The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) released a media monitoring and research report on media performance in election campaign reporting yesterday, highlighting Azimio One Kenya Alliance presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate, Martha Karua, as having received more media coverage than his main contender in the August 9 General Election, Deputy President (DP) William Ruto.
According to the council, Odinga received 61.2 percent coverage, while DP Ruto and his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, received 38.2 percent.
The Roots Party’s George Wajackoyah and his running mate, Justina Wamae, came in third with 0.54 percent, while the Agano Party’s David Mwaure and his running mate, Ruth Mutua, received only 0.02 percent coverage.
The analysis, which covered the period from April to early June, focused on all 17 presidential candidates before the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) trimmed the field to four.
This means that the four candidates cleared by the IEBC for the presidential seat campaign have had 96 percent media coverage during the last two months.
“The four candidates who secured clearance for the presidential August polls had an overall 96 percent mentions in the media between April and June 6, 2022,” reads the MCK report.
Azimio deputy presidential candidate Martha Karua outperformed her colleagues, with the news about her enthralling many Kenyans and garnering her 78.8 percent of media coverage, compared to 20.9 percent for United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Gachagua, 0.22 percent for Wamae, and no coverage for Mutua.
MCK Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Omwoyo, on the other hand, stated that Odinga’s coverage was based on Kenyans prefer Raila-Karua-related news, thus their articles “sell more” than those of Ruto-Gachagua.
The report, however, comes after Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate William Ruto accused the media of being biased, noting he will not participate in the presidential debate, Omwoyo maintains the media has remained neutral and professional.
He said that the majority of media houses have adhered to a code of ethics in their coverage compared to the other election years.
“Compared to previous years, the majority of media houses have embraced election coverage code of ethics this year. Most of them focus their coverage on issue-based reports and not personal attacks by politicians,” said Omwoyo
MCK further appealed to media stations to ensure fair coverage for all candidates ahead of the August polls.
