to be killed” and so it was spiked.” 60 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER KENYA 2012