The Kenya Kwanza coalition presidential aspirant William Ruto has accused the Nation Media Group (NMG) of unprofessional, inaccurate, biased, divisive, and unfair coverage.
Through a letter to the media group, the coalition claimed that the lead stories and headlines in their 2nd July 2022, and 3rd July 2022 publications, the Saturday Nation and Sunday Nation respectively are erroneous.
“The headlines titled; ‘Ruto: I’ll probe Uhuru after polls’ and ‘Day I almost slapped Uhuru’, are not only erroneous but deliberately misleading the Saturday Nation headline and story titled ‘Ruto: I’ll probe Uhuru after polls’, are evidently a deliberate misinterpretation by the writer and media house, with an aim to create a misunderstanding and persuade or negatively bias the reader to advance political ends,” the letter read.
The coalition and the United Democratic Alliance presidential candidate stated that they will probe President Uhuru Kenyatta if they form the next government.
“At the same time, the fictitious and ill-founded Sunday Nation headline and story, “Day I almost slapped Uhuru,” is an ongoing effort to avoid reporting on the rather revolutionary policies in the Kenya Kwanza coalition manifesto and to further your biased framing and negative profiling of the Kenya Kwanza campaign,” read part of the letter.
“We express our reservations with the said publications and note our displeasure with your media house’s decision to not only distort facts but out rightly publish fabricated and imaginative stories whose agenda only you can explain,” the statement further read.
In its examination of the media coverage of the 2022 election, the Media Council of Kenya found that the Azimio candidate received more publicity (61.2 per cent) than the Kenya Kwanza Alliance presidential candidate (38.1per cent).
The Kenya Kwanza Coalition claimed that there was biasness and the legitimacy of the concerns they have persistently raised which are further supported by MCK report.
“One of the media outlets spreading the biased reporting is yours,” the statement said.
The alliance reiterated that political news is a matter of public interest and its coverage by journalists, media practitioners, or media enterprises, according to the Media Council Act (2013).
According to the Act, political news has to be done fairly, accurately, and with all sides of the story being reported.