JOU0010.1177/1464884915599950JournalismIreri 599950research-article2015 Article Journalism 1 –21 A national survey of © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: demographics composition sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1464884915599950 of Kenyan journalists jou.sagepub.com Kioko Ireri United States International University – Africa, Kenya Abstract This national survey conducted in 2012–2013 (N = 504) examines demographic characteristics of the Kenyan journalists. Findings indicate that the typical Kenyan journalist is male (66%), married (57%), and in his mid-30s (M = 34 years). He tends to have a Bachelor’s degree (46%) and has received college-level training in journalism or communication (91%). However, when it comes to majoring in journalism or communication, most of the journalists were trained at the level of associate degree (45%), followed by Bachelor’s degree (38.5%) and Master’s degree (13.6%). Thirty-three percent of the Kenyan journalists work in daily newspapers, with 73 percent of them employed on full-time basis. In ethnic grouping, about a quarter (24.9%) of Kenyan news people belong to the Kikuyu tribe, followed by Luhya tribe (20%). The results also indicate that the majority of the journalists are from the Rift Valley province (21.4%) – Kenya’s largest administrative unit – followed by Western (19.5%) and Central (15.5%). By religion affiliation, 62.3 percent of the journalists are Protestants and 22.5 percent Roman Catholic. While the majority of the Kenyan journalists (22%) fall in the monthly salary bracket of $375–$625, a significant number of them (17%) earn less than $375 a month. Keywords Demographics, journalists, journalists’ survey, Kenya, Kenyan journalists, survey research Introduction The present national study investigates various demographic backgrounds of the Kenyan journalists. It is the first representative research on demographic characteristics of news people in Kenya and Africa in general. Specifically, the study examines the demographic Corresponding author: Kioko Ireri, United States International University – Africa, P.O. BOX 14634, 00800 Nairobi, Kenya. Email: [email protected]; [email protected] Downloaded from jou.sagepub.com at United States International University on September 20, 2016 2 Journalism composition of the Kenyan journalists in relation to age, education, contract type, ethnic- ity, gender, income, marital status, media type, region of origin, and religion. Therefore, this research provides a comprehensive picture of the demographic make-up in the Kenyan media. Because there is no literature on demographic characteristics of news people in Kenya, this research helps construct a comprehensive demographic portrait of the Kenyan journalists. Examining demographic backgrounds will help to understand the main characteristics of the Kenyan journalists. Additionally, mapping out the demo- graphic backgrounds is vital for understanding whether Kenyan journalists’ characteris- tics match the demographic distribution of other citizens. In fact, Weaver’s (2005) experience in studying the journalists led him to conclude that news people are demo- graphically representative of their larger societies. While the demographic backgrounds of the Kenyan journalists would define who they are in relation to the rest of the population, their characteristics are likely to influence how they go about their work. For instance, if their demographics represent an elitist status in society, they also might put less weight on issues affecting ordinary Kenyans. Consequently, several studies have investigated who journalists are in different countries by asking them about their basic backgrounds (e.g. Chen et al., 1998; Henningham and Delano, 1998; Johnstone et al., 1976; Weaver and Wilhoit, 1996; Weaver and Willnat, 2012). Many studies on journalistic demographics have been undertaken in various countries such as Australia (Josephi and Richards, 2012), United Arab Emirates (Kirat, 2012), Chile (Mellado, 2012), Sweden (Stromback et al., 2012), and Unites States (Weaver and Wilhoit, 1986), to name a few. However, such research is seldom in Africa, a fact acknowledged by Mwesige (2004) who notes that studies on African journalists are scarce. The lack of research on African journalists is also evidenced in the latest book, The Global Journalist in the 21st Century (Weaver and Willnat, 2012), which carries no data from any African country. These examples confirm the existence of a huge research gap on demographic com- position of the journalists in Africa. Therefore, this study strives to not only provide useful insights on the demographic collage of the Kenyan journalists but also helps understand how their background characteristics affect news content. This is important because research shows that journalists’ demographics are likely to affect how they write their stories. Armstrong (2004), for example, found that newspaper articles written by women were more likely to showcase women within the stories. This study also makes an important contribution to the growing body of research on journalists’ demographics in various countries. The findings also are of great value to journalists, journalism schools, media scholars, media practitioners, and policymakers in the media industry. For example, Kenyan journalism schools could use the findings as a basis for admitting more female students to address gender imbalance among the Kenyan journalists. The media system in Kenya The origin of Kenya’s media is traced to the 19th and the 20th centuries – for print and broadcast, respectively. The missionaries and British settlers started the modern Kenyan Downloaded from jou.sagepub.com at United States International University on September 20, 2016 Ireri 3 press in the 19th century (Ochilo, 1993). Later in 1927, the first radio was launched. The development of the Kenyan press can be classified into three phases: the colonial era (1895–1962), the post-independence era (1963–1990), and the multiparty era (1991–pre- sent) (Ireri, 2012). During the colonial period, the Kenyan press was grouped into a three-tier system: the European press, the Indian press, and the African press (Faringer, 1991). The European press was at the top and was the most prestigious, followed by the Indian press in the middle. The African press was at the bottom. The objective of the European press was to provide information for the missionaries and settlers from England and to legitimize the rights of the colonial masters (Ochilo, 1993). The Indian press con- tributed in ending the colonial rule in East Africa after the First World War (Bhushan, n.d.). The African press mostly focused on the independence agenda. The Kenyan press in post-independence epoch remained dormant until the restoration of the pluralistic politics in 1991. The media also operated in a harsh legal and political environment (Aling’o, 2007). This changed after 1992 when the Kenyan media industry underwent tremendous changes and growth (Ibelema and Bosch, 2009). Kenya’s newspaper industry is still relatively small and urban-based (Mbeke and Mshindi, 2008). Only 55 percent of the urban dwellers read newspapers compared to 36 percent in rural areas (Media Council of Kenya, 2005). The print media is dominated by the Nation Media Group and the Standard Group. Obonyo (2003) classifies the Kenyan print media into four sub-sectors: daily newspapers, magazines, regional news- papers, and the printed sheets that also seek to pass for newspapers in urban centers. There are six daily newspapers – namely, Daily Nation, The Standard, The People, The Star, Taifa Leo, and Business Daily. The Standard is the oldest newspaper, established in 1902. Owned by Nation Media Group; Taifa Leo and Daily Nation were founded in 1958 and 1960, respectively. The latter is the most influential newspaper in the region. The People was established in 1993 – and positioned as the voice of the opposition politics to report materials that Daily Nation and The Standard feared to touch (Obonyo, 2003). Business Daily and The Star are the youngest, launched in 2006 and 2007. In the broadcast sub-sector, Kenya was among the earliest African countries to set up a national television system in 1963 (Ainslie, 1966). Though efforts were made to pro- vide the audience with locally produced television content, 90 percent of the programs in 1960s were imported (Bourgault, 1995). Today, the Kenyan government requires televi- sion broadcasters to produce 40 percent local content (Mzekandaba, 2013). Currently, there are 20 television stations in Kenya (Communications Commission of Kenya, 2012). Television programming is mainly dominated by locally produced pro- grams and news – with a viewership of 48.8 percent (Kenya Film Commission, 2010). One concern is the fact that television is not universally available in rural Kenya (Mbeke and Mshindi, 2008). Today, exposure to television viewership among Kenyans stands at 59 percent (Kenya Film Commission, 2010). However, television sets are still not ubiq- uitous in Kenya (Bowen, 2010), with only 30 percent of the households owning a televi- sion set (Nyabuga and Booker, 2013). Kenya Broadcasting Corporation television (KBC TV) dominated Kenya’s television scene until 1990 when the Kenya Television Network (KTN) was licensed to broadcast Downloaded from jou.sagepub.com at United States International University on September 20, 2016 4 Journalism (Ali, 2009). Next to go on air was Citizen TV in 1999, followed by Nation Television (NTV) in December