Tag Archives: opinion

NAIROBI | Graffiti framing Public Opinion

Posted on by

On the City Market wall facing Muindi Mbingu Street, are drawn rare graffiti with a political message for the electorate: “be wise and choose only leaders with the interest of the nation ahead of their own.”

Abel and Buckley (1997) looked at the “writing of graffiti as a psychological phenomenon, a form of communication that is both personal and free of everyday social restraints that normally prevent people from giving uninhibited reign to their thoughts.” [Looking at the Writing on the Wall: A Critical Review and Taxonomy of Graffiti Texts, Jane M. Gadsby (1995)] Habitually, a similar attitude is engendered by the anonymous graffiti artists, in the “City in the Sun.” One such artist exhibits “the reminiscences of a greedy politician…” Daily Nation reported. Chronic poverty and unemployment as well as the epic struggles and conditions of a country’s marginalized people are touted as the main engines that fuel graffiti culture. But is that all there is to it? It has been found out before that”Mainstream media will never say a word of truth…” Thus graffiti is now being used as an alternative channel to the mainstream media, to disseminate the true information, which often was kept back by the latter.” It has thence, been confirmed that somehow, it succeeds in getting the message through to the masses. One professor of English pointed out that “graffiti has played a significant role in framing and times changing public opinion.”

Whether or not graffiti is considered as a medium of revolt against the authorities, or just as a channel for self expression, what is depicted is in clear print, a true and faithful reflection of a people’s attitudes toward a non-yielding system on the one hand, and on the other, a call to action by the ‘infringed’. In a nutshell, thoughts become things.

 

References:

Writing’s on the wall for greedy MPs Daily Nation March 4, 2012

Looking at the Writing on the Wall: A Critical Review and Taxonomy of Graffiti Texts Jane M. Gadsby (1995)

Graffiti: Expression Unadulterated Irfan Muzaffar Parray

 

 

Public opinion Versus Political Influence over the Media

Posted on by

The Hague Suspects (two among them) presidential hopefuls have been accused of engaging with the local media, with an aim of swaying public opinion against the ICC.

The International Crisis Group (ICG), which has been monitoring the Kenyan cases at The Hague, in its report, reveals that the said suspects along with the local media, have employed a scheme casting the “suspects” as victims of the court, and of ‘sinister plots’ by their political opponents, aiming at barring them from participating in the 2012 elections.[“During the recent hearings at The Hague, the media… (Covered the cases as if) Moreno-Ocampo was prosecuting Kenya, not individual suspects.”]

Very well done! That must have worked its way to some level of success I should say. It is however prudent to note that a vast majority of Kenyan youth, who constitute a major sector of the electorate, have matured to be free thinkers, through the teachings of their life experiences, and interpersonal interactions. There has been a collective ‘paradigm-shift’ in the thoughts of today’s Kenyan youth’s-something that is sounding a loud and clear ‘revolution’. The Kenyan youth has realized that this is the ‘age of the mind’, and has started to ‘think’. A famous line goes, “You can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.” The future of this country lies on the hands of the youths of today not on ‘whoever’ frequents the TV screens in the living-rooms at prime-time.

References:

Media in the dock over hague cases All Kenya News 4th March 2012

The Hague judgement causes Uhuru, Ruto sleepless nights The Citizen 5th Mrch, 2012

Government to Control Opinion Polls

Posted on by

MP Jamleck Kamau(Kigumo), on 11th May, 2011, moved a motion before the house urging the government to “develop a framework that includes an Opinion Polls Controls Board for the regulation and conduct of the opinion polls…” MP for Naivasha, John Muthutho seconded the motion saying, “the pollsters were to blame for the political chaos that rocked Kenya in the 2007 elections,” allAfrica.com reported.

Jamleck who is the PNU (Party of National Unity) Vice-Chairman, in his statement made in parliament pointed out that “propaganda and misinformation are potent tools for destabilization of peace and stability especially during the electioneering period…” The Bill which Jamleck, Muthutho and a team of allied lawyers are working on purposes to “put discipline and restore professionalism in the operations of research so far as opinion polls are concerned,” Jamleck said.  The Bill will create an Opinion Polls Control Board that will be under the office of the Vice-President according to the proposed legislation. In response to this developing story, the Managing Director of Synovate Kenya, George Waititu said that in Kenya, research companies work under the Market and Social Research Association that regulates their operations. The proposed legislation will “require research companies to declare to the Board the sponsor of the survey and the organization behind the survey. The Board will require that the research company declare the date of the survey, the population from which the sample respondents were drawn, the number of people contacted to participate, and the margin of error in the obtained data.” allAfrica.com reported.

Laws and Regulations Restricting the Publication of Electoral Opinion Polls introduces that, “one specific area in which restrictions on freedom of expression have been imposed to protect the integrity and fairness of the electoral process is in relation to the publication of pre-election opinion and exit polls. Pre-election polls are public surveys which assess the views of the electorate on various election-related matters while exit polls take place immediately after people have voted and assess the level of support for the various parties and candidates. Media coverage of such information can, at times, be controversial. This is particularly true of polls and projections commissioned or conducted by a source that is not impartial. Furthermore polls may be subject to manipulation at many levels; in the choice of questions, the choice of sample, the time that the questions are asked, and so on. It is often perceived, therefore, that polls and projections may have a distorting effect on the vote, rather than simply reflecting public sentiments.” What the MP’s are proposing is appropriate only that they are not doing it the right way. Many democratic governments have tried it in their respective jurisdictions but failed because this issue is pertinent to and touches on the delicate issue of freedom of speech and expression. Instead, the government should find ways to strengthen relations and build trust with civil institutions (including research institutions) through the various established regulatory bodies, and be a government that works for, and with the people.

References:

Ban Opinion Polls-PNU allAfrica.com 12th May,2011

Ban Opinion Polls Mynucleus.org 12th May,2011

Laws and Regulations Restricting the Publication of Electoral Opinion Polls Google Docs (as of) 12th May,2011

Mixed reactions to PNU plan to ban opinion polls The Star 13th May,2011