I’ve argued the Kenyan press – television, radio and paper – should endorse candidates for office, including those for president of the republic. However, my suggestion they do so was last week met with some loud howls on Twitter. Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi led those against.
My response was like a judge’s to a lawyer’s protest – objection overruled. There’s no justification, or compelling rationale whatsoever, for the Press not to offer political endorsements. Or even anti-endorsements, such as the one issued by the Editorial Board of the New York Times in 2016 (Why Donald Trump Should Not Be President, September 25, 2016). That’s exemplary civic duty.
First, the Press is a corporate citizen of the state in which it is domiciled. As such, the Press has civic responsibilities to the nation and the state. Those, of necessity, include reporting truthfully. This is critical because democracy can’t be implanted, or prosper and survive, without an independent free Press that’s anchored on facts.
It’s the obligation of the Press to advance the protection of the rule of law, constitutionalism and clean government. It’s the duty of the Press to expose official corruption and rot in government, no matter high up. The media must uphold the basic rules of human decency, equity and civilisation. It must be a teacher of high morality, empathy and of empathetic living.
Second, at its best the Press summons our better angels and suppresses our common demons. This isn’t to say there’s no room for tawdry, indecent and even dirty Press. There has to be room for all the sewer and gutter press. Let the people decide whether to pay for such press in the marketplace of ideas.
Press endorsements
I believe in a fully free press – without any censorship. The only caveat is that the Press must take care not to offend just and democratic defamation and incitement laws. Other than that – which is for the Judiciary and not the Executive to determine – anything goes. It’s by the same token that the Press must be free to endorse, or oppose, candidates.
Third, the most important civic decision a citizen has to make is for which party and candidate to cast a ballot in an election. The stakes are very high, especially in the election of the president in a young democracy like Kenya’s.
Whether we like it or not, the head of state has an outsize impact on literally the life of every citizen. That’s why voters need as much information as possible before voting. It’s why the media must report truthfully about every candidate and party to educate – not just inform – the voter on the choices on the ballot. Democracy depends on wise and educated voters. The Press is the sole largest conduit for objective wisdom and education.
Fourth, press endorsements would help the electorate assess the party platforms, policies and personal histories of candidates. Typically, the editorial boards of the newspaper, or Press, would conduct interviews with all the major candidates before making an endorsement. Candidates, especially in the US, face tough questions from editorial boards.
Democratic practices
Here, the board acts as the eye of the people. Candidates who are evasive or untruthful usually don’t earn an endorsement. A candidate must be cool under fire and show expertise and other forms of acumen. Endorsements aren’t for sale and can’t be corruptly obtained. The editorial board, which endorses, is separate from the newsroom, which reports. This separation is critical for objective reporting. The twain should never mix.
Fifth, in the US and Britain, presses routinely make endorsements up and down the ballot. This democratic practice is now well horned so that no one thinks that endorsements are nefariously obtained. No one can say for sure the impact of endorsements in elections. The New York Times did a Trump anti-endorsement in 2016, but he won.
In 1897, nearly all New York’s leading papers backed a losing candidate. But from 1940 to 2016, the candidates with most endorsements for US president emerged victorious. Editorial boards in Kenya should conduct “job interviews” with candidates and then endorse, or oppose, them. In the US and Britain, the decision is usually well argued and reasoned. It’s basically a grading of the candidate.
Finally, democratic practices aren’t given on a silver platter. They are fought for, grown and earned the old-fashioned way – through blood, sweat and tears. Endorsements of candidates – both the process and product – will give Kenya one more quiver in its democratic arsenal. It will likely force candidates to rely less on primordial ethnic math and more on policy and ideology to distinguish themselves.
My friend SC Abdullahi thinks Kenya’s political clock is forever stuck in the swamp of ethnicity. He’s wrong to engage in a self-fulfilling prophecy. We can be better if we dared think a little bigger. Let’s do endorsements, or anti-endorsements – to reject thieves, murderers, anti-democrats, rapists and wife-beaters. BY DAILY NATION