The media regulatory body, the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has resolved to recall all accreditation cards in a bid to contain fraudsters posing as journalists after stakeholders meeting.
The newly designed Press Cards installed with barcodes and QR code to enable scanning of the individual journalist particulars will be issued starting Monday next.
The scanning features will have bio data of respective media practitioners making it easy to verify if one is an authentic media professional or not by scanning using smartphone, MCK director Victor Bwire has said.
“We are going to recall over 2400 press cards that had been issued by the council so as to issue new ones with upgraded features that can be electronically identified.” Bwire noted.
He noted that the new cards will bare recommendation details of the journalist, employer and respective association a journalist belongs to.
“We are going to engage respective institutions including parliament, Judiciary, hoteliers and media practitioners… In case of contract termination, we therefore call upon media houses to immediately submit a letter to the council showing they parted ways with the journalist so as to expunge the details of association from our data.” He added.
The regulator called on those working or who wish to practice in the media industry but are not qualified journalists to enroll for a three to five days training at the MCK headquarters so as to be accredited as media practitioners.
During the briefing, judiciary concurred that it had introduced press cards to identify and verify journalists covering court cases issued upon completion of the training offered on court reporting.
The MCK committed to work with law enforcement agencies such as the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to ensure those found inculpable are held accountable.
MCK Chief Executive officer David Omwoyo, on his part reiterated council’s commitment to preserving the reputation and legitimacy of the media, stating that they will make sure only accredited journalists are permitted to practice.
“The council is committed to fostering a conducive working environment for journalists and media practitioners through improved standards and constantly engaging relevant stakeholders to address pertinent issues.” Omwoyo said.
MCK is a parastatal tasked to accredit journalists and promote press freedom in the country.
Media stakeholders including the Informer Media Group has welcome the initiative meant on streamlining the media industry to enhance professional practices as well as cushioning the industry from infiltration by underserving parties tarnishing the reputation of the media practitioners.
Caption
Victor Bwire, Director in charge of Media Training and Development at Media Council of Kenya (MCK) during a press briefing today