Guys,

"These journalists get paid heavy commissions to cover the obvious people or what.' I had to laugh at that and I don't think am gonna justify it with a response.

Having said that, I don't think our whole Money Matters show yesterday was featuring Safaricom. Our interview with Michael Joseph was shot last Friday and we intended to have a different story on the Technology segment but decided to do the Huawei one because it is the cheapest Android phone to hit the market and would be of more interest to our viewers. Having looked at the responses on our SMS, email and on social media, it was in fact a big hit. Both the MJ interview and the Huawei piece got overwhelming responses, with our piece on jewellery entrepreneurs coming in third.

One of my media classes taught that media is a reflection of society. We give Safaricom loads of coverage because it is an interesting story but also because the people demand it. A lot of the content I have on my shows and stories are viewer driven, based on feedback and suggestions I get from social media outlets and conversations I have with our viewers.

A colleague of mine just told me something about the MJ interview which I should share with you. As a society, we should question ourself why we have allowed ourselves to glorify the Michael Josephs of this world instead of creating our own homegrown ones. Also, Michael Joseph makes great TV because he gives good sound bites and calls it as it is, which is rare in corporate Kenya.

I am one of the few journalists who shines a spotlight on more unknown and often forgotten subjects and people and claiming that I am obsessed with any particular company is completely without merit. Any casual glance at my Twitter timeline or my Facebook posts reveals a very wide selection of stories and interviews beyond any supposed traditional favourites.

Having said that, I welcome any suggestions for stories, or interviews and at the end of the show we provide our contacts and call for our viewers to get in touch. Whenever possible, we take their views into account and deliver on what they want. 

I must distance myself from any allegations of impropriety on my part. I am a straightforward person who does not accept any gifts - material or otherwise - in exchange for coverage.

And finally, thanks for watching, and keep watching.

LARRY



On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 9:46 AM, <sospeter@elimu.co.ke> wrote:
Yeah,

Do these journalists get paid heavy commissions to cover the obvious
people or what.

Cover companies like Elimu. It is an IT company Larry if you did not know.

Skunkers please suggest companies that are making a difference to
journalists so they can have work to do this year. OK?

Good Friday.


> I have just watched Money Matters hosted by Larry and it's amazing how
> a whole program was featuring Safaricom. For starters I have never
> understood the media's obsession with Michael Joseph and the unending
> romance follows him post "retirement" (sic).
>
> I have worked in a media's business desk and I know that there are
> plenty of business stories but the journalists/reporters don't want to
> go after difficult stories which is very inexplicable.
>
> Cmon dude we can do better than this. We need much less Safaricom
> stories in our faces.
>
>
> Kiania
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 3:49 PM, Larry Madowo <larrymads@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Good people,
>> As a tech journalist myself at NMG, I must say I read the piece with
>> shock.
>> I am not sure if it was a mistake in sub-editing because the piece's
>> writer
>> Mark Okuttah knows his tech quite well. All the same, despite the
>> similarities in the name, it is unacceptable to make a mistake like
>> that. It
>> is just a major faux pas.
>> At least the online version has been cleared of all the confusions but
>> the
>> print version is immortalized for all history; mistakes and all. I must
>> however take great exception to Peter's derogatory statement about tech
>> writers at NMG because they are arguably some of the best in the
>> business,
>> and some are even on this list.
>> Regards
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 2:33 PM, Peter Osotsi <peter.osotsi@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> When I grow up I want to be a tech writer at NMG!
>>>
>>> On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 12:18 PM, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Now that is a  true mix up, heck, they would have edited that to
>>>> become
>>>> Paypal too
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