Influence and extent of brown envelope journalism on news reporting in Kenya

Abstract

Being in a position to provide education for all as one of the Millennium Development goals will be a milestone to the Kenyan society as soon as it is attained. Media which gives a platform for collection, packaging and dissemination of information is paramount in the development of any society. With the advent of technology and the landmark it has had in Kenyan media, there is an indication that in the near future, most people will be able to read and write. This means that the media content on newspapers and social media platforms will be consumed by a larger audience than it currently is. It is however scaring that some journalists have been involved in corruption in form of Brown Envelope Journalism (BEJ) which entails the act of obtaining bribes by journalists from news sources thus influencing news reporting meaning that no one will ascertain that whatever it is written for their consumption is true in accordance to the news stories. It is therefore worth conducting this research to find out the influence and extent of BEJ on news reporting in Kenya. The research will be conducted in Nakuru County whereby journalists working for different media houses stationed in the media bureaus within the County will be focused on. Random sampling method will be employed with respondents filling questionnaires and participating in interviews. This study will be hinged on the Social Responsibility Theory espoused by Robert Maynard Hutchins in 1947. It indicates that the media has a responsibility to inform the society truthfully. Qualitative research method which employs coding will be used to obtain the results which will be of great importance to the general public who are affected by the media content they consume and journalists whose profession is challenged by this form of corruption.